Two Basses to One Amp

[reesus]

Help please!

We're running our bassists 3/4 upright bass (Realist pick up) through her Hartke bass amp. She also plays a Fender Precision during the show. Switching back and forth and readjusting her levels during the performance is a pain as well as time consuming. We're trying to figure out a way to keep both instruments plugged in at the same time. We have tried both the Whirlwind Selector (Active A/B Switcher Box) & an ART SplitMix4 to attempt this fix. The problem is that the signal strength to the amp drops off dramatically requiring her to turn the hartke to 10 in order to get any usaable volume on stage. Ideally we'd like to have two separate channels going into one output and then into the hartke. We had hoped the splitmix 4 with it's individual volume controls would have worked ideally but the loss of volume was staggering. Any other little 2 channel whatcha ma jigs out there you folks can think of??? Preferably passive but powered would be OK.

Thanks!

[DWBass]

I use one of these. BOSS U.S. - AB-2: 2-Way Selector

[Jim Carr]

She needs a preamp/di like a tech21 paraDI into a separate PA channel and another DI for the electric bass, plus an A/B switch to route both to her amp. The level on the ParaDI will control the level to her amp as a monitor. The volume on the electric bass/amp should be used as normal.

paradriverDI
Radial BigShot AB-Y true bypass switcher

The ParaDI is ideal for the Realist.
Without two channels in the PA, you are doomed.

[4-string]

I use one of these with excellent results:

http://www.tcelectronic.com/rh750.asp

[lowendrv]

These work great...
Radial Tonebone - Using the Bassbone

[bertbassplayer]

Originally Posted by lowendrv

These work great...
Radial Tonebone - Using the Bassbone

+1, I have a EBS Microbass II which would work as well.

[gmarcus]

A little mixer will do the trick and give you the option of mixing in an mp3 player or a microphone if necessary

Mackie 402-VLZ3 Compact Audio Mixer: Shop Pro Audio & Other Musical Instruments | Musician's Friend

You can plug instruments right into channels 1 & 2 and it sounds pretty good.

If you want it to sound great you can spring for one of these

Radial Engineering Tonebone Bassbone: Shop Bass & Other Musical Instruments | Musician's Friend

[John Bigboote]

Originally Posted by reesus

Help please!

We're running our bassists 3/4 upright bass (Realist pick up) through her Hartke bass amp. She also plays a Fender Precision during the show. Switching back and forth and readjusting her levels during the performance is a pain as well as time consuming. We're trying to figure out a way to keep both instruments plugged in at the same time. We have tried both the Whirlwind Selector (Active A/B Switcher Box) & an ART SplitMix4 to attempt this fix. The problem is that the signal strength to the amp drops off dramatically requiring her to turn the hartke to 10 in order to get any usaable volume on stage. Ideally we'd like to have two separate channels going into one output and then into the hartke. We had hoped the splitmix 4 with it's individual volume controls would have worked ideally but the loss of volume was staggering. Any other little 2 channel whatcha ma jigs out there you folks can think of??? Preferably passive but powered would be OK.

Thanks!

Bassbone, or BDDI Deluxe.

-jb

[bherman]

Originally Posted by John Bigboote

Bassbone, or BDDI Deluxe.

-jb

+1 on the bassbone - exactly what I use mine for, set the levels and eq for each bass and you only have to hit the selector button between bass 1 and 2

[Jim Carr]

I have to ask if those recommending Bassbone or BDDI have experience with what happens when you switch between upright and electric through a PA and stage amp?

A setup that doesn't handle that will be quite limited.

[seamonkey]

All good recommendations, but it could be as simple as AB 100 with independent volumes for each out.
Amazon.com: Behringer AB100 Instrument/Amp A/B Footswitch: Musical Instruments

[dog1]

I have read all the posts, and agree with most of the suggestions. But I did have one thought in the back of my mind as I wondered what I would do if trying to amplify an upright and electric. Of course I am fortunate to have more than one rig, but........I would have a separate amp for each. Each one voiced for the particular instrument.

