Change my technique?

[snitter1]

Last year our 3 piece band played a live gig in a large curling rink with a few hundred people in the audience.The soundman was freaking out because I was playing my bass strings too close to the pickups and "could blow a speaker".I had direct input and was playing through the house system. I've played through large,outdoor systems and have had no problems. I use a '72 Fender Jazz bass with two non-active (original) pickups.I keep my volume and treble-bass controls at max to get a full sound.Should I change my technique? Was the bass set up too bright on the house system?

 

[jmjbassplayer]

You know, it might be too bright...some jazz basses need to get that tone control rolled off a little bit. But also, and perhaps more importantly, you should have it looked at/set up so that your pickup height isn't too high, in combination with your action possibly being too low.
Best,
Justin

p.s. I want to play in a large curling rink too. That's epic.

 

[JimmyM]

i think that's really odd that a soundman would worry about that. pretty much any soundman worth a crap will compress the bass so those peaks don't blow their system.

 

[snitter1]

Thank you JimmyM-That was my thought that the sound system was peaking because of the setting.I've played through big sound systems before but usually my old jazz bass isn't bright enough because of the non-active pickups.
Thank you (how can you tell I'm Canadian?) jmjbassplayer -This is an old axe and things do loosen up.The pickups could be a little high.I like my string action low and that could be the problem.The curling rink gig was a rush!

 

[attackbass]

geddly lee apparently gets part of his tone from hitting the strings against the pickups and it works for him. dont qoute me on that.. jsut what i've read on here.. i have the pickups pretty high and have no problems - just a sweet break up through my amp

 

[thombo]

Thank you (how can you tell I'm Canadian?) jmjbassplayer -This is an old axe and things do loosen up.The pickups could be a little high.I like my string action low and that could be the problem.The curling rink gig was a rush!

i think you answer you own question in the last sentence.

 

[Mingus Addict]

pretty much any soundman worth a crap will compress the bass so those peaks don't blow their system.

A little off topic, but I just want to note that as a sound person, we can get thrown into all kinds of situations with all kinds of gear. It's not fair to assume that the sound person always has a compressor channel available for the bass.

In reference to the OP, I can't imagine what the problem was, but if you only experienced it in one venue, with one engineer, I wouldn't be terribly concerned. A compressor set to heavy squash with a very fast attack time can actually cause a very sharp, almost percussive attack, so this engineer may have been causing his own problem.

You say this was last year. Have you had any complaints from engineers since?

 

[snitter1]

Mingus Addict:I've had no problems since ,but come to think of it I was clicking on a couple tracks in the recording studio a few years ago.I'm still wondering if there is a problem with my playing technique.Someone once told me not to play close to the pickups ....but it's kinda mechanical playing close to the bridge.

 

[JimmyM]

A little off topic, but I just want to note that as a sound person, we can get thrown into all kinds of situations with all kinds of gear. It's not fair to assume that the sound person always has a compressor channel available for the bass.

good point. i usually do assume that, but then i remember i do a handful of gigs where the soundman actually doesn't have a comp, so yoo iz rite.