Losing a load of power on the PA.

[Fassa Albrecht]

I think the best place for this is here, and I hope someone can help.

My problem is this- for playing I use a big PA through which all the band is routed. Now, normally the bass doesn't have any problem coming through, but I do.

My tone is terrible! It sounds muddy and when we're actually playing, you can't actually hear the bass.

I've tried different basses, adjusting the mixer controls and different connector cables.

Any other ideas?

[CincyBassMan]

You say that normally the bass doesn't have a problem being heard, but you do. Who ran the PA when it sounded good? Ask them what they set the levels on the channel (the bass is on) to. You may be having a problem with room acoustics which is affecting what you are hearing.

These are only guesses, I hope this helps...

Russ

[Fassa Albrecht]

Originally Posted by CincyBassMan

You say that normally the bass doesn't have a problem being heard, but you do. Who ran the PA when it sounded good? Ask them what they set the levels on the channel (the bass is on) to. You may be having a problem with room acoustics which is affecting what you are hearing.

These are only guesses, I hope this helps...

Russ

We've got one sound guy who does ALL the shows so it's not that.

Also we play in the same room all the time and generaly the bass sounds OK.

[CincyBassMan]

OK, Sounds like a PA channel problem to me. Have you tried a different channel on the board?

Russ

[modulusman]

Do you know what brand/model the PA is?

[Deacon_Blues]

Try using a separate bass preamp and adjust your sound on that one. A compressor might be a good investment too.

[IvanMike]

you have to isolate all the possible tone suck factors.

are you using the same channel as the other bass players?
the same di?
the same bass?
ditto for other processing equipment
does the soundguy not adjust the channel for your bass?
have you heard anyone else playing your bass/rig while you stand out in the room?

go thru one by one and you'll find the culprit..............hopefully it's not you.............

[Fassa Albrecht]

Originally Posted by IvanMike

you have to isolate all the possible tone suck factors.

are you using the same channel as the other bass players?
the same di?
the same bass?
ditto for other processing equipment
does the soundguy not adjust the channel for your bass?
have you heard anyone else playing your bass/rig while you stand out in the room?

go thru one by one and you'll find the culprit..............hopefully it's not you.............

Would it make a difference that I'm using a stereo bass, as opposed to the other bassists who use ordinary basses.

[Bob Lee (QSC)]

If you overdrive and clip the channel your bass is going into, it'll sound undefined and crappy.

[Nick Kay]

Fassa wins at life yet again.

[Jehos]

Originally Posted by Fassa Albrecht

Would it make a difference that I'm using a stereo bass, as opposed to the other bassists who use ordinary basses.

Stereo...bass?

Yeah, that's a bad idea right there, just begging for phase cancellation problems. Have you tried running mono to see if that helps?

[Fassa Albrecht]

Originally Posted by Jehos

Stereo...bass?

Yeah, that's a bad idea right there, just begging for phase cancellation problems. Have you tried running mono to see if that helps?

I don't know anything about my Shergold other than it's stereo. Here's a circuit diagram.

[Bob Lee (QSC)]

Fassa, do you run the bass in stereo or mono?

[Jehos]

I'm not entirely convinced that's a stereo circuit. At best, you send one pickup out each plug. Some quick googling seems to indicate that the original Marathons had a single TRS plug that had a true stereo output, and a stereo switch right on the front of the bass. The 1a models are dual mono, for bi-amping purposes.

I'd say the very first step you should take is to only use output A, whichever one that is. See if that fixes your problem. You may have to cut your signal chain down to mono--I'm not sure what you're plugging into if you're running both outputs.

[Fassa Albrecht]

Originally Posted by Bob Lee (QSC)

Fassa, do you run the bass in stereo or mono?

I was told when I bought the thing to run it using a stereo to dual-mono cable and then running the two mono signals through the mixer.

Originally Posted by Jehos

I'm not entirely convinced that's a stereo circuit. At best, you send one pickup out each plug. Some quick googling seems to indicate that the original Marathons had a single TRS plug that had a true stereo output, and a stereo switch right on the front of the bass. The 1a models are dual mono, for bi-amping purposes.

I'd say the very first step you should take is to only use output A, whichever one that is. See if that fixes your problem. You may have to cut your signal chain down to mono--I'm not sure what you're plugging into if you're running both outputs.

Originally Posted by Shergold website

There are two main versions of the Marathon, known unofficially as the Mark I and Mark Ia. The Mark I has a larger plastic pickup mounting plate in the style of the Hayman 4040 whereas the Mark Ia has the normal Shergold mounting ring pickup mounting. The Mark I also uses a single output socket, requiring a stereo plug and splitter cable, unlike the Mark Ia that has two separate mono output sockets.

Mine only has one (stereo) output so I'm assuming it IS stereo.

[JackANSI]

Try it mono.

This is probably whats happening:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Destruc...e_interference

[Fassa Albrecht]

Originally Posted by JackANSI

Try it mono.

This is probably whats happening:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Destruc...e_interference

I'll do this...when I work out how to do that.

[bergerXL5]

That's easy; just use a mono cable in socket 'A'. The bass maker has 'summed' the two outputs there by doing what is known as 'normalling' the B socket...if it isn't used, the signal routes right down to the other socket directly.