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Double Bass Amplifying for larger rooms?

ironfingers80

ironfingers80

May 4, 2004
19
0
#1
greetings! i'm looking for a way to amplify my upright in larger venues, like rock clubs, without losing the integrity of the natural acoustic sound. i need a lot of power and volume to cut through, but i really want to stay true to the sound. does anybody have any suggestions for amplification, speakers, pickups/mics, etc.? for the past few years i've just done smaller jazz gigs with a realist pickup and a gk combo amp...which worked great, but obviously this setup isn't going to cut it in a louder room. any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. thanks!
 
#3
my main band plays primarily in larger clubs and venues and I need to cut through 9 other guys playing horns and electric guitars and organs and mandolins and concertinas and ... well you get the idea.

I play through a 70's ampeg 4x10 and an SVT-pro 4. I only use the Realist on my instrument, and it sounds great. This may seem like overkill, but ever since I upgraded to the SVT head my life has been so much easier. It really captures the body of my sound and gives me a lot of options for dialing in the room.
I do also run out to the house and try to keep my stage sound as low as possible, but every once in a while you play a room where you have to turn the sucker up, and this guy will go way up without losing its clean focused sound.

yes. i love my amp. and i love the poor bastard who needed to sell it to get his rent.
 
#5
Use a pick up for your stage volume, and use a mic (I use a Shure Beta 98 H/C, small clip-on condenser) for the house. The mic can go as loud as you want without feedback since that signal is not near your bass. I've done it many times, it works great even at outdoor festival-type gigs.

If you are not using a PA, I think you are stuck with a pick-up, and a big amp stack. Then just find a pick up you can live with.
 
#6
i've been thinking about a mic, and i've heard about the shure. do you know much about the amt microphones, besides the fact that they're super expensive? i wonder if one of those would work well in such a situation
 
#7
I have not used the AMT, but there are many here who have. Just do a search. I like the Shure because it it clips on the bridge without changing the sound or getting in the way. It sounds good, but it picks up a tad too much ambient sound (drums, etc). Works well enough for live sound, but for live recording I'd like a tighter pattern with less sensitivity to get more isolation (I think a hypercardioid capsule is avail., ask for it instead of the cardioid if you buy one). It is way cheaper than the AMT at about $200 or so.
 
#8
The Barbera bridge is great for high volume settings, IMHO. I double on slab (mostly electric, actually) and I run my upright through my full electric rig (which varies, depending upon room and gig requirements). I do have to notch somewhat to avoid feedback, but I can get a lot of volume with no problems.

Tom.
 
#9
For larger venues I'm running an eden navigator pre, which is pretty neutral with the "tube enhance" dialed out, and has lots of eq flex. I run this thru a qsc/plx 1602 bridged, putting the full 1600 watts thru a schroeder 410 cab. I'm using a fishman bp100 pup, which most folks don't care for, but it seems to be working well for me in this case. I really like this setup...Not particulalry cheap, but it wasn't real expensive either...
 

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