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Issues witn using the PA to amplify double bass?


paddy109
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Excuse my ignorance but are there any issues with going straight oit through the PA as other instruments do. For instance could I use a small amp as a monitor and the main of the sound come through a PA.
The band I am in are reluctant for me to try this but are always wanting more sound volume than I can produce!
Paddy

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Nope, no problem at all, as long as your PA isn't stupidly small.

It's almost impossible to get a double bass loud enough to be heard over a band with backline alone, especially if you're up against amped guitars.
If your band only want you to go through the backline, then switch to electric bass - that's what Leo Fender invented it for.....

I have my amp loud enough for myself and the drummer to hear on stage. We then take a line out into the PA for FOH sound and a monitor on the guitarist's side of the stage. To be fair, we don't need a huge of bass going through the PA, just enough to spread the sound out and allow me to stay below feedback inducing onstage volume.

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Depends on the PA Paddy, if its just a basic vocal PA I wouldn't go anywhere near it with your low frequencies, you'll just suck up all the headroom of the system and the speakers will probably not be designed to take the low frequencies. In that scenario I think you'd be better off with a bigger amp and keeping control of your sound.

If you're talking about an in house PA with a sound engineer etc. then thats a different story.

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Obvious problem is the bass taking up too many low frequencies and knocking out the vocal lows. The crux is this. . do you have a seperate amp for the bass? if not then you have no choice but to go throught the pa. In my experience, make do and mend and be happy with what you get. Unless it's a massive venue theres no problem. Modern venues always have ridiculously high volumes which are unneccessary. Tell the sound guy you want lower levels.

Edited by lettsguitars
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There really should be no more problem with this than doing exactly the same with an electric bass. You wouldn't put an electric bass through a vocal PA with 8" speakers and yes, you can run out of headroom much more quickly with bass frequencies so a decent amp and speakers are required but bottom E is still the same frequency.

The only difference I can see as an engineer is getting a clean feed of your sound and a double bass is much more prone to feedback so you need to keep stage volumes down.

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You can certainly do what you are suggesting. Ensure you give the PA a strong signal, ideally from the D I out from your pre-amp. I assume you have one, if not I strongly advise you to get one to give you control of your sound.

I play a central London venue where the stage is tiny & the house bass amp is either broken or locked away downstairs. I got fed up of struggling upstairs & through a packed club with it and started going direct into the PA. Whilst there's no monitor, the PA speakers are just above my head so I can hear just enough. Whilst I'd prefer my amp onstage, the practicalities make the PA solution the best for me.

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I don't know if anyone else does this, but when we put the DB in the PA, we cut the low bass out, roll off anywhere from 80-180hz and below. This cleans up the DB tone to no end and keeps those headroom eaters at bay. You'd be surprised how much "bass" is still there but it's tamed.

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[quote name='TPJ' timestamp='1328867436' post='1533844']
I don't know if anyone else does this, but when we put the DB in the PA, we cut the low bass out, roll off anywhere from 80-180hz and below. This cleans up the DB tone to no end and keeps those headroom eaters at bay. You'd be surprised how much "bass" is still there but it's tamed.
[/quote]

Spot on; this is how I ask the engineer to do my sound when I'm lucky enough to get a PA feed. You want to get a nice clean middle out to the audience and the bottoms will look after themselves. I also ask for no DB on the monitors, seems to keep the front line happy. I also use a small backline most of the time.

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[quote name='brensabre79' timestamp='1329303083' post='1540185']
Probably best to go from the pre-amp so you can tweak your amp to suit you and not have to worry about it affecting PA feed...
[/quote]

Unless the DI out on your amp is pre-eq, which i think they most often are, but you'd need to check.

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Ok - still digesting all the great advice. Throwing up more questions as we go.
The gear we use for our gigs (mostly medium size pubs) -active speakers with 15" subs and tweeters, 300w per speaker. Is there any chance in blowing/damaging anything. Its all acoustic instruments - we tend to stick to a single mic approach if feedback problems dont occur.
My plan is to try - bass to fishman pro pre amp, one lead to my gk150e and one to desk/foh - all sound ok?
Learning as I go - the band I am in have not played with a bass before.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Thanks to everyone for the advice - had a gig last sat and much happier with the sound! Went through gk and pa - still gotta way to go but all in the band much happier. We all played like complete muppets mind you - hey it's only rock n roll!
Paddy

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[quote name='paddy109' timestamp='1332085148' post='1582935']
Thanks to everyone for the advice - had a gig last sat and much happier with the sound! Went through gk and pa - still gotta way to go but all in the band much happier. We all played like complete muppets mind you - hey it's only rock n roll!
Paddy
[/quote]

Don't knock the Muppets!

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I often play through my amp and when the others go through a pair of Mackie 450's I also go through them. Although not to hog the headroom I always ask them to take most of the bass out. This way the punters get most of the bass frequencies from my amp but a bit of presence/clarity from the 450's. Then what I hear is a big clear punchy sound from both which can be excellent. So its a balance of the two really.

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