I do realize that this solution is not what the OP was asking for. But it is what I would do

[Jim Carr]

Originally Posted by dog1

I have read all the posts, and agree with most of the suggestions. But I did have one thought in the back of my mind as I wondered what I would do if trying to amplify an upright and electric. Of course I am fortunate to have more than one rig, but........I would have a separate amp for each. Each one voiced for the particular instrument.

I do realize that this solution is not what the OP was asking for. But it is what I would do

+1

Having a pre-amp and DI for the upright and an active electric bass with a DI, each into its own PA channel and also routed on stage to the A/B switch which goes to a single bass amp with a fairly neutral (flat-like) setting works for me.

Two rigs might sound better, but is even more time/space/money/setup/teardown/failure intensive, IME.

[MuzikMan]

I like the small mixer option because it offers level matching and EQ for each instrument. An Allen and Heath ZED-10 is a great choice because channels 3 and 4 have Hi-Z inputs for this very application.

ZED-10 | ALLEN & HEATH // WORLD CLASS MIXING

[dog1]

Originally Posted by Jim Carr

+1

Having a pre-amp and DI for the upright and an active electric bass with a DI, each into its own PA channel and also routed on stage to the A/B switch which goes to a single bass amp with a fairly neutral (flat-like) setting works for me.

Two rigs might sound better, but is even more time/space/money/setup/teardown/failure intensive, IME.

Good advice Doc. While I don't use an upright, I do switch between a semihollow with a passive Darkstar, and an actice with humbuckers and an 18v preamp. I only take one amp....and just deal with it.

BTW. I remember that the OP said that she had to turn the amp up to 10 to get any usable volume. Anything over 12:00, IMO, you need a more powerful amp. I believe that most of your volume comes way before your amp is all the way up.

[MuzikMan]

Originally Posted by dog1

BTW. I remember that the OP said that she had to turn the amp up to 10 to get any usable volume. Anything over 12:00, IMO, you need a more powerful amp. I believe that most of your volume comes way before your amp is all the way up.

I don't think the lack of volume necessarily means a bigger amp is needed. What if the input signal is very weak?

[BassmanPaul]

Any passive mixer is going to drop the output level significantly. The only choice is to go active so a cheap little two or four channel mixer will do the job. I've seen them for as little as $40.

[dog1]

Originally Posted by MuzikMan

I don't think the lack of volume necessarily means a bigger amp is needed. What if the input signal is very weak?

Well. Yes. If the input signal is weak then a preamp is in order, as long as that doesn't overdrive the preamp section of the amp. The OP never actually said what amp she was using. How many watts, size of driver (s). Maybe they are trying to do it all with a small combo. I dunno. Just trying to add food for thought.

[TraceOnBass]

Radial Bigshot I/O will get 2 basses into one amp an it has a DIM / Bright switch. Also has a level control which lets you even out your basses.

I run an active and a passive an this $50 used box lets me jump basses without hassle.

Mute switch is great and it does NOT require any power source.

Radial Bigshot I/O - check it out

[Jim Carr]

Originally Posted by TraceOnBass

...Radial Bigshot I/O - check it out...

See my post (#3). Also, the issue is upright and electric through one on stage amp. The upright needs a pre-amp at the minimum. Because a Gage Realist pickup is involved, the pre-amp has to be ultra-high impedance friendly (passive piezo pickup).

Add all of this up and you will soon find that there will also be a PA system involved eventually—at least sometimes. This means two DIs and two PA channels. That or twiddle a bunch of knobs blindly while changing between upright and electric to avoid feedback.

A tempting alternative is a magnetic pickup on the upright, but the sound is not the same. In any case, this is not just a "switch between two electric basses" problem. The upright does not have a volume control unless it has a pre-amp. A bass amp can be EQ'd to sound OK, if not even great for both upright (with an EQ-able pre-amp) and electric bass. All the better if the electric bass is active.