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Different Bass Gigs, Different Bass Rigs ⚡️

Philip Conrad

20,482 views

In this video, we discuss different bass amps for different gigs, the pros and cons of tube vs solid state, the pros and cons of head and cab vs combo amps, speaker sizes, and lots of relevant bass amp information to help you choose what's best for you.

This is a video I had previously posted and had to take down temporarily. It was originally sponsored by Sweetwater. I am reposting it here anew.

Check out the Ashdown Rootmaster RM-EVO-III 800 Here (affiliate link):
https://sweetwater.sjv.io/WqjjEn
https://sweetwater.sjv.io/baZZQ6

Check out the new merch here (directly supports channel):
https://philipconradmusic.squarespace...

Want to get better at bass? Check out my bass courses here:
https://philipconradmusic.teachable.c...

Gear I Love to Use (Affiliate Links):
Universal Audio Apollo x4: https://sweetwater.sjv.io/rQr3Rv
Universal Audio Volt: https://sweetwater.sjv.io/PyE9Be
UA Essential Plugins: https://sweetwater.sjv.io/Kjmmda
JMJ Bass: https://sweetwater.sjv.io/OrEM2n
Allen Woody Rumblekat (became Snorlax): https://sweetwater.sjv.io/XY4XYo
Danelectro Electric Guitar: https://sweetwater.sjv.io/21zq27
Bronco Bass (became Liz): https://sweetwater.sjv.io/Y9PGLP
Levy's Wall Hanger: https://sweetwater.sjv.io/JzX0jq
Yamaha Speakers: https://sweetwater.sjv.io/0ZzvrR
Moog Theramini: https://sweetwater.sjv.io/75qrdg
Hx Stomp XL: https://sweetwater.sjv.io/m51PW1
Origin Effects BassRig Super Vintage: https://sweetwater.sjv.io/4PMvQo

20 Comments

@astraplaneta4656 4 months ago

bring your SVT to the coffee shop

@LowHzAlex 4 months ago

The smaller, 100ish capacity bar gigs are the ones where it is actually most important to have a powerful amp versus larger theaters, arenas, etc for rock/metal/hardcore style bands. The PA at these smaller venues is usually only powerful enough for vocals, drums and maybe a little bit of string support. Seen it plenty of times where smaller bands will tour with just their quad cortex or preamp and do not sound nearly powerful enough on stage.

@Alt1890-s4o 1 month ago

This is the video I’ve been looking for. This has answered a ton of questions I’ve had and could not find. Really appreciate the wealth of info and the vibe of the channel. So into it 🙏

@MidtownSkyport 4 months ago

A good thing about speakon connectors is you're never going to get somebody using an instrument cable because they don't know there's a difference

@BassDawStew 4 months ago (edited)

Number of cabinets, total surface area of speakers, sensitivity of speakers, and tuning of cabinets makes a huge difference in terms of volume and tone to be had out of a given amplifier. A 300 Watt amp can sound huge if played through something like a highly sensitive 410 at 4 ohms, as an example. I personally run two 1x12" at 8 Ohm each with a couple of different heads (500-900w), so the same general setup that Philip mentioned.

@CharmCityMagic 2 months ago

Finally!!!! Thank you for doing this video! I’m looking at grabbing a bass and amp I been researching combo cabs/amp how to stack them and there is not one video I found to teach me this or kinda guide a new guy stepping into the bass world!! Keep them coming plz…. Gimme the newb gear and how to use it video…. Treat me like I’m half a moron would be perfect! Thanks for doing this one!

@ScottClayson-b5o 3 months ago

In my experience if you bring a 100-300 watt amp to a gig like that you’ll have the volume knob at 1-2 max. I used to play pub gigs reasonably loud with a Rumble 40 never at full volume. Also wattage is a poor indicator of how loud an amp is. But yeh lol I’m not into moving amps at all any more. BTW I absolutely adore your content - crazy how great it is and how much I’ve learned and thanks for no clickbait thumbnails and bs. Peace and love ✌️

@wayofthedead_ 11 days ago

Watched the whole thing, enjoyed it. Had to click around a few times when I was working/spacing out and wanted to review things. Timestamps/chapters would be great.

@mark-stefaniw 3 months ago (edited)

I love that room you're in, the old wood floor, baseboard and window trim, rug and black curtain.

@nicholasdiaz-llera463 4 months ago

Watching this video when it was originally posted helped inform my decision to buy the amp that I did. Now I'm watching just because it's a great video! Great job as always.

@martinheath5947 11 hours ago

Headroom and distortion aside, Watts are measured on a logarithmic scale. 10 Watts, (not 50) is half as loud as 100 Watts

@AndiPirlogea 2 months ago

Amazing tutorial 👏🏻

@MidtownSkyport 4 months ago

When I was a very small bass player the advice I got was to get a bass amp that equals the wattage of the rest of the band combined - so add up the wattage of the guitarists' amps, count the drummer as 50 watts, and make sure your amp is ≥ all of that

@JaredRibic 1 month ago

Thank you for doing this video. I completely agree with you about the real musical energy of having real sound on stage vs. the silent stage.
In the '90s I had two SWR Henry the 8x8 cabinets each powered by an 800 watt amp.

So coming from a 1600W stage rig (2400W for concerts) it's hard to imagine playing bass through headphones.

Stage and studio are two different animals.
I feel like headphones are for the studio.

@shaunharris6746 3 months ago (edited)

Great video!!!! Make a video about Ohms please.

@alfer9920 2 months ago

Nice video Philip, thanks! Greetings from Costa Rica.

@mattofthemountain 3 months ago

The best live bass tone I ever had was using a SansAmp VT Bass preamp into a Fender Twin Reverb as a head into a 1x15 cab. Glorious, thick tube tone that fit perfectly in the mix and felt great to play.

@chibisven 3 months ago

I’ve gigged a ton of situations too and for the longest time my rig was a hartke lh500 with a 1x15 cab and a 4x10 cab and it really covered all the bases. This video is totally the primer I needed when I was first picking up gear.

Two things that he didn’t cover that I found super important are that: different cabs sound different even with the same speaker sizes so it’s important to run your actual amp through the speaker you want to buy, and then most modern gigs take a DI off the amp and some amps sound killer through the speakers but pretty gnarly through the DI. That’s why I picked up my first sansamp pedal, that way the bass on stage was for me and the sansamp was for the room. I found I was 10x happier with how I sounded at gigs after I bought it. So if you’re gigging I super recommend having one.

@hansdewit3114 4 months ago

Great vid! My first refrigerator-amp was a turquoise-coloured "London City" (all tubes) with a matching back-breaking W-bin speaker, it weighed more than a hundred pounds; nowadays I'm playing though an Aguilar AG700 with a single Barefaced One10: super light, more then loud enough, and (most importantly) lovely sounding.

@KrAzYKaRLoS1013 4 months ago

Peavey Mark IV into a Sunn 2x15 & a Fender 2x15 at the same time (2ohms) series great head that I’ve taken to all sizes of gigs 🤟🏽

Love the Ashdown rig 🔥