Kaiu

If it is the sound of your preamp you are after then I'd check whether your DI is pre or post. My Aguilar DB750 DI is before any of the gain stages, however there is a switch to switch it to POST EQ if required.

In order to get the 'complete' tone of your amp you need to mic it. However the sound sent to FOH depends very much on where the Mic is placed, the type of Mic and bleed on stage etc.

Therefore in my opinion the best results are often a mixture of the two. Given time a Mic can be set up and placed properly, however in most situations I use a DI and Mic.
The DI replicates the bass really well and has a nice treble to it. The FOH guy then takes the Mic signal, removes some of the lows and blends it with the DI signal giving the growl.

This isn't always an option though. When I don't have this option I usually use a Sansamp, or use the DI on my amp with the eq set to post.

Lazy/uninterested soundmen do exist which might explain some cases, just as there are bassists who insist on sending the most unusable sound to the FOH thinking it will sound the same out of the PA as it does through their amp.

Ed

Really smart looking rig you have there. I like the look of simple rigs, matching head and cab.
Behringer tuner looks cool aswell.

I'm guessing she sounds as good as she looks...

+1 I'd also like to know if anyone has experience with one of these.

I have a Sansamp BDDI and was wondering whether it's worth 'upgrading' to the RBI.

Ed

There used to be this naive, overbearing foul-mouthed american girl working for our manager/label who handled our image, artwork etc. She knew nothing about the music industry, or what's cool. anyway she convinced him he looked good looking like that. She used to prattle on about his 'good side' etc She is also responsible for our cr**py image (which is starting to get better now that she has gone and we have more control, a lot of old photos are still flying about though). We still take the piss out of him for it though.lol

It was Jim Wirt. He did the first Hoobastank album, some of the incubus stuff and Something Corporate's albums i think. We used a hollow bodied gibson, came out really well!


I've seen lots of people using Axess over the voodoo stuff. I've no idea how it compares though. Has anyone used their stuff?
Our guitarist has just bought the voodoo lab setup but we havn't tried it yet.

Ed

p.s bassboy115 I like it! The intro to So Sorry is cool, do you use a Jazz live? I found that my jazz doesn't cut through so I only use it for acoustics now

I think it means owns.

as in:

1. owns

To be excellent or superior.
[i]That new video game owns[/i]

Indeed! I was surprised how many people use his stuff though! We were on tour with Simple Plan and they had loads of his gadgets around the place, controlling various amps, pedals etc

Great customer support aswell!

ed

Thanks guys,

The six string sounds nice, however it is first come, first serve on this one, sorry! This is now sold pending all the usual stuff...

And you're right, he was right in there with the PM and sorting out the pickup!

[quote name='EBS_freak' post='213912' date='Jun 6 2008, 03:45 PM']I do love Axess Electronics stuff... (Man, hardcore for controlling just two pedals though!!) I want one of their floorboards, so much better than the Ground Control!![/quote]

Ha yeah I know, i used to have more, plus a preamp. However I've been simplifying my rig recently, and given that I already have the axess, I might aswell use it! Having it rackmounted keeps all my settings which is great for festivals when we get no soundcheck.

ed

This is my Aguilar setup, the pedals, the amp mute and my soon to be sold Aguilar Agro (where the space is! [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=21069)"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=21069)[/url] are controlled by the Axess Electronics midi. The pedal is phantom powered so only one cable to the amp.

[attachment=9374:IMG_0382.JPG][attachment=9376:IMG_0384.JPG]
[attachment=9375:IMG_0383.JPG] [attachment=9377:IMG_0385.JPG]
[attachment=9378:IMG_0386.JPG]

Hi

I am selling my Aguilar Agro for £120. It is basically the distortion channel from the Aguilar AG500. It cost me £250 new from the Bass Gallery, but I am not using it enough to justify keeping it.


