bass to compressor to power amp

[Johnny Mack]

ive never used a rack set up and no nothing about levels and such other than i need to turn an instrument level into a line level. im acquiring a stereo power amp and do not have a preamp. i would like to run straight to a presonus bluemax smart compressor (to boost level) into a samson f800 amp.

the comps output impedance is 51 ohms. the unit also has a -10dB / +4dB function.

the amps input sensitivity is +0dbm +/- 1dbm

ive read this: http://www.ovnilab.com/articles/preamp.shtml#power
which talks about dbu, not dbm. this article as well as the rest of the site is very informative, but i can not determine if this will be a decent set up as i can not find any other information on the two pieces of equipment in question.

thanks.

[JimmyM]

you won't get any control over your tone, and you may not have enough signal from your bass to drive a power amp. not recommended.

[Colledge123]

you'd do best to have an eq somewhere in there. and if i where you, just for some extra tone shaping get a decent effects processor.

[Emibass]

try: bass - D.I./Pre - Comp - Amp.

First you have to use a pre to boost the instrument level to line level in order to use a comp that works at line level. After that the amp will be pleased to accept line level that comes out of the comp.

[Rick Robins]

I did this for a while once & I learned alot. My bass at the time was a 5 string with an active pre amp with middle & bridge position pick ups. I went into a Comp pedal then straight to an old Peavey CS 400 to a Ampeg 4 x 10 and a 1 x 15. This set up had a nice round warm tone but I lacked gain, so I added an EQ pedal with boost. I don't know if it would work so well with passive pickups though?

My main rig before this was made up of a Ashly Bp 41 & a ART Nightbass to a Crown PB 1 stereo, same cabs. The ART was to the 10's & the Ashly to the 15. What I found after years of knob turning was the Crown was a very cold amp not suitable for bass guitar, the PV on the other hand was. Also I started with way to much junk before being sure I was happy with the basic components.

So I think you are on the right track. Bass to power to cab. Be sure you are happy with the first 3 main components of your sound before adding more. If you like this add something like a Tech 21 DI & start to color things then the compressor.

[Johnny Mack]

thanks all. im not worried about adjusting gain as the comp has input and output gain plus the +4dbm boost. and im not really worried about the eq as i dont use it much. i would like to eventually have a pre with an eq and comp in it (1 rack space) to keep it consolidated. the bass to comp to amp is more or less a temporary setup.

[Son of Bovril]

it sounds like it will be ok with the compressor you are using. You may not get as much volume as you could out of the rig but I don't see it hurting anything/anyone