Members GeekBass Posted February 7, 2009 Members Share Posted February 7, 2009 Having been out of the loop for a while, I am looking for some ideas or solutions to my small problem. I have two primary basses - a Pedulla Buzz Bass and a Fender Jazz Bass. When I play at my church, I always go direct. Neither the monitor system or house PA are good enough to replicate much tone, so my expectations are pretty low. The people running sound each week are often not musicians, nor do they know much about running sound. I don't expect this is too different than many other churches. I recently purchased an A/B switch in hopes that I could bring both basses and switch between them. I found that the Pedulla has significantly higher output than my Jazz Bass. Unfortunately, this is a problem for the sound people as they don't know how to deal with this - and certainly cannot handle it on-the-fly during a worship set on Sunday morning. Are there any devices available that will help me even out the levels before going into the direct box? If I could control that part of the chain, the sound person can set the level once and be done. My thoughts have been to use a volume pedal or a compressor/limiter. I have always hated what stompbox compressors due to bass tone so I am very reluctant to go that route. What about some dual-channel device with one XLR output that could replace the house direct box? Any other ideas? I would appreciate any direction that anyone might have. My final alternative is to pile in one Sunday with two 8x10 Ampeg cabs and an old SVT. That might work only once though... Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Poltergeist Posted February 7, 2009 Members Share Posted February 7, 2009 a radial box would be cool, you can plug in a number of basses and keep them EQ'd at the same level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jpabassman Posted February 7, 2009 Members Share Posted February 7, 2009 One option, probably the simplest & cheapest, keep the Fender volume on full & back off on the Pedula's volume untill it matches the Fender. I've been trying this for a while now and its working fine. My louder bass has the same tone no matter where I put its volume. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Guttermouth Posted February 7, 2009 Members Share Posted February 7, 2009 i built a box a while back for a forumite here that was in the same situation.it was essentially an a/b box with a volume on one input so he could attenuate one bass down to match the other.judging by what he said it worked well iirc behringer and boss make something similar but i don't remember the model number right off hand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bassred Posted February 7, 2009 Members Share Posted February 7, 2009 Bassbone would be great for this situation, it'd give you two inputs with level controls, EQ, and DI to the board! I have my pedal board setup with one side for my active bass and the other side has a Bi-FET preamp and a custom active EQ, so I use the second side for wither my passive basses or my upright, and it essentially makes them 'Active' with the EQ (Which came from an active bass, I had my tech put it in a box) and that gives it a level (volume) control, so I can 'match' the output levels of my two basses for any gig and send a consistant signal to FOH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Emprov Posted February 7, 2009 Members Share Posted February 7, 2009 This may be a dumb question, but why do you need to switch basses? Why can't you just play with one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members FreestyleIntruder Posted February 7, 2009 Members Share Posted February 7, 2009 Behringer AB100? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members james on bass Posted February 8, 2009 Members Share Posted February 8, 2009 i built a box a while back for a forumite here that was in the same situation.it was essentially an a/b box with a volume on one input so he could attenuate one bass down to match the other.judging by what he said it worked well iirc behringer and boss make something similar but i don't remember the model number right off hand. Yes you did, and yes it does!! I can't comment on how well it works compared to the Boss or the Behringer (shudder) I was thinking of buying, but I know for sure it's built much better and looks way cooler! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DevilRaysFan Posted February 8, 2009 Members Share Posted February 8, 2009 This may be a dumb question, but why do you need to switch basses? Why can't you just play with one? substitute "boobs" for "basses" and you have your answer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Emprov Posted February 8, 2009 Members Share Posted February 8, 2009 substitute "boobs" for "basses" and you have your answer Playing with boobs in church. Hehe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members georgestrings Posted February 8, 2009 Members Share Posted February 8, 2009 This may be a dumb question, but why do you need to switch basses? Why can't you just play with one? I can't answer for the OP, but I suspect it's a matter of needing to cover material... In my case, I play approximately half my band's stuff on a 4 string, the other half on a 5er... - georgestrings Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bleepo Posted February 8, 2009 Members Share Posted February 8, 2009 the Radial Bassbone is what you seek. 2 basses, preamp (if desired), and a radial J48 style DI. Also a tuner out and an effects loop if needed. http://www.tonebone.com/tb-bassbone.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Perfessor Posted February 8, 2009 Members Share Posted February 8, 2009 For the sound man I would use the following device. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GeekBass Posted February 8, 2009 Author Members Share Posted February 8, 2009 I have seen the BassBone, but not heard one. I fear that there is built-in compression that I will not like. Back in my day, that is what came in similar units and they ultimately sounded like garbage. I would like to hear one before plunking down $250 but cannot find any in my area. GC is out because you cannot hear yourself think in those stores. Apparently, someone told the guitar players they can get "discovered" there so put on their coolest gig clothes and go there to shred. (insert puke here) The Behringer AB-100 seems like it will do the trick and for $30 it may be a worth taking a chance. I will probably try that first. As for switching basses, the Pedulla is fretless and the Jazz is fretted. It would be nice (and fun for me) to switch as the songs require. I don't like turning back the volume on the fretless as it affects the tone - and that bass is all about tone. I cannot comment on playing with boobs in church for obvious reasons. Thanks again for all the tips and suggestions! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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