best way to run a bass through a pa?

[waytoodeep03]

ok I have an eden wt550 with a di out. I plug my xlr directly into this input so that my amp can run through the house. My sound guy says he won't turn me on in fear that my bass will blow the house speakers. He says he think there is a special attachment that I should get that won't bring the bass into the house hot enough to blow the system. Is this true?

[AlembicPlayer]

what?
why would he think your bass will blow the mains?

The DI on your amp should be all he needs.
you can use a DI before the amp if he prefers that.

[P_bass]

Originally Posted by waytoodeep03

ok I have an eden wt550 with a di out. I plug my xlr directly into this input so that my amp can run through the house. My sound guy says he won't turn me on in fear that my bass will blow the house speakers. He says he think there is a special attachment that I should get that won't bring the bass into the house hot enough to blow the system. Is this true?

No special attachment that I have needed with my WT550, I do it all the time.

The WT550 has a DI Level knob on the back next to the DI Output jack. Turn it fully left to 0 and then working with the sound guy turn it up until he receives the amount of signal he needs.

[AlembicPlayer]

Originally Posted by P_bass

The WT550 has a DI Level knob on the back next to the DI Output jack. Turn it fully left to 0 and then working with the sound guy turn it up until he receives the amount of signal he needs.

this

[PBass101]

Originally Posted by waytoodeep03

ok I have an eden wt550 with a di out. I plug my xlr directly into this input so that my amp can run through the house. My sound guy says he won't turn me on in fear that my bass will blow the house speakers. He says he think there is a special attachment that I should get that won't bring the bass into the house hot enough to blow the system. Is this true?

...Maybe you should explain to him how his mixing board works. You know, it has all these things like volume adjustment sliders, channel gain knobs, output controllers...

[stingray69]

A soundman who doesn't know how to control a signal level to his own board? No offense - but you need a new soundman.

[AlembicPlayer]

this is why bass players become sound engineers
at least this is why I became a soundman...somebody has to know what's is going on!

[PBass101]

Originally Posted by stingray69

A soundman who doesn't know how to control a signal level to his own board? No offense - but you need a new soundman.

Real soundmen don't need manuals.

[RicPlaya]

Your sound guy is not really a sound guy, this is sound reinforcement 101 stuff.

Just show him the DI knob and start at say 8

Run a chord from the DI into the PA channel. Disconnect the speakers from the amp on the PA so he wont blow anything..LOL. Turn on the board (leave the amps off) Start playing. Then he can adjust the gain on the PA channel for your bass. When it starts to clip (when the red light blinks assuming your have this option on the board) then back it off just smidge till it stops clipping ( the volume fader should be all the way on 0, we are setting gain structure here). If you find the channel is clipping very easily when the channel gain is real low, turn down the DI knob. Then he can plug the speakers back into the amps, turn on the amps, turn the channel volume up with out clipping anything or causing damage.

[Steve]

Depending on the size of this "house PA", there may be some prudence there.

I've never really seen a two way system that could deal with any appreciable level of bass guitar without washing out the vocals.

I've blown more than one speaker out of two way PA's with a 5 string when the sound guy insisted on a DI after I told him, "This 5 string is going to rip those cabs up."

If it's a three way with dedicated subs...yeah. The guy is a bozo and you don't want him mixing you anyway.

IMHO YMMV

[rappa29]

Originally Posted by Steve

Depending on the size of this "house PA", there may be some prudence there.

I've never really seen a two way system that could deal with any appreciable level of bass guitar without washing out the vocals.

If it's a three way with dedicated subs...yeah. The guy is a bozo and you don't want him mixing you anyway.

IMHO YMMV

+1. We run our own sound and have full PA in the cover band I play keys in (drums, 4 vox, 2 gtr, 1 bass, keys). Small gigs, we DON'T bring our subs, bass doesn't go through FOH. Med\Large gigs we bring the subs and bass goes DI and\or mic to FOH.

Hard to tell the OP's situation without knowing what the FOH is comprised of. If the guy is running 2 JBL EONs without a sub as the FOH with drums, 2 guitars, vox, keys and bass, then that's trouble. IMHO.

[CapnSev]

Originally Posted by stingray69

A soundman who doesn't know how to control a signal level to his own board? No offense - but you need a new soundman.

+1

Your sound guy is a tool.

[kcole4001]

+1!
I had one of these donkeys in my last band as a full member.
Get a real soundman, or tell that goof to find someone who can run a mixer.

[JustOpenYourMind]

A sound guy that calls a DI box a ''special attachement'' is certainly not very knowledgeable...

[ganga]

This made me laugh.

[kcole4001]

Tell him to turn down the "Master Volume" fader all the way, then check the level on your DI.
Simple.
If he can't do that, you're pretty much screwed, as he won't be able to do anything else properly either.
Seriously.
Just leave.

[MNAirHead]

Ask the sound boy to get you a DI box...

Some amp DIS run a hot signal.

[RicPlaya]

Originally Posted by MNAirHead

Ask the sound boy to get you a DI box...

Some amp DIS run a hot signal.

Huh

He has a DI on the eden, why would he need a DI box? You can even control the signal on the Eden going to the board.

[Tomis17]

Tell your soundman to stop smoking that imported stuff during the show. That stuff can put ridiculous thoughts in his head.

[GregShadoan]

Special attachement = XLR cable.