Hey All,

I know this is a BASS forum, but I was hoping some of you can give me some help with the basics of using an Avalon U5.

I got a used Avalon U5 earlier this week.

I am hoping to use it at our church service tomorrow morning.

Can you tell me how you set it up when you guys use yours?

I am playing a Larrivee 12 string acoustic with a fishman passive pick up. I will be going directly to the house through our P. A. system.

I'm guessing the instrument cable goes into the front panel in the INPUT HI Z input.

Do you know what boost level would work best in my setting? What is the purpose of the two buttons on the left front - HIGH CUT (ON) and SPEAKER SIGNAL (ON TO INPUT)? Did you have these on or off?

In the Avalon documents, it describes the TONE BANKS. Do you know which of the 6 works best with an acoustic? I am guessing you press the TONE (ON) to activate this control and ACTIVE (ON THRU) to go to an amplifier. Is this correct? Do I need to know anything else about these two buttons on the front right?

On the back panel, which input should the PA cable be used with - MIC LEVEL or LINE LEVEL and what is the difference? I'm guessing LINE LEVEL.

On the back panel, the PIN 2+ switch - should it be in the up or down position (UP - EARTH LIFT) or (DOWN).

I am sorry to sound like a dummy, but I want to know how to use this properly and all the info I have is unclear.

Thanks for your answers.

pastor chuck

First of all congratulations on a very fine choice :) I use one myself for live bass (it's the only piece of gear I've ever bought back).

The short answer is : plug instrument into Hi Z input - leave all switches out - plug Mic Level ouput to mixer - Enjoy :)

OK, Front panel left to right:
High Cut - push in to roll off highs. Basically an EQ preset.
Speaker to Input - toggles between front Hi Z Input and rear Speaker In. If you don't already know what this does leave it out for now.
Boost - Gain, volume, turn up until you see the pretty blue light flashing.
High Z Input - instrument input
Thru Out - sends an unaffected signal out to whatever you like (tuner, preamp, head, whatever) unless you push........................
Active To Thru - Thru Out is now affected by the boost and EQ.
Tone Button - push in to use the 6 preset tone curves. Leave out for a dry (not EQ'ed) signal.
Tone Knob - These are the tone banks. They are simply preset EQ curves. The last two are intended for use with acoustic guitar, they have a low end roll off. In reality you can use any or all of them. Use what works.

Back Panel:
Mic Level - Send this out to PA Mixer.
Line Level - send to rack gear (Rack Rig, Direct to Tape)
Phones - :hmm:
Speaker In - You can connect the speaker output of a bass rig directly into this input. The toggle switch in the front turns this on.