Amp gain / volume help

[pansieFooter]

Hi All,

first off, a little warning - Huge novice and first time poster here

So here's my problem. I have a passive bass mated to a GB shuttle 6.0 (the one with the tube pre).

I find that when i need a more transparent sound - imagine mids and treble rolled right back, with little to no tube boosting the gain, i do not have sufficient volume. I figure by rolling back the tone controls on my bass ive reduced the input signal too much. boosting the tube pre seems to raise the volume exponetially, however adds some terribad mid rangy sound which i dont want (for some songs). My feeling is that since theres not enough signal coming in, bumping the master volume amplifies.. not much into a little more not much.

for further clarification, ive got the tube volume set to about 9 o'clock, the first volume control (for the pre) turned up to max, and im running the master about 2-3 o'clock. and its very soft - not at all punchy and mouse like against drums.

So then, can i pass my bass through a headphone amp or perhaps there is some other device i should be using? Is there such a thing as too hot a signal going into the amp- possibly damaging it ?

THe amp is plenty loud when tested against an electric guitar, but i havent had hte opportunity to use an active bass on it as yet. Another (passive) bass guitar ive tried didn't need the tone controls dialled down to such an extent, it sounded much better. Perhaps this is an excuse for a new bass

anyways thanks for reading and here's hoping for some input.

 

[RickenBoogie]

Yes, there is such a thing as too much input gain, which could damage something, (probably speakers), but it seems you need to spend a little more time with your amp, to find the balance you seek. Cutting the eq does reduce volume, but that can be made up by increasing the pre gain. It's a balancing game, you need to fine the balance. Good luck, and have fun in the process.

 

[tallboybass]

IMO you're going to have to go ahead and turn the tube gain up some more and EQ around that. This amp adds some tubey harmonic content and there's not much of a way around that. If you're looking for a super-clean tube sound you need to look at different amps. It sounds like you might be happier with a MarkBass LittleMarkII. It has a sort of tube-like warmth but without the grit, and a much smoother sound.

Hope this helps you at least a little,
Alan

 

[pansieFooter]

Hey guys, thank you very much for the replies.

i fully understand what you mean about needing to dial in more tube. Ill start with the tube at 11-12 o'clock and play with the para from there.

As an aside, i did (briefly) try a little preamp (very low) but it still seemed that hte bass signal was too weak, and i ended up getting too much hiss.

cheers and thanks again ~