Need Help With Bass Rig

[sonicus]

Here you go,   Powerful , and  it is convection cooled (no fan )!  
http://bryston.com/14bsst_r.html http://bryston.com/14bsst_spec.html

[jacko]

Sorry Joey but I'm going to side with Bill on this one. I also use a PLx2402 into a pair of 4 ohm cabinets(usually two 2x12 but sometimes a 4x10 will creep in there) so max output is 700 watts per channel. Now the PLX goes up to 32 (eat your heart our nigel tufnell) but I've never pushed it past 26 on a normal pub stage where there's no backline reinforcement through the PA. I've never had a problem being heard (or felt) right out to the back of the room. If it's been a bigger gig, I'll run it through the PA and may even consider turning the amp down to 24.
However, just to add some balance, if I had the chance I'd build the biggest rig I could; our rhythm guitarist has an orange tiny terror playing through a single 12 cab and when it's switched to 17 watts it's deafening.
 
Graeme

[rebelchile]

jacko....thats what I'm saying....nowadays guitar players have the option of tiny little DR. Z's and other little baby rigs that will peel the bark off of a banshee's butt @ 100yds. So with this in mind, we are still having to..as joey said, bring my own bulldozer in some cases. It's no fun to power up on stage and not be able to lay down enough bottom for any situation that you run into.  
 
  And, if you've got mega power,.....why can't you just turn back the gain on the individual power amp channel(s) if the situation calls for less volume?? Then on the other hand, when you need to lower the blade and push hard,LOL!! you've got all you need right behind you, just waiting for a twist of the dial....Just wondering??  greg

[bigredbass]

The thing that Mica once said that your instrument is (the bass+amp+speakers+cables/effects); it's something you're never taught.
 
I would hazard a guess that none of us ever decided we had to have this bass or that bass since it would be perfect with the amp we were using, no other reason, just that.
 
In 30+ years, I've never been truly satisfied with an amp.  I've never felt I had a great tone onstage, and I certainly could never hear myself properly amidst the 'sturm und drang' of virtually every band or venue I was ever in.  Whether it was a sledgehammerin' loud rock situation, a country band, a corner of the dining room casual, I've never found the sound I heard in my head.
 
I've been continually confounded by room acoustics vs. bass:  The hot spots (everybody else on stage says you're killing them) and the dead spots (any place I was standing).  Plus I'd get twangy enough to hear myself and lose bottom end; bring in a nice round bottom, it goes to mud and I can't hear myself properly.  And then of course, nobody ELSE thinks they're too loud.
 
Then . . . does it sound better pushing a small amp into certain tones, or a big amp turned up just to two, I've had it both ways.
 
I really thought I quit gigging as I didn't want to chase skirts, smoke dope, or drink, thereby cutting my list of possible situations down by 90%.  I think I burned out actually as I'm tired of never finding that right 'instrument' in total to where I felt comfortably competent to do it any more.
 
I am certain though that bigger is better, and like most things I'm a dinosaur in a new world full of 4-pound amps and neodymium cabs.  I guess I'll always be tilting at windmills . . . man, this thread pushed a lot of buttons in me.
 
J o e y

[rebelchile]

Joey,...you my friend...have got to be a mirrored reflection of myself...I have fought the same scenerios all of my years as a bass player too.  
 
  The closest that I could get to THE perfect tone for me...in my early days was a 1962 Fender Pre CBS Jazz bass and an Acoustic 371 head with (2) Acoustic 371 15 bass cabs.  
 
That lasted for awhile.....but it also lost its pazazz...not heavy enough on the bottom end. I played Beach Music for a couple of years after the rock-n-roll Acoustic rig era.......bummer....I was too rock-n-roll for them....bummer....I'd rather play country, it has a nice smooth groove....I was always too loud....another bummer....but not as bad...
 
  Now at 54, I am going back to the begining...to my roots... for an audition with a kick butt rock-n-roll band. Good players..good vocals, the whole cheese. Maybe I'll make it...that's why I'm asking all of you these questions.
 
  The ironic fact is,...we all face the same problems....trying to make a compromise with the other players, trying to compromise with the sound tech, trying to tame the Tone Demon...and like one other member said, a large percentage of the audience can't tell the difference one way or the other in bass tone.
 
  But I too am a power freek, bigger is better to me as well. I will not back down to less is best in all situations, I have always thought that one of the reasons a bass player caught so much crap in a (group situation) was because of pure jealousy...along with the help of a good drummer they control the foundation, feel, timing, groove, and much of the structure of a song.... my 02... greg