Taken from the site: [i]The AGRO is a saturation circuit that can be used to create the full range of bass distortion. Tones range from tube-like growl to insane overdrive without losing low end. The AGRO’s three band shelving EQ, contour and presence controls make it simple to shape your sound. Set the AGRO up as an effect unit or use it as a preamp. The AGRO features Instrument level in, line/instrument level out, and an additional line output. Includes footswitch and rack ears.[/i]

[url="http://www.aguilaramp.com/products_preamps_agro.htm"]http://www.aguilaramp.com/products_preamps_agro.htm[/url]

[attachment=9358:IMG_0372.JPG][attachment=9359:IMG_0373.JPG][attachment=9361:IMG_0375.JPG]

It is a great piece of kit, I primarily used it as an effects unit, putting it before my Aguilar DB750. It has lived in a rack all it's life, however there are a couple of scratches (as shown) from removing it from the rack.
[attachment=9360:IMG_0374.JPG] [attachment=9366:IMG_0382.JPG]
Also, which may be useful or not, I found it a nuisance having the footswitch and outputs on the rear of the unit, so I had two holes drilled in the rack ears and had jack sockets fitted. Only one of the jack leads remains attached (I stopped using the other one so I removed it) but if someone wanted to they could easily re-attach another.
[attachment=9362:IMG_0376.JPG][attachment=9363:IMG_0378.JPG]
I am including the: Footswitch, rack ears and american powersupply, it works off uk voltage so I just used an adapter (which I can include). I don't have the box anymore as this unit arrived while I was on tour, it was straight out and into my rack.
[attachment=9364:IMG_0381.JPG][attachment=9365:IMG_0387.JPG][attachment=9367:IMG_0380.JPG]
Aguilar make great gear, and very reliable too. I have done over 150+ gigs with my current set up, from tiny sweaty clubs to arena's and have never had any problems.

Thanks,

Ed

p.s I live in Yorkshire, but I travel alot so it maybe possible to meet up somewhere closer to you. Howver this unit isn't heavy and with the rack ears removed doesn't take up much space so it can easily be posted.

Thanks m8.

Doesn't take up much space either!

[quote name='cheddatom' post='213082' date='Jun 5 2008, 11:53 AM']Yeh, isn't that the same for most distortion pedals?

If you like overdriving the input of your amp, I would get a boost and/or OD to go just before your amp, and plug the rest of your pedals (lbm) into this.[/quote]

Thanks! Do you know of any decent pedals that can be used? something that really does just give a boost and doesn't colour the sound to much. I have a sansamp that I used to run before the amp but it changed the tone too much, so now I just run it parallel as a DI.

ed

[quote name='benwhiteuk' post='213026' date='Jun 5 2008, 10:33 AM']IMO the little big muff is the best 'new' muff you can buy (that is of course not taking into account the new 'Bass Muff' as it's not even out yet). I use one and it's great with the tone and drive backed off a bit - it keeps the low end so well and gives a dirty fuzz with nice harmonic content. I've never experienced the relative volume of the muff to drop when it's activated though - maybe yours is dead? or maybe you need to just back off the wireless output or something? What’s the issue with turning down the output on the wireless receiver?[/quote]

My DB750 doesn't sound as good when the output of the wireless is backed off. I like sending a really hot signal to the DB750 in order to get a slightly overdriven sound from the tubes in the preamp. It sounds to clean otherwise.

Our FOH engineer just says 'Get an Ampeg', but I don't see the point, the DB750 is reliable, no power tubes to replace, and and when driven it can sound really good.

All I need to do is sort out this big muff! I'm not sure if it's broken or not. Even when I plug directly into the big muff and engage it, although there is a little boost, it isn't huge.

The way I see it, maybe the output level of the Big Muff is finite, i.e after a certain point no matter how hot the signal running into it, the output will always be the same?!

ed

Sorry for my misuse of terms.

Basically the level of the signal running into the Big Muff. If it's to high the big muff doesn't work properly.
There is a volume drop when I engage it, even with the volume on full.

I always gig with a Sansamp, it is one of the best pieces of equipment I have ever purchased. However I don't like running it instead of an amp.

I run mine instead of a standard DI box so that I send the FOH a slightly dirtier signal. I then run the parallel out into my Aguilar so that I have the sound of my amp onstage, and space permitting, being mic'ed up.

All the times I've used it without an amp it has always lacked something, I didn't play around long enough to work out what was missing. But our FOH guy prefers it over a standard DI.

ed

I'm sure I read somewhere about the problems of using an active bass with a little big muff?

Anyway, not sure of the science here, but in order to get the required 'boost' from the big muff when I engage it, the input gain has to be below a certain point.
Which means turning down the output on my wireless reciever, and bringing up the overall 'master level' on my amp to compensate.

For these purposes my signal path is: Musicman (Wireless) --- Wireless Reciever - Big Muff - AMP.

However, my DB750 doesn't sound as good when it's not being driven as hard (I have the gain on full and the output on my Wireless on full), so what do I do?

