Bass Straight Into Sound System?

[primusfan1989]

Would you say it beats the preamp MicrobassII that I currently use straight into the system?

Is one better than another? I couldn't say. In general I don't like the tone of EBS stuff (very clean hifi kinda thing). I can say I do love tech 21 stuff. Be it for guitar or bass, their products are of great quality and very cost effective. To me its the best before you start getting into boutique stuff

 

[beaglesandbass]

Maybe I'm biased here because I'm not religious and don't attend church, but if I was playing for free (from what I understand a lot of church guys do), and the church had restrictions for what I can or cannot use, they'd better be buying it for me- so I hope you're not spending your own money.

As I'm thinking about it that's probably the approach I would take with any no/low paying gig.

For what it's worth, I have an Ampeg SCR-DI that I use in some situations. Not sure you'd need the scrambler effect in church, but it puts out nice enough tone in XLR or 1/4" out.

 

[Wiremessiah]

If cost is no issue, id go for a studio channel strip, with a good parametric eq and maybe compressor, and of course DI, but they all have those. Or just keep what you got and get an awesome eq like the pultec clones. Warm audio has the cheapest pultec on the market, and it sounds amazing. If you are not familiar, pultec is the vintage 2 band tube/inductor eq. Yes technically its only 2 bands, but the tone shaping possibilities betray its simplicity. IMO the improvement you get with a pultec is more substantial that between any two bass pres. I dont play anymore without one in the chain.

 

[Munjibunga]

I see, thank you so much for the info so far, much appreciated.
If money isn't an issue, would it benefit me to get the amp head if I'm only using it to plug into the system directly? Or would the pedal be a more natural fit for plugging into directly and yield better tone?

Buying either of the two amps you mentioned would be a complete waste of money if you're never going to use the power section. There are plenty of fine preamps out there that will do what you want.

 

[Rip Van Dan]

Take a look at Eden's WTDI. It's basically an Eden preamp with a studio-quality DI in a stompbox. You can also hook it into the "effects-in" of another amp and just use that amps power section without being limited to what their preamp does. Last I checked they were ~$150. Plug your bass into that and then plug it into the board.

 

[mattj1stc]

Agree with many that it depends on what you're trying to add to your sound without an amp. For at least 10 years now, I've only used my amp for its power section (mostly for on stage sound for me, sometimes as my sound when there was no PA). I started off with a Boss GT-10B, which was super versatile, but I found it to be too much to sort through on a regular basis - too many possibilities. I've also had a minimalist phase where I used a REDDI, which was great, but I often found myself wanting to EQ. That led me to a Jule Monique, which was also great, but then I found myself wanting to add some drive/gain. That led me to the VT Bass Delux, which has been my go to for a while now. It's about the right balance between being able to EQ and add gain, but the strength is really the character knob. I'll leave it to the Sansamp experts to detail what they like best in terms of settings, but I like being able to dial in a variety of tones depending on the room I'm in. It's about the right amount of options, size and cost for me. I have thought about the Bass FlyRig, but I really don't see myself as needing an octave and chorus, maybe a compressor though.

 

[Mushroo]

Slightly different advice: instead of spending money on more gear, you could take a few lessons with a teacher who has the skill of sounding good through a plain DI. Then (assuming they are a good teacher) you will have that skill too, and for life. It's the whole "teach a man to fish" philosophy. Probably the best way to find a teacher with the skill of sounding good through a DI is by asking around local recording studios, or if you have any producer/engineer friends, ask them, "who do you call when you need a nice clean, dry bass track?"

A lot of players in your shoes feel a little frustrated and down on themselves, because they don't sound as "good" as they are used to sounding. But my advice is, be patient, think back to when you bought your first amp. It probably took you some time to learn the skill of sounding good through an amp, figuring out what all the knobs do, dialing in an appropriate volume level, and playing with the right touch. Maybe you asked your teacher for help using the amp, or you looked to your favorite players for inspiration. Learning to sound good through a DI has a similar learning curve (and is a skill well worth mastering, in my opinion).

 

[Berniez40]

If you have a bass whose sound you like then you really only need to ask the sound man one question, "Do you prefer an active or passive DI Box?" Seriously. My guy said our particular system was set up to where Passive would definitely sound better. We tried a few of the more expensive active boxes, but because the system preferred passive, a little $35 Behringer DI Box was all it took. The rest was on him, and he made my bass sound like "My Bass", only louder. If I needed any little tweak at all he would tell me to dial more bass, mids, or treble via the knobs on my bass.
Our room was very live, and when I wore headphones and listened to "THE HOUSE MIX" it was easy to see why they did it that way. There was only one version of time and tempo that way, and the overall tone was really close to what I would have dialed in anyway.

 

[WaynerBass]

Long story short: My church has decided to completely do away with a bass amp and now we only have a bass straight into the sound system. I understand the knee-jerk reaction is to stop reading here and reply that I need an amp. I wholeheartedly agree with that sentiment but unfortunately life is about compromise and having a bass amp is not an option.

I currently use the EBS Microbass II preamp pedal with an XLR straight into the system. Personally, I haven't been too happy with this set up and am looking for something that yields more. I don't have a set budget amount to spend right now, but I am looking for all options.

What would you recommend? A multi-effects pedal? Some sort of amp head? New church? (jk)

Side note: I have a Boss GT-100 for guitar that I use for bass when we don't have a guitar player and the setup of (bass guitar -> GT-100 -> MicrobassII -> system) actually gives great tone! However, I am looking for something a bit more sophisticated and something specific for bass.

