We've been playing the circuit heavily for quite some time now and I would just like to share this post that I put up in philmusic. The thread was about WHAT TO EXPECT IN BASS SETUP IN BARS. I think this would effectively describe the bass amp setups out there:
Pardon me if i cant be too specific with the amp models. this is as far as i remember:
THE GOOD:
Route 196 Katipunan- Ampeg SVT Head + Cabinet - need I say more?
Cafe Saguijo Makati - Ampeg (Combo) - again.
Calye Brown El Pueblo - Laney Combo - decent. ample juice for the acoustics of the venue.
THE BAD:
Dayo Bar Cubao - Laney Combo - i think the venue makes the amp sound bad. the acoustics are bad and the monitors are just for display.
Kampai Bar Katipunan - Behringer Stack - i am not very fond of behringer bass amps, though i think the BDi Preamp is decent, but here in Kampai, your only problem with the bass setup is if you can hear yourself play through the monitors. the trick in this venue is to lower down gain and master to 5 (12oclock), and let the techs do their job. same goes for guitars. last time we played here, we sounded really good through the house, although it sounded bad onstage. in the end, FOLLOW THE TECH's INSTRUCTIONS!
THE UGLY:
Freedom Bar Anonas - OLD Crate Combo - this setup is sooooo bad that if you're not buddies with the inhouse tech, you'd sound like cow dung. the only remedy is to have it PROPERLY lined out to house speakers and out from the monitors.
Mayrics Espana - OLD Marshall Stack - this baby is soooo old that it cannot withstand extreme lows (I USE A FIVE STRING IBBY AND I LIKE IT LOW.. LOW LOW LOW LOW LOW) ... the cones tend to pop and the best way to get around it is to lower down gain and master volume, and boost with a preamp hoping that you come out of the monitors.
Club Dredd Eastwood- Behringer Stack - its Behringer (biased), the input is broken, the monitors dont work, the mic stand swings ... what else do i have to say?
RJ Bar Jupiter - Crate? Combo - it has a generic Direct box attached to it where you plug in your bass, but you end up playing ONLY with the house speakers and the TECH will always tell you to lower down your volume to the point that you dont hear anything onstage. I think this is because most of the gigs here are televised through UHF tv and going really loud onstage would mess up their broadcast sound. nuff said.
i think i've said enough. i hope i was able to shed some light in this dark area. LOL. thanks for reading on. im very open to comments.
DISCLAIMER: I am in no way implementing any form of bad publicity for the bars mentioned in THE UGLY section. This is but a mere speculation of the things to expect for those musicians who actually read this blog. No offense meant, at least you know what your patronizers think of your equipment.
PEACE!
-AJ
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