HELP! Where am I going wrong?

BassmanAd · #1 09-01-2010, 01:20 PM

So, I'm trying to build my first pedal board and things aren't going entirely as planned...

What I'm trying to achieve is a basic tuner > overdrive > chorus set up but with a bypassed signal running from the tuner to the end of the chain so I can blend a wet and dry signal to the amp. I'm using a mono jack splitter cable to split the signal after the tuner and a cheap little mono line mixer to blend them together then go out to the amp. I've attached a not very good picture so you can see what I mean.

The problem I'm having is that even with the effects off, both the wet and dry signals are coming through to the amp very distorted. I'm keeping the channel volumes right down on the mixer (it doesn't have a master volume) but it's still coming through.

Anybody got any ideas where I'm going wrong? Or could anybody suggest some other way to blend the signals at the end of the chain?

Thanks guys

GianGian · #2 09-01-2010, 01:26 PM

Maybe the mixer is too loud. I mean, it is not intended to go to an amplifier that is expecting to get instrument level signal.

Plays_For_Dog · #3 09-01-2010, 01:27 PM

Is your bass active with the onboard EQ boost on full? It may also be cheap/wrong cables and your signal is getting goofed while traveling through them. The line splitter may not be designed for guitar signal, so that could give issues too.

BassmanAd · #4 09-01-2010, 01:37 PM

The mixer is barely on at all and I'm a passive only type of bassman. I've done a whole lot of volume tweaking on the bass, the pedals and the mixer to check but the distortion is there regardless so it can't be a clipping thing.

I've tried removing that mixer and hooking both ends of the chain straight to a proper mixing desk to test each channel and they sound fine that way so it must be a problem with the little mixer. I can't understand why though. The only other thing I can think of is to use another mono line splitter at the other end of the chain to blend them together but it would be nice to have some control over the blend levels.

I'm beginning to miss the days when I had nothing between my bass and my amp but a cable!

BassBrass · #5 09-01-2010, 02:18 PM

Get a Boss LS2 and blend the chorus with uneffected and dump the mixer (I wouldn't trust a cheep mixer to not add noise, and A/B boxes loose signal but are better than split chords) and get heavy duty patch cables. The ones in your pictures are all junk for line level.

cheapbasslovin · #6 09-01-2010, 02:33 PM

I think that is a microphone mixer and if I'm not mistaken, mics have much higher output impedance than basses do, especially basses that have been run through a impedance lowering device. If I've got all that right then the impedance mismatch is causing your clipping.

Sort of like running a headphone out to an amp input. No matter how low you turn your headphones down it still sounds like crap at your amp input.

BassmanAd · #7 09-01-2010, 03:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cheapbasslovin

I think that is a microphone mixer and if I'm not mistaken, mics have much higher output impedance than basses do, especially basses that have been run through a impedance lowering device. If I've got all that right then the impedance mismatch is causing your clipping.

Sort of like running a headphone out to an amp input. No matter how low you turn your headphones down it still sounds like crap at your amp input.

OK that makes sense. It is indeed a microphone mixer. Thanks!

I'm just using cheap components at the moment to find a solution that works. I haven't tried out an LS-2 though. Can it blend two inputs into one output?

Jake of Bass · #8 09-01-2010, 03:31 PM

Yes. I have one, it has a whole bunch of different configurations, a little too many to list here but check it out online.

It's basically a pedal that can have 2 effects loops and a bypass. One of the modes is "A+B mix" and from there you can blend both loops together at the desired volume you want from each. That's what you're after. With this mode and both volume knobs set correctly it will affect the overall output from the pedal, so you can get it just right so it matches your bypassed signal.

BassmanAd · #9 09-01-2010, 03:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jake of Bass

Yes. I have one, it has a whole bunch of different configurations, a little too many to list here but check it out online.

It's basically a pedal that can have 2 effects loops and a bypass. One of the modes is "A+B mix" and from there you can blend both loops together at the desired volume you want from each. That's what you're after. With this mode and both volume knobs set correctly it will affect the overall output from the pedal, so you can get it just right so it matches your bypassed signal.

Thanks! Looks like I'm going shopping (again). Thanks for the input guys, I am now much less confused.

Jazz Ad · #10 09-01-2010, 04:43 PM

You're doing parallel mixing with no buffer at the split. This is a no-no.
Get a proper blending tool, such as a Boss LS-2.

BassmanAd · #11 09-02-2010, 12:52 AM

LS-2 ordered, wallet considerably lighter.

Jake of Bass · #12 09-02-2010, 02:37 AM

They're a nifty tool. There's no other pedal quite like it in terms of versatility. I'm hoping to remove mine from my board soon, but I doubt I could ever bring myself to sell it -- it has a lot more uses than at first glance.

Ba55Man1ac · #13 09-02-2010, 06:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BassmanAd

...use another mono line splitter at the other end of the chain to blend them together

This is a very bad idea. But it's all a learning process, so keep experimenting!

BassmanAd · #14 09-02-2010, 08:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ba55Man1ac

This is a very bad idea. But it's all a learning process, so keep experimenting!

Whoa. Glad I didn't do that then, thanks. Should have my LS-2 in a couple of days - sounds like the perfect solution. I'll update when it's all hooked up.