praise and worship bassists question - Page 2

mozarwasagenius · #21 08-29-2008, 10:38 PM

Thanks all. I'm bringing my new Shuttle 6.0 to the next service and I'll report back. I'm debating bringing a cab (avatar sb112) or just using a 15" Yamaha monitor.

jaywa · #22 08-30-2008, 04:07 PM

Sounds like you've got a good strategy going.

The Sansamp is a great little box but I would really be very cautious about thinking you can just run that to the board relying on getting "your sound" out of the monitors, with no dedicated amp. First of all you are totally at the monitor engineer's mercy and if your system allows only only one or two submixes I can guarantee you will be getting a typical "church mix" (80% vocals and piano/keyboard) out of those wedges. Second, even if the monitor engineer has a clue (and a dedicated submix to send you), unless that wedge has a 15-inch driver you are not going to get the bass tone out of it that you want.

That being said, it is still important to be sensitive to your sound tech's requests as far as amp volume, rolling off some low end, whatever. At my church I run my own small combo amp while the other two bassists go direct (straight direct, no SansAmp or similar), and the sound guy actually prefers my set-up cause the other two guys have low-end basses that sound like cr*p. He and I have had to do some work on the EQ and I have had to accept a little less low-end on stage than is ideal, but it's working great out in the house from what I'm told.

Eager to hear your report.

DavePlaysBass · #23 08-31-2008, 09:15 PM

I recently started playing in a big church with in-ear and no amps on stage (and I hate in ear but that is a different conversation). All I need to do is plug into an Avalon DI and go. However, I was not crazy about what I was hearing. So I now I bring in my EBS head and run it in front of the DI. This gave me active EQ, compression, and overdrive. I send a post EQ signal to a very high quality board. I have received several complements on the tone after doing this.

jaywa · #24 09-01-2008, 09:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DavePlaysBass

So I now I bring in my EBS head and run it in front of the DI. This gave me active EQ, compression, and overdrive.

I used to do that with my Hartke head and then someone told me it was hard on an amp head to run it without having it plugged into a speaker.

? ? ?

DavePlaysBass · #25 09-01-2008, 10:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaywa

I used to do that with my Hartke head and then someone told me it was hard on an amp head to run it without having it plugged into a speaker.

? ? ?

It may depend on the amp. I did ask the EBS guys. They said no problema.

wazzel · #26 09-03-2008, 06:38 AM

If you are going to play into the maind PA, make sure the can take the lows. I had this discussion with the choir director last night. We hope they did not scrap the subs in our new church because of budget concerns. I really want to get to the mains so I can sit better in the mix.

drgregn · #27 09-03-2008, 07:51 AM

IMO it's important to add some "tube" sound into your bass signal going direct to the PA, otherwise the tone you get is sterile and thin with too much midrange. Most of the DI's mentioned above will help with that.

I use an Avalon U5 as a DI, and also run the line out into a Bergantino IP112 as a side fill. I keep the Bergie turned down low enough that it does not project into the crowd much, but it gives me just enough "foot-massage" low end on stage. We also use Avalon monitors with in-ears, and I've gotten very good results with that combination.

Used to use the Sansamp, but I prefer the Avalon, although it's pricier. Aguilar has a new pedal coming out called the Tonehammer that also has DI capability as well as overdrive and EQ, and early word from other TB'ers is that it is an excellent piece of gear, although I've got no time on it myself.

WesW · #28 09-03-2008, 08:47 AM

When I'm playing at church, I typically will set my cab/head at the front of the stage, and aim it back at me. The sound guys get my DI out of the head, and the congregation gets to hear me through the mains & sub, and I get to hear myself. Since I've started doing that - the sound guys have been setting the other bassist up the same way - and he loves it.

It seems like the control of sound is left up to the sound guys, I get a good tone from my gear, and everyone's happy.

jaywa · #29 09-03-2008, 10:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by drgregn

IMO it's important to add some "tube" sound into your bass signal going direct to the PA, otherwise the tone you get is sterile and thin with too much midrange.

+1, and I would add that the lower quality the bass, the more important adding the "tube" sound becomes. A low-quality, passive bass running uneffected through a low-end DI box can put out some of the most miserable sound you can imagine.

jaywa · #30 09-03-2008, 11:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WesW

When I'm playing at church, I typically will set my cab/head at the front of the stage, and aim it back at me.

You must have a pretty progressive church to let you have your amp frontstage. There are other churches out there that have a real hang-up about having amps on stage and especially out front. Even if you can keep the sound level under control there's still the "clutter"/image thing which can be an issue with some congregations and especially those coming out of a more "traditional" worship background.

WesW · #31 09-03-2008, 08:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaywa

You must have a pretty progressive church to let you have your amp frontstage. There are other churches out there that have a real hang-up about having amps on stage and especially out front. Even if you can keep the sound level under control there's still the "clutter"/image thing which can be an issue with some congregations and especially those coming out of a more "traditional" worship background.

Yes - I'd guess we are. We have guitar solos - at least a couple every sunday.

actually - i'm playing a Shroe Mini12+ - and its so small - it's smaller than the monitors on the front of stage. . . so it's a small footprint. Nothing like the guitar players 2x12 with his 6space rack, head & power amp!

FrankOg · #32 09-03-2008, 08:22 PM

OK so I play at church and I'm at a 4 somedays on sound and a 9 other days it gets annoying that they cant memorize the sound settings thats what I would reccomend and I would see if you could set up a time to meet with the sound guy and work stuff out