Sansamp Bass driver as live rig- no amp required?

[Nebulous]

Some friends of mine are looking for someone to help them out with bass duties in their prog/ power band. I have a bass and that will serve well enough for recording, however if I am to join as a full time member I may run into issues if I need a full amp/ cab rig to play live.

I've had it suggested to me that I could just DI at gigs and keep it simple and cheap. At this point the Sansamp BDDI comes to mind.
Would using the BDDI through FOH be enough at a decent 200-300 capacity venue, or could this pose issues with level or monitoring?

My own view on it is that most bass heavy mixes/ bands end up causing clarity issues with loud amps on stage, so this could rectify that issue, plus this will be cheap, light and potentially more consistent between venues as the amp won't be on stage and affected by the nodes in the stage area.

Has anyone done DI only metal tones live before with success?

 

[waav studios]

it'll work. just make sure you have good monitoring or and be prepared to play well without being able to hear yourself cause that might happen. live sound guys, i give them credit but its always a little off and sometimes REALLY bad.

 

[Nebulous]

Yeah, that's my biggest fear so far too.

 

[Lozek]

Yes, we do this and it has made a huge effect on our clarity. We're running IEM's so the monitoring side of things is not an issue, but as long as the venue have decent monitoring then you'll be fine. You could also look at getting a powered wedge or a combo for those situations where you need more? Doesn't have to sound 100% as it will be independent of your FOH tone.

 

[wishtheend]

I used the VT Bass Deluxe as a bass pre live for a few years. It's basically their SVT sim with 6 storable presets (i liked having a range of clean/round tones to more dist agro). I was running it into a power amp into a cab, but did a few gigs where I played DI to FOH. Tone was good, I had tweaked the patches listening monitors DI'ed into my interface and never really thru the bass cab itself. Relying on just FOH monitors for me was shit, but that's because the venues had crap sound. Something about not feeling the cab just made it disconnected. IEM's would have probably improved the whole thing. I like the micro-rig idea, with something like those EHX Magnum's with a smaller cab for live monitoring would be pretty tits.

 

[Nebulous]

Thanks for all the feebdack guys

 

[aortizjr]

Get an amp and cab. Most venues that metal bands play have shit for stage monitors if any at all. Also consider rehearsals. The sansamp stuff rocks hard. After that you just need an amp and cab. These days there are lots of inexpensive choices. I am a fan of Carvin and I have done sound for guys with even Behringer rigs that surprised me.

 

[Nebulous]

Rehearsal has been one of the issues I've considered. Not sure how I'll work it out yet. Might need to check into those micro rigs.

 

[The spark]

try the Sansamp out in practice and if it works, rent an amp for shows.

 

[Loren Littlejohn]

I would clarify what kind of PA they have before relying on it personally.

 

[egan.]

I'll add to the chorus. I've done the DI to the PA thing before and it sucks. A lot of small club wedges won't get you the volume you need (or even worse, you'll be sharing a wedge). If the stage and PA are big enough for biamped wedges per dude it would work out ok even still it's scary every time you walk into a club.

 

[Jormyn]

Get a decent small amp/combo to back you up if the PA or monitoring are shitty, but then you've got the option of going straight in when you play a better venue.

 

[mstone564]

I ALWAYS assume that no matter where we're playing at, the PA will be super shitty.
410 and a relatively powerful head as a minimum if you really wanna cut.