On a recent episode of the SBL podcast, the question was asked whether In-Ear monitors are the way of the future and if that means there is no more need for bass amps? Like most SBL podcasts, the title is a bit misleading but I guess that’s how you get the views. They mainly talk about the pros and cons of IEMs but my take on the ‘death’ of the bass amp is an unequivocal no.

It’s not that I don’t like working with IEM systems but, to date, I’ve only had the opportunity to use them a mere handful of times despite continuing decades of frequent musical activity. The sound you can get from a well set up system is like listening to an album, the level is controllable and you can also feed in things like click tracks and a mic for the band leader to comment on what is coming up. However, at the grassroots level I play at, the infrastructure isn’t there. Even when places like churches move to digital desks and have more aux mixes than musicians on the stage, there are still all sorts of additional things that need to be put in place. Some churches use them (playing for a conference at Emmanuel in Loughborough earlier this month was my first ever IEM-only ‘gig’) but most don’t and the benefits when everything works right have to be weighed against the problems if it doesn’t (and the fact that low budgets and mainly volunteers playing and running sound increase the chance of the latter happening too often for comfort).

I’ve got two bass outings this week – a concert band rehearsal tonight and an open mic in town tomorrow. IEMs wouldn’t work for either. In the first setting, I’m using a smallish amp because, unlike a tuba, the electric bass is far too quiet on its own and everyone else needs to hear it through the air. For the second, I’ll get on stage, plug in and then it is pretty much time to start. The sound check amounts to checking a signal is coming through and both performers and audience are hearing the same sound in the room.

I’m glad that the days seem to have passed when I might need to own an amp too large to carry with one hand but I’m not convinced I’ll either see the time when there is no point owning an amp at all.