To make a short story long here we go... My last bass amp (SWR15) i was able to play my bass along with music by way of a cd player hooked up to a stereo receiver and i could play bass with songs no problem at all....but since, my SWR petered out and i purchased another practice amp (the Ashdown 180-15) and its nice but, it has no headphone jack. As I need to practice with headphones as i live in an apartment, i was wondering, I purchased a cheap Behringer mixer w/ headphone jack of coarse. How would I connect:
1) cd player/receiver to mixer.
2) Bass guitar to mixer.
3) And both those from mixer to bass amp, to practice?

Ps. I have a Behringer 1002FX mixer.

Please tell me theres a way. I can't purchase really anything else, the wife is ready to strangle me.

This is what you have right? -->
http://www.ashdownmusic.com/press/press_images/bass/EB15180.jpg

OK man I just got this all figured out and I think we can make this work.

When I'm looking at it I see several options that could fit your needs. First I see there is an effects loop on this combo amp, i'll explain in case you are not familiar with this: The "effects send" and "effects return" jacks are an effects loop, its after all the preamp and eq part basically your key to getting the cd player input. What I would suggest is you connect a cable from the effects send to an input on the mixer you have (say ch1), then you would connect the cd player to another input (say ch2) and then take a cable from the main output of the mixer and connect it to the effects return jack. Then to meet your needs of silent practices I would connect a pair of headphones to an aux output on the mixer. MAKE SURE THAT THE MASTER VOLUME ON THE MIXER IS ALL THE WAY DOWN if you want no output from your actual 15" speaker on the combo.

This setup should work, anyone else have any thoughts? BTW you would use plain instrument (1/4") cables on the effect loop connections.


Additional notes:

I pulled up your mixer, here's the pic i'm looking at: http://www.americanmusical.com/images/h/p36604h.jpg
In that I would use the "line input" jack on ch1 to connect the effects send cable with and then plug your cd player into the line input on ch2. I think you have a headphone output on that mixer, i would use that for your headphones, if you don't have a headphone jack then you could use the rca tape outputs. One of the main outputs would go to the effects return jack on the amp. By using the effects loop you will have the tone of the bass after going through the ashdown preamp and eq and you will have your cd player as well as the ability to have no volume on the main combo while still using headphones to jam with. Likewise you could have headphones and the combo going if you wanted. (just turn up your main mixer volume to do that).

Ibanezzer, both of those products are exactly what i have. And the way you explained it, it really seems like it should work, and as it is getting late right now, i'll get at this first thing in the morning. And I will definitely post the results after. And thank you for taking the time to explain this to me in plain english as i'm pretty much a novice at electronics. And this will be a good learning experience for me. God i love this forum. Thanks again and i'll let you know the outcome as soon as i know.

There is an easier way to hook it up for silent practicing if that is what you are asking.
You plug your bass into the amp, using a microphone cable go from DI out on the amp to MIC in on the mixer. CD player goes into CD/TAPE IN on the mixer, make sure CD/TAPE IN button is depressed plug the headphones into the mixer, start playback and have fun!

Ok thanks emils i'll also give that a try, and yes what i'm trying to to do is simply hear music and my bass through headphones.

There is an easier way to hook it up for silent practicing if that is what you are asking.
You plug your bass into the amp, using a microphone cable go from DI out on the amp to MIC in on the mixer. CD player goes into CD/TAPE IN on the mixer, make sure CD/TAPE IN button is depressed plug the headphones into the mixer, start playback and have fun!

that's what I do, but I have my bose speakers plugged into my particular mixer, and I plug headphones into the speakers when I need to. I don't necessarily plug it into the tape / cd in but I use line input jack from the headphones jack on the CD player, since doesn't have any other output. It's all about having the right cords and adapters.

Ok I did what Ibanezzer said to do and it works great!!! But, where does the bass guitar hookup go? Do I go from the bass (obviously) to the instrument input on the amp, or from the bass into the mixer somewhere? Sorry to sound like such a dope, but i am.


EDIT: And can I go and run my CD/DVD player right into the mixer and do away with the receiver?

Ok I did what Ibanezzer said to do and it works great!!! But, where does the bass guitar hookup go? Do I go from the bass (obviously) to the instrument input on the amp, or from the bass into the mixer somewhere? Sorry to sound like such a dope, but i am.


EDIT: And can I go and run my CD/DVD player right into the mixer and do away with the receiver?


Plug your bass into the ashdown combo like you normally would, connecting a cable from the effects send to your mixer would then give you the eq'd/preamp'd tone + your bass.

Above I see that someone mentioned using the DI output, I didn't mention that as I see no mute button on your combo so if i'm thinking right I woudl think that you would not be able to do a silent practice when using the DI, though I could be wrong.

Also in regards to the cdplayer/reciever setup, you would only need the cd player (such as a portable one or taking the signal from your home stereo setup).

David.

Plug your bass into the ashdown combo like you normally would, connecting a cable from the effects send to your mixer would then give you the eq'd/preamp'd tone + your bass.

Above I see that someone mentioned using the DI output, I didn't mention that as I see no mute button on your combo so if i'm thinking right I woudl think that you would not be able to do a silent practice when using the DI, though I could be wrong.

Also in regards to the cdplayer/reciever setup, you would only need the cd player (such as a portable one or taking the signal from your home stereo setup).

David.


The master volume on the amp doesn't affect the DI so all you have to do is turn the volume down, you'll still get the signal to the mixer. Send and return on the amp are only mono, so if you do it as Ibanezzer is saying you will only be able to hear one side of the stereo recording.

What is the CD player you are using and what outputs are there on it.

Ok guys it's working great now. Thanks for all your help. Actually sounds pretty awesome. Now I just have to go and play with the different effects,. Thanks again guys. Thats why i love this forum, you can get help when you need it.

Good to hear that is working out for you.

Emils---
Question, If you took it via DI would you still get the preamp tone and eq with it? Also why would the DI not also be a mono output when you take it to the mixer board? Just wondering, thanks.

David.

Good to hear that is working out for you.

Emils---
Question, If you took it via DI would you still get the preamp tone and eq with it? Also why would the DI not also be a mono output when you take it to the mixer board? Just wondering, thanks.

David.

David,

On this amp the DI is "Post E.Q." which means that that any adjustment made on the amp would still be transmitted through the DI.

Di output is certainly a mono signal, what I was referring to was the return from the mixer as you described would be connected to the mono return on the amp which means you would only hear one channel of the stereo recording you are playing on your CD player.
The main reason for the inclusion of the DI on any amp is to accommodate an easy way to go direct to the board (mixer) and since it is a balanced output it also cuts down on any unnecessary interference getting through.

Cheers

What if the combo has a jack for head phones - could you use this jack to connect to a mixer? And then connect the CD to the mixer, and connect the head phones to the mixer?

Sure you could.

What if the combo has a jack for head phones - could you use this jack to connect to a mixer? And then connect the CD to the mixer, and connect the head phones to the mixer?
Agreed, you can. On the other hand, IMHO the line out or DI line would sound better.