Members andyhumb Posted September 5, 2012 Members Share Posted September 5, 2012 I am not a bass player, but I have a friend who is playing bass in a church band and tells me he is plugging his electric bass direclty into the church PA system. He tried a friends cheap small bass amp and it was too quiet. Anyway, I told him it makes no sense to plug directly into a PA system with an electric bass, but if he absolutely insists to do this, I think he should first go into something like a Bass POD or something like that. Any solutions for under $100 used that I could suggest to this guy? Im thinking maybe a used Bass POD off of evay cheap. That should improve the tone a bit. Much appreciated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitargod0dmw Posted September 5, 2012 Members Share Posted September 5, 2012 Grab a DI. You can usually find a Radial JDI or a Countryman Type 85 for around $100 on the used market. Let the soundman EQ for the room. How does your friend hear himself? Why does it make no sense? The majority of larger venues are going to run bass through the PA. Otherwise you'd never hear it, let alone feel it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members chunky-b Posted September 5, 2012 Members Share Posted September 5, 2012 Just grab one of these or a similar model... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members georgestrings Posted September 5, 2012 Members Share Posted September 5, 2012 Originally Posted by guitargod0dmw Grab a DI. You can usually find a Radial JDI or a Countryman Type 85 for around $100 on the used market. Let the soundman EQ for the room. How does your friend hear himself? Why does it make no sense? The majority of larger venues are going to run bass through the PA. Otherwise you'd never hear it, let alone feel it. Agreed - I prefer the Countryman because it sounds great with all my basses, both passive and active - whereas the JDI I had didn't work that well with some of my passives... Still, both are pro grade pieces of gear that can be had around $100 used - and are well worth it for any bass player... - georgestrings Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RoadRanger Posted September 5, 2012 Members Share Posted September 5, 2012 Originally Posted by andyhumb I am not a bass player, but I have a friend who is playing bass in a church band and tells me he is plugging his electric bass direclty into the church PA system. He tried a friends cheap small bass amp and it was too quiet. Anyway, I told him it makes no sense to plug directly into a PA system with an electric bass, but if he absolutely insists to do this, I think he should first go into something like a Bass POD or something like that. Any solutions for under $100 used that I could suggest to this guy? Im thinking maybe a used Bass POD off of evay cheap. That should improve the tone a bit. Much appreciated If the PA has a high impedance input or the bass is active there's really no problem with plugging straight in. Otherwise a simple impedance transformer works. I carry one of these:http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...ductId=2062444 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators isaac42 Posted September 5, 2012 Moderators Share Posted September 5, 2012 Back in my pro days, my amp went out one night. Having no other choice, I plugged directly into the PA. It was a bit weak on the low end, but otherwise sounded great. In fact, it sounded so good that I continued to play that way for some time. In what way does this "make no sense"? Technical details: this was some thirty years ago. The board was a Yamaha unit, and had both Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RoadRanger Posted September 5, 2012 Members Share Posted September 5, 2012 I find the better the player the less carp he needs in his signal path. I do like to mess about with "toys" at home but have no prob doing gigs direct. At rehearsals I'll occasionally crank up the "crunch" but usually get a "WTF?" from the band LOL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Darkstorm Posted September 6, 2012 Members Share Posted September 6, 2012 Going thru house PA for main sound is great way to go imo. I prefer using processor of choice for my ready for recording tone, and send that signal to mixer & PA. For processors I faovr Zoom's upper end. Though their mid line stuff is ok to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members KeysBear Posted September 7, 2012 Members Share Posted September 7, 2012 I have the Sansamp BDDI and the Behringer for a spare. We used to run bass at church through the PA but they got afraid we were going to blow the mains and bought an Ampeg combo which I have yet to get dialed in for a sound I like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rezrover Posted September 7, 2012 Members Share Posted September 7, 2012 Buys a decent mic, mic the friend's friend's amp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members heath_eld Posted September 15, 2012 Members Share Posted September 15, 2012 Lot of churches do this. The best thing your friend can do is use his ears. Is it sounding ok? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members panthalassa Posted September 26, 2012 Members Share Posted September 26, 2012 Really, it's no big deal to plug a bass directly into a PA or recording mixer; turn the treble down a bit if it's too bright sounding. All a "clean" DI box is going to do is convert the signal from high-impedance unbalanced to a low-impedance balanced signal; they don't do any tone shaping. I own a SansAmp bass DI and I'm a big fan of it. Basically, it's a DI box but simulates the sound of a bass amp + cab, and has controls for tone, volume and drive. There's a cheap copy of the SansAmp Bass DI by Behringer called the V-tone BDI-21. Sounds just like the SansAmp, but it's housed in a plastic box instead of a metal one, and can't be powered from phantom power like the SansAmp. I bought the Behringer first and later bought the SansAmp when I could afford it. The SansAmp bass DI, about $200This is all I use now. I also have a 10" powered JBL wedge if I really need to hear myself. I do play upright bass, however. So monitoring is not that much of an issue. For the rock gigs that require more power, I roll out my two Ampeg 15" SVT cabs with the GK 1001RB. Way overkill, I know, but they look neat stacked up. Plus it's a mini-weightlifting workout if I remember to use my legs, not my back! ;PFWIW the party band gigs require only one SVT cab, and I use the GK's built-in DI to go to the house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DBR Posted November 2, 2012 Members Share Posted November 2, 2012 D.I. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bassandgolf Posted November 2, 2012 Members Share Posted November 2, 2012 I like the MXR Bass DI Plus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members joegrant413 Posted November 3, 2012 Members Share Posted November 3, 2012 I've been using a VT Bass Deluxe into the church PA system, and use a QSC K12 as my own stage monitor. The VT Bass Deluxe has XLR out. I don't know if you can find one used or not for $100, however. Thx, -- Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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