D.I. Box with upright

[Cat Burrito]

I'm fairly new to upright & we occasionally play acoustic gigs where I get to use it. I play country / bluegrass type stuff. At the bigger Art Centre gigs & the local acoustic night I have no problems sound wise but last night I again faced the inexperienced soundman's look of blind panic. I have a shadow pickup in the bridge & usually go through the PA. It sounds great. However with a less confident soundman I can get feedback & struggle to hear myself. My guitarist suggested I get myself a D.I. box and this seems a good idea. Would this be good idea & if so I wonder what the more experienced upright players would recommend? Also what tips can I give an inexperienced soundman to help get a good sound?

[Doddy]

I usually use an Aphex Bass Exciter with my Upright. It works as a good DI and gives me a bit of
extra tone control.

[keeponehandloose]

Fishman Pro Platinum ,its the only one to get.
5 band EQ ,low cut filter,phase reverse,D.I,tuner out battery or phanton power,etc.
You wont be sorry.
I never gig without it.

[TPJ]

I've used a DHA DI Eq with good results. Lately I just run into an Art Tube MP and eq at the desk and amp. The tube helps tame the piezo nicely.

[Gareth Hughes]

Get something with a flexible EQ - different venues pose different sound problems with the upright. If you can find one try a Fishman Dual Parametric DI.

A good tip to give the soundguy is to roll off a lot of the low end - from 100Hz down. That might sound like a high point to start cutting from but it can be very useful to letting to note be heard rather than the boom. A variable Hi-Pass filter works great for this - like the one found on Acoustic Image heads. That should be a feature common to all amps, IMO.

[Cat Burrito]

Thanks for the replies - Gareth, how did you rate the MXR pedal you just sold?

[Gareth Hughes]

I didn't get to try it with my upright - but I read that it didn't have a high enough input impedance which would limit it's compatibility with several of the piezo pickups out there. The EQ section was useful, tho I don't know what frequencies each knob was centered at. The manual was less than useful for that info. I don't imagine it to be a great DI/EQ for upright. The distortion channel (which can be used as a clean channel with the BLEND knob set fully to your clean signal) always has the COLOUR preset engaged, which has a huge mid-scoop and bass boost. Not good ingredients for most live settings (especially the ones I end up in at least 70% of the time).

Here's something that seems to have a bit of everything: [url="http://www.gollihurmusic.com/product/2093-LR_BAGGS_VENUE_DI_PREAMP_PEDAL_WITH_BUILT_IN_TUNER.html"]http://www.gollihurmusic.com/product/2093-...T_IN_TUNER.html[/url]

Certainly seems like a pretty handy pedal, and if I didn't have all of these components in separate pedals I'd be tempted to go for it.

[chrkelly]

Best straight DI sound I've had was with a Countryman Type 85, brilliant box with a 10M input

[url="http://www.countryman.com/store/product.asp?id=52&catid=10"]http://www.countryman.com/store/product.as...52&catid=10[/url]

[BassBod]

I go against perceived wisdom...don't use eq on (electric) upright. After years of trying I found it was fine without! My general choice is Orchid Electronics active DI with mute button and tuner send - so I can kill the output when I want. A cheapish box but sounds fine.

[Cat Burrito]

[quote name='BassBod' post='926790' date='Aug 16 2010, 07:19 PM']I go against perceived wisdom...don't use eq on (electric) upright. After years of trying I found it was fine without! My general choice is Orchid Electronics active DI with mute button and tuner send - so I can kill the output when I want. A cheapish box but sounds fine.[/quote]

[url="http://www.orchid-electronics.co.uk/muting_DI_Box.htm"]http://www.orchid-electronics.co.uk/muting_DI_Box.htm[/url] this one? I like the idea of muting the sound for tuning

[BassBod]

Yes, that's the one. Does the job fine, runs on phantom power and has a high enough input impedance (without being so high it starts to produce interesting noises you don't want). John @ Orchid is always very easy to talk to, so give him a call?

[Cat Burrito]

Cheers BassBod - I'm not buying this month but that one has got to be a serious contendor. I like the price too. I don't want to colour my sound

[PaulKing]

+ 1 on the Fishman Pro Eq bass.

It's designed to do the job, specifically for upright bass, no tone colouration, and it is not too expensive.

The EQ is a bit limited compared to expensive alternatives, but it's perfectly adequate.
Phase reverse and Hi Pass filter (Depth control) make feedback control a cinch.
Ground lift and pre-post DI out make sure you send the soundman best signal possible.
Useful little compressor too.

If you're after a good quality DI/preamp box for upright bass with piezo pick up, that allows you enough control to help out or even override the sound man, this little thing does it all for you.

I too never gig without it, whether I'm going into backline or straight to PA.

Edited August 23, 2010 by PaulKing

[PaulKing]

Tips to soundmen:

A lot of upright bass tone is in the midrange. It is not a dub sub bass instrument. You need mids and highs to be heard.
Getting heard through the mix is not just a case of boosting volume and low frequencies. That way feedback lies.

So yes, roll off the extreme lows, allow the mids and mid-highs to breathe to make it stand out in the mix.
At sound check you actually want it to sound slightly more unpleasantly mid-rangey than you think.. but then it cuts through the mix and allows you to pick out the low end better.

[Cat Burrito]

Thanks Paul, that's really useful

[DanOwens]

I like the Para DI by LR Baggs. Great bits of kit and fantastic feedback killers ([url="http://www.lrbaggs.com/paradi.htm"]http://www.lrbaggs.com/paradi.htm[/url]).

Dan

[thisnameistaken]

FWIW I've got a Fishman Platinum pre. I've only done one gig with it into the effect return of my Hartke LH500 but it definitely made the most of my cheap DB with expensive strings on it.

I bought the pre expecting to use it on fancier basses at some distant point in future, and since my first gig on DB I've been introduced to much fancier double basses at a much faster rate than I'd anticipated. And even been entrusted with making in-tune noises on them.

Double bassists are my new favourite type of musician.