Equalizing volume levels between basses

[Piggy8692]

I'm going to be playing some shows here in a little while and I'll be using more than one bass. I'm playing an Ibanez Ergo 4 and an ESP Ltd 5 through a Carvin R1000. I'm also using a Sand Amp Bass driver.

My Basses have completely different levels. The Carvin is nice and loud, but I have to turn up when I use the Ibanez.

If I'm playing a live show and do my sound check and everything, wouldn't it make the sound guy mad when I change basses and everythings way off. Or more so if I start playing around with a bunch of knobs?

Do you guys sound check all you basses seperately?Hopefully there's just a simple solution that I haven't thought of.

[dmusic148]

The simplest solution is to set your level using the quieter bass, with it's Volume control near max. Then check level with the louder one, and back off its Volume until you're near the same sound level as the quieter one, and take note of the setting.
In other words, just turn the loud bass down to match the 'turned up' volume of the quiet one . If you don't get it exactly right no one will care. Just get close and you'll be fine.

Or, if your amp has an input 'pad' (active/passive switch) you may find that it's just the ticket--turn the pad ON when using the loud bass and OFF with the quiet one--this might get you close.

[Piggy8692]

I'm not sure about my amp having a 'pad', but I know that it has two seperate inputs labelled active and passive. I've always just plugged into active because my basses both have active pickups.

I guess it wouldn't hurt anything to plug an active bass into a passive input or vise versa. Turning down the loud bass did seem like the logical thing to do, but I didn't want to lose anything like quality of tone or something.

There's something to look into. Thanks for your input.

[t77mackie]

Doesn't the Sans Amp have selectable A/B settings? One of those floor gadgets does. You could have separate settings for both instruments which might solve the problem.

[Moe Monsarrat]

Try the Radial Bassbone. It has two channels that each have volume, EQ & boost. You can set them to be the exact same volume AND control the tone the FOH engineer is dealing with. I use mine every time and the sound guys love it.

[kreider204]

Is your Carvin active? If so, there's a way to adjust the output level on the preamp inside the relevant cavity.

[odin70]

I cant see a mute button on the Bassbone. How do you tune?

[Moe Monsarrat]

I use a clip on but you can always switch to the bass that's off and use the tuner out.

[tmntfan]

Originally Posted by odin70

I cant see a mute button on the Bassbone. How do you tune?

The bassbone has a tuner line out, so it doesn't have a mute. I just put a boss tuner in the line out. but it still is a great pedal.

to the OP: you should be able to find a a/b selector pedal for cheap and then adjust your volume to suit as mentioned above.

[TJSlice]

I set the volume on my comp to unity on my loudest bass, ends up raising the level on the quieter basses. Might work on the Sansamp?

[Chazinroch]

Originally Posted by Moe Monsarrat

Try the Radial Bassbone. It has two channels that each have volume, EQ & boost. You can set them to be the exact same volume AND control the tone the FOH engineer is dealing with. I use mine every time and the sound guys love it.

+1 I use it when I play both my EUB and BG for the same gigs.

[Floyd Eye]

The RL1000 has an input for active and an input for passive basses. The input for active basses is padded. Try plugging the loud bass into the active jack and the quiet bass into the passive jack.

[phangtonpower]

I use an RC bass booster for my passive bass and turn it off when I switch to my active. That way I don't have to fiddle with my amp.