HW: Alan's Bass Setup

Chris Bates CBates at CICERO.SHU.AC.UK
Mon Oct 23 15:55:20 EDT 1995


>        500W at 11 would probably destroy many small clubs, not to
mention
> the audience! ;)
>        To continue in the above theme, Lemmy uses two 100W Marshall
bass
> amps running in series, I believe, and that makes a _hell_ of a noise.

I remember reading an interview with Wurzel and Phil Campbell in
*Guitarist* a few years ago. One of 'em said that the first time he
played
with MH he wandered across the stage and on his way passed in front
of Lemmys stacks. He said that when he came out the other side he
thought he'd gone deaf 'cause it was so much quieter :-) And on a
similar note a friends band were in some practice rooms and the bass
player didn't have his amp so they borrowed one from the guy behind
the reception desk. He showed 'em to a cupboard full of Trace Elliott
gear which they set up - it was all in flight cases marked *Simply Red*.
Turned out to be their then bass players stage rig and it was so loud
that even on one they couldn't hear the drummer!!!!!!

There is a serious point to loud amps for bass players which is that
they can get plenty of poke without distortion (unless you're Lemmy
and like that sort of thing). I thought that part of the reason the Capt
Rizz
sounded so s**t was that the bass player was way too distorted. This is
quite common for support bands in general who turn everything up to
11 esp if they're not getting the full PA. Also worth noting that if
you're playing
clubs then a loud bass amp means you don't have to put it through the PA
but can leave that for keyboards and vocals. Guitarists, of course,
manage quite well in many venues with just a couple of Marshalls and
a few FX units :-)


Chris
p.s. If anyone in the Sheffield/Leeds/Nottingham areas wants a guitarist
who's influenced by Brock Angus Young and Ted Nugent for a space or
progressive rock band feel free to email me.............................



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