Thank you in advance!

I'd recommend the church "compromises" on something and allow you your bass amp! That's rediculous.

 

[Reedt2000]

I'd recommend the church "compromises" on something and allow you your bass amp! That's rediculous.

My Markbass single 12 combo make a great, tiny, light bass monitor and direct box. It will let you shape your tone. The vintage loudspeaker emulator rolls the very top end off and is adjustable. That can help soften the harshness the horn in a PA speaker or monitor can give you. They are not particularly cheap but I it. I stick it behind the drummer so he (or she) can hear the bass clearly and we can make sure the rhythm section is tight.

 

[Reedt2000]

My Markbass single 12 combo make a great, tiny, light bass monitor and direct box. It will let you shape your tone. The vintage loudspeaker emulator rolls the very top end off and is adjustable. That can help soften the harshness the horn in a PA speaker or monitor can give you. They are not particularly cheap but I it. I stick it behind the drummer so he (or she) can hear the bass clearly and we can make sure the rhythm section is tight.

I love it, unlike my phone's autocorrect which I HATE!

 

[Ric5]

Long story short: My church has decided to completely do away with a bass amp and now we only have a bass straight into the sound system. I understand the knee-jerk reaction is to stop reading here and reply that I need an amp. I wholeheartedly agree with that sentiment but unfortunately life is about compromise and having a bass amp is not an option.

I currently use the EBS Microbass II preamp pedal with an XLR straight into the system. Personally, I haven't been too happy with this set up and am looking for something that yields more. I don't have a set budget amount to spend right now, but I am looking for all options.

What would you recommend? A multi-effects pedal? Some sort of amp head? New church? (jk)

Side note: I have a Boss GT-100 for guitar that I use for bass when we don't have a guitar player and the setup of (bass guitar -> GT-100 -> MicrobassII -> system) actually gives great tone! However, I am looking for something a bit more sophisticated and something specific for bass.

Thank you in advance!

I am like you in that I prefer having an amp on stage in addition to PA support ...

As long as you can hear what you are playing and the front of house mix is good then all is good

 

[Honch]

What happened to that new GK preamp/compressor/DI/tuner pedal? The PLEX?

It should be shown at NAMM LAST YEAR but seem to have not hit the market as of yet?
Or did it die before it entered the business? Did it suck big time or what?

 

[scuzzy]

For a solid, on-the-cheap solution, get a joyo American sound amp sim pedal. Handles bass great, gives a fender tube tone. Can be found very cheap. That in conjunction with your DI should yield a pleasant, usable tone, clean or gritty.

For a bit more money, a programmable sansamp bass driver is amazing. Mine is nearly always being used at church and works in a pinch as a DI when I am forced to go without an amp.

 

[walldaja]

I use a Zoom MS-60B & DI direct to board, works fine for me.

 

[mikeyvr6]

Tech21 Bass FlyRig

That's what I'm using these days too, sounds great direct. It replaced a VT Bass Deluxe, which also was very good.

 

[4dog]

All this advice is awesomely good...provided the op is at a church with a good to decent sound bub...most unfortunately do not ...usually ,,bubba is in the back because there isnt anyone else to do the job and bubba just didnt say no fast enough,,,and most churches small to medium have horrible sound systems.
If they will let you use an amp..do it ..i use mine at a moderate volume.

 

[CarpeBasso]

Since you've had so many great suggestions already, why not more? I have the same set-up as you are talking about in church, and I use the Zoom B-3 multi-effects. XLR out and for a multi-effects box it has superior amp & cab sims and pedal sims. There's a whole thread or several on here dedicated to it. Warning - the designated replacement, the B-3N doesn't have XLR out, so you'll have to use a direct box if you need it. I'm not ashamed to say I love my Zooom B-3!

 

[pedroims]

I also play at chuch, my current gear is: Bass > JDI > Mixer. I have received many complements on how the bass sound. How I achieved this? Easy, I worked with sound guy, we spent couple of hours doing sound check until we both were happy with the sound. After this I sold my tone hammer and my B3K.

Now, what exactly you are triying to achieve ? If you are thinking to buy all kind of pedals or amps so you can eq your bass signal to make it sound awesome in the FOH then you are wrong.

The best thing to do is to work with your sound man and make your current gear to sound good in the band mix.

You already have a great pedal, there is bot reason why you cant get an awesome tone in the house.

After that you can add overdrive, chorus, filters or whatever effect you need for the songs. But always fix any eq issue on house from the mixer.

 

[LowDownHawkeye]

Though common, I'm not sure I completely understand eliminating amps unless also using (only) in ear monitors. If you are going to have stage monitors so the band can hear themselves, seems like a bass amp fits right in with that. I guess the downside for the engineer (vs stage monitors) is that they don't have ability to remotely adjust the bass amp.

For our worship band, this is *exactly* it. Regular bass player prefers to hear himself via amp (an Ampeg BA210 combo) than wedge monitor, and that means sound guy can't do *anything* to address it if there's too much volume off the stage. Band leader might not feel like he can say much since he goes through his tube combo, and he only likes the sound of that when it gets loud.

When I have a weekend on bass, I go through a POD HD500 with amp and cab sim, and wear studio cans as a monitor. Hoping to get in ears soon to be a little less conspicuous.