Direct to PA Questions

[bigboy_78]

I need some schooling on DI boxes etc.

Here’s my situation:

I go to a local jam once a month which is in walking distance of my house. I usually take my rig (TC BH500 + BC410) and let everyone go through it. However it really is too big for the gig and too big to carry home after I’ve supported the venue by drinking my share of the cost of the PA.

So I’m thinking a DI would be the way to go. Fits in my gig bag, everyone can run through it and the worries about fools blowing up the speakers falls back onto the guy running the Jam who has total control over the PA.

So what do I need? Is a simple DI enough or should I be looking at the modelling type things? If I’m going to cough up a few hundred bucks for a Sansamp, I might wait and get the new BH250 head, or look for a used RH450.

The PA is just speakers on sticks and 2 pretty average wedges, this is (very) small town stuff. Would the PA handle bass without some sort of sub?

I’ve waded through heaps of threads, but I’m still confused and didn’t want to ask question in threads from 2003.

Any thoughts or advice?

[PurpleDrank]

Why don't you take just the head to your next jam? You could go straight to the board out of the DI from the head.

I don't know if that amp has a pre/post eq switch that would let you bypass the preamp/tone controls before the DI. If it does, you could try both pre eq and post eq feeds into the board, and that could help you decide whether you need a tone shaping preamp DI or if just a plain DI is enough.

[bigboy_78]

I was thinking that too. If I go pre-eq does that pretty much by-pass any colour the amp would be adding?

I'm think that a plain DI would give a fairly transparent amplification of my bass.

[1954bassman]

I mostly play without an amp. Just take your head and use it for a DI. Or buy a used Radial JDI and take it.

[lowstrung5]

Is it your PA? If not, I would talk to whoever owns/runs it to see if they are ok with the idea. You can get a decent DI for well under $100.00 unless you are really concerned with having stellar sound or something you may want for recording. After all.......this is just a local jam. The only other issue would involve how much volume is needed to monitor and again if the set-up is capable of it. I wish more jams were set up like this so they would not turn into a big volume war.

[JimmyM]

Originally Posted by bigboy_78

I was thinking that too. If I go pre-eq does that pretty much by-pass any colour the amp would be adding?

I'm think that a plain DI would give a fairly transparent amplification of my bass.

Blech! Who wants that??? OK, some people CLAIM to want that, but most wouldn't know flat response if it bit them on the nose. And considering you use a TC, sounds like you don't want that, either. If I were you, I'd just use your amp for now.

[bigboy_78]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

Blech! Who wants that??? OK, some people CLAIM to want that, but most wouldn't know flat response if it bit them on the nose. And considering you use a TC, sounds like you don't want that, either. If I were you, I'd just use your amp for now.

Yeah, man transparent is what i don't want. That's what I'm asking. Would going the direct out from the BH500 pre-eq give me a similar sound to a plain DI?

If I like that sound I'll get a basic DI. If not I'll go with a modeller, or make an excuse to buy a lightweight amp that fits in my gig bag and use the post-eq signal from that.

What about the speakers on sticks (12"), are they likely to have any issue with the bass signal?

[JimmyM]

Absolutely speakers on sticks will have problems with the bass signal. The vast majority aren't designed to pump bass, and that's why you get a sub to go with them.

Going out from the DI of your TC amp will sound like the TC amp as long as you go post-EQ. But knowing that you don't have a sub, I'd stick to using an amp and not go through the PA.

[bigboy_78]

Problems solved.

Thanks.