How to hear yourself when playing in group

[Jerry Krinock]

I'm an amateur bass player (and electrical engineer). I have a 65-
watt amplifier with a 1x12-inch speaker (Ibanez). When I play with
other guitarists, they stand next to me with their amps, which are
smaller than mine, but I have trouble hearing myself because, well,
for those of you who don't know, it takes alot less power to move mid-
frequencies than bass. Same problem with the drummer, but of course
he doesn't even need an amp.

One solution is to go out and buy a 300-watt amp with 2x15-inch
speakers. But for reasons of economy and not having to haul this
monster around, I don't want to do that.

I thought that the solution would be one of these headphone amps. I
tried a Pocket Rock-It, but it was nowhere near loud enough --
useless. I believe that a 1-watt amplifier driving headphones would
be more than loud enough, especially if I used headphones that
mechanically attenuated other sound.

Does anyone know of a powerfully loud headphone amp for bass which
also has a "thru" output to feed my amp? Preferably something small
and battery-operated like the Pocket Rock-It. Or is there a better
way to solve this problem?

Thanks,

Jerry Krinock

[FF]

Jerry Krinock <jerryk...@gmail.com> writes:

First, as you've discovered, a 65W 1x12 is nowhere near enough to play
rock bass with a band. 300W 1x15, 2x10 or 2x12 is the usual
recommendation.

What I think you have independently discovered is why so many folks
are using in-ear monitoring solutions. A good set of IEM's (Shure E5
if you can afford, or E4 are both good for bass) and an appropriate
belt pack or wireless in-ear system should be all you need (Shure PSM
series, or Sennheiser's equivalent are all good and have built in
limiters that may protect you from some ear damage if you pull your
bass cord out unexpectedly). Generally a line out, pre out on the amp
or a direct box split feeds these systems. If you get a set of very
efficient IEM's or headphones though your pocket rockit may even
perform this feat for you.

Headphones do vary wildly in their efficiency and rejection of ambient
noise. I learned this the first time I did sessions with what I
thought were decent headphones. A $110 set of Sony MDR-something or
other closed-ear headphones solved that issue when an "aging but state
of the art 15 years ago" set of headphones could not.

[wegotrocks]

As you've said, it takes a lot more power to push a low frequency than a
mid or high frequency. It's exactly why a mid-to-high range PA horn is
only 60 watts and will cut you in half at the back of a hall, but a nice
bass reflex chamber that has one 18" woofer might be as powerful as 400
watts.

If you can't hear yourself, chances are, you're not being heard off the
stage either. The headphone arrangement might make you able to hear
yourself, but isn't going to do anything for the balance from the
audience perspective. sometime power is your only reasonable option.
If you don't want to carry a big rig around, consider switching to
harmonica!

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