Your sound to the PA

Derfel81 · #1 08-14-2009, 01:50 AM

Hello JMJ,

It is a honor for me to get in touch with you 'cause I consider you one of the best rock bassists in the world.

In these days I was thinking of my sound on the stage and off the stage. I spent a lot of time in search for a head (Mesa Walkabout) and cab (Schroeder) that satisfies me, but sometimes the sound out of the stage is terrible!
The question is: in your live concerts do you go to the PA with the DI of your Aguilar Head or do you use any preamp to feed the PA and your rig?

Tks in advance,
Jacopo

jmjbassplayer · #2 08-14-2009, 07:37 AM

Thank you very much, Jacopo!

I go to the PA with the DI from a Palmer Speaker Simulator. We tried a mic for a while, but it didn't sound as good. The DI off the Aguilar would be great as well.

I'm not sure why your sound is terrible, but I've been in that boat sometimes, even when the gear is perfectly fine. The stage and room play an enormous part. Have you tried elevating your Schroeder on some kind of pad or riser?

Best,
JMJ

eoinS · #3 08-14-2009, 07:44 AM

This leads me to a slightly more in depth question that's been on my mind for a while.

I've recently been fortunate enough to sign to a major record label. This means I finally have the ability to upgrade my rig a bit. The dilemma being my sound on stage versus the FOH sound. If I'm on stage how can I be sure that what's coming through the PA is what I want it to be. I've been looking into all sorts of DIs and pre amps and even the speaker simulators which I really like the idea of but I've no way to test this stuff out. Is there a sure fire way to make decisions like this or is it just a case of working with an engineer and discussing at length with him?

Apologies for the ramble, this ones been bothering me a bit.

thanks.

PS: I saw you guys at the Oxegen festival and you were excellent as I'd expected!

jmjbassplayer · #4 08-14-2009, 08:00 AM

Congrats on your record deal!

You have to work with the engineer, very closely. There's no clear and direct way to clone your stage tone, too many variables. You can't really lose with a good clean DI/effected mic combination. Easy and usually very decent, if your guy knows what he's doing regarding phase, mic placement, not favoring the DI too much, even rocking a little high pass on the amp tone OR DI tone sometimes (either one sometimes help with clarity), clever EQ, etc. etc.

Glad you liked Oxygen. Me too; that was a beautiful night on a great piece of countryside.

Good luck,
JMJ

Derfel81 · #5 08-14-2009, 08:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jmjbassplayer

Thank you very much, Jacopo!

I go to the PA with the DI from a Palmer Speaker Simulator. We tried a mic for a while, but it didn't sound as good. The DI off the Aguilar would be great as well.

I'm not sure why your sound is terrible, but I've been in that boat sometimes, even when the gear is perfectly fine. The stage and room play an enormous part. Have you tried elevating your Schroeder on some kind of pad or riser?

Best,
JMJ

Tks!
The sound coming out of my Schroeder is good, but sometime is the sound of the PA that is not good.
So i was thinking about a DI (like Radial) or a preamp with a DI to give to the PA a better sound.

eoinS · #6 08-14-2009, 08:15 AM

Thanks very much, I'll keep at it! Your forum's been very useful to me!

Eoin.