Is my Big Muff broken or is this a common problem?

Another thing I heard over on TB was that changing the tube in the first stage could help, maybe giving more gain so I wouldn't have to run the gain knob on full? or is this just speculation?

Thanks, ed

[quote name='Machines' post='210645' date='Jun 1 2008, 06:04 PM']A Jazz will never sound like a Stingray - it's the pickups that give each their signature sound. A J-Retro won't make it sound like a different bass, it will however enhance how it already sounds.[/quote]

Thanks. I love the sound of the Jazz when we play acoustic however it fails to cut through full band. Whereas the Sterling cuts through, even though I don't like the tone quite as much as the jazz.

I don't have a problem hearing it as I use in-ears, it's FOH i'm concerned about.

Ok well, the J retro might help me eq it better to help cut through, other than that there's always the option of replacing pickups if there is enough room.

[quote name='King Tut' post='210611' date='Jun 1 2008, 05:22 PM']How about an East J Retro, with the mids boosted. What i like is the passive bypass - ideal if you're gigging and worry about flat batteries.[/quote]

Thanks for the info! Looks very promising. In fact the switch looks like it might come in handy. Does anyone know how this would compare to the tone of a Musicman Stingray/Sterling with the eq on?

Still open to other suggestions.

Thanks!

Hi,

I have a Fender Jazz, which I love the look of and love the playability. However it just doesnt cut through nearly as well as my Musicman Sterling or my Ibanez ATK-500 (they are both active).

I was think of replacing the bridge pickup in the Jazz or possibly putting active electronics in it. My initial thought was just to remove all the electronics + pickup from the Ibanez and install it into the Jazz, however that would be ruining a perfectly good Ibanez!

I havn't seen or heard of anyone installing a Musicman style pickup into a Jazz. Would that be my best option or are there replacement Jazz pickups that can emulate that sound?

Thanks!

Ed

I currently use a musicman sterling through a Sansamp into an Aguilar DB750 + 2 GS410's.

However the DI on the Sansamp actually sounds better than running it before the Aguilar and taking the DI from the Amp.
The Aguilar seems to make it a little 'wooly'.

Given that I'm using in-ear monitors and our soundguy really dislikes using a mic (as we have quite a lot going on with 2 double mesa stacks, and it never actually sounds that great in my ears!). Surely my DB750 is completely redundant!

Anyway, I tried out an SVT II the other day and the sound was more what I was looking for. Like the sansamp but with more 'balls'.

I was thinking of trading my DB750 for an SVT and running an Avalon U5 (http://www.avalondesign.com/instrudi.html) after the amp to try and get the tone of the power tubes aswell.

Has anyone had experience with speaker level di's? and do they do a good job of replicating the sound?

If they aren't that great I think I'd be better off just keeping the Sansamp and running into the power section of the db750 if i ever need a 'conventional' amp

I'd hate to fork out £1000+ on an Ampeg without it being heard past the first few rows.

Thanks,

ed

go for it! It can be an amazing solo instrument, i've always loved the Bach cello suite's, they aren't too difficult and they are great exercises at the same time.

Also If you can find a piano playing friend (in my case it was a tutor) to acompany you there are also some great pieces out there for cello and piano. That really helped to keep it interesting when I was starting out.

Nice, it's a bit of a basschat sesh this time round! I have a bit in there aswell (Elliot Minor). There is a photo of me with my ATK and sterling, both bought off fellow basschatter's.


ed

If the monitor mixes are done from Foh, the way we did it, was to have our transmitter rack next to the Foh desk. So that instead of running the monitor feeds to the wedges we just plug our transmitter's in instead.

As far as headphones go, any quality pair will do. We used the £20 sennheiser's for ages before we bought Shure e2's (i think?!)



HOWEVER.. one downside is that if the front of house desk is quite far away, reception can be dodgy (especially if the room is full of people or it is a low cieling). So we had to invest in a router type thing with a large aerial. (We did have 5 sets of in-ears though so it was worth it).

[quote name='Paul Cooke' post='181250' date='Apr 20 2008, 07:24 PM']they do that because they can charge it to the Band's tab... it all comes back off the advance... basically, it's not their money they're spending...[/quote]

Not when it's a promotional cost. The label pays for everything relating to instores, interviews, TV performances etc. Recoupable costs are Videos, Album.single recordings, tour support etc

That's how our deal is structured. It may not be the same in every case.