radial tonebone bassbone and piezo pups?

[tony moore]

saw a bassists at a festival type gig this weekend and he was using a radial tonebone bassbone (say that 3 times fast) to blend a bass guitar and electric upright bass straight to the pa. sounded great and he broke down fast between acts.

anyone use one of these with a fishman full circle?

i don't understand them but the specs are:

Input impedance: 470k ohm at input jack
Output impedance:10K Ohm
Balanced XLR output impedance: 600 Ohms
LED indicators: Large 3 mm OD ultra-bright LED's
CH-1 CONTOUR - Shape-1:

+4.5 dB @ 110 Hz
-5.1 dB @ 650 Hz
+2.7 dB @ 4.3 Khz
CH-1 CONTOUR - Shape-2:
+3.7 dB @ 75 Hz
-6.3 dB @ 350 Hz
+11 dB @ 5.6Khz
Channel-2
three-band EQ:

Bass: +/- 12dB @ 75 Hz
Mid: +/- 10dB @ 470 Hz
High : +/- 16dB @ 5.6 KHz
Boost level:
Unity gain to +12dB
Switching:
Heavy duty mechanical switches
Ground lift:
Lifts ground at XLR output pin-1
Construction:
14 gauge steel, baked enamel finish
Size:
6.9x4.25x2.125" (175 x 108 x 54mm)
Weight:
2.35lb (1.06kg)

[jimclark68]

I used one for a period of time to switch between a double bass and an electric bass going into a single-channel AI Clarus. I ran the DB through the EQ bypass channel (I think it was channel 1) and used the other channel with the EB. I was pretty happy with the results, but I got tired of the extra cables to schlep and bought a 2-channel Clarus.

[maxito]

I've been using the BassBone for a couple of years for the same combination, EUB & ELB. Make life much easier! Generally I run the ELB into channel 1, and the EUB into Channel 2 because you have more control over EQ using channel 2. My EUB (Yamaha SLB-100 w/Full Circle P/U) works well with the BassBone. It's a nice, rugged unit. Sure, there are more cables, but it's laid out very logically. The BB also make a great DI for PA or the studio.

[Jazz Ad]

The EBS MicroBass II can be used to achieve that too.

[Barcza]

Now I borrowed and A/B testing both of the gear now, the Bassbone and the Microbass. The Microbass has a tons of features, many EQ options for both of the channels, pre-post DI, speaker simulation, tube simulation and more (check:www.ebs.bass.se). And has a 10Mohms input and a 1Mohms one. Thats good for piezzo users, but the 10Mohms could be too high even for piezzo, 1Mohms would be fine for both inputs, I think. The Microbass has very good fat sound, but really coloring , so if you really like your instrument and don't want to alter, maybe this gear is not for you, but it can improve the sound some instruments. The Bassbone has lower inpedance inputs (470Kohms) that not a good news for piezzo users, but in practice it works ok, I think. The Bassbone has much least features (no pre-post, EQ is only one chanel,) But I think the Bassbone has more flat and clear sound, and more dynamic. I did not try the DI out yet, but radial must be good in that. This is only my opinion, you have know I'm a purist.

[bnutz]

Tony,

I've been using a Bassbone for about two years now and have been really happy with it. It is an extremely versatile box and solves a lot of problems all by itself.

That said, I also use a separete LR Baggs ParaDI that I use for impedance matching purposes. My signal chain looks like this: Shen 7/8 Wllow Flatback > Fishman Full Circle > Bassbone > Amp/House via DI.

It's kind of a cabling nightmare, but it makes for a tonally flexible setup when I need to double. Initially I experimented with plugging the UB straight into Bassbone but couldn't really get a sound I was happy with. It was kind of piezo-y- boxy, thwappy. Radial is now making a PZ-Pre with ultra high impedance inputs that may combine the two boxes I'm using into one.

-b

[maxito]

I had hoped that in time, my quest for the 'perfect' piece of gear would end.... and while I have used the BassBone for a couple of years, and it works very well for the A/B task, I have always felt like it was missing a few features.

Barcza's post on this thread got me curious about the EBS Microbass, and I have done a lot of research on it since my curiosity was piqued.

Hopefully the one I ordered yesterday will arrive in a few days and if the reports are true, I will be one step closer to finding that perfect piece for my 2-bass setup.....

[tito mangialajo]

I'm happy with the EBS Microbass II. Great piece of gear.

[Barcza]

Before yesterday I used the Bassbone as a Preamp and DI for my passive Jazz Bass. And yesterday I used for my upright. On both of the gigs I didn't use any amp on the stage, just monitor, the house PAs was very high quality (Meyer Sound, Midas etc.) I consult with engineers. after the gigs.
Conclusion:
The Bassbone has very good quality XLR out, incredibly noiseless and clear sounding!
Unfortunately only the channel two is capable to tune the EQ, but sounds very good.
For a passive EB or an upright, the two EQ preset on the channel one, are absolutely not enough.
But if you like to blend an active elbass and an upright I think will works very well.