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Church Rig

#41
OK. I have added the Avatar CB112 to my Workingman's 210T and I have to say It works pretty well. It's not the smallest or lightest two cab setup, but the price was right and I needed the extra cabinet to get my amp working harder and to push more air. I stacked them vertically tonight on my furniture dolly with the head set up on end next to the bottom cab. I could hear well and so could everyone else.

One last tweek and I may be OK for a while. I have ordered the Fishman Platinum EQ/DI box to get a little better EQ control from my playing position, a little compression, and their depth control to dial in the low end better. This way I can set up my stack behind the drummer, stand in front of the kit and have total control at my fingertips. Hopefully, my Boss Compressor and Sansamp ADI can go up on Ebay next week.
 
#42
I had been using an Edenhaus Jazz Bass w/round wounds, thru a Hartke 3500 /4X10 rig. Now I use an Epi Jack w/TI flats, thru an SABDDI, Clarus head and Berg HT-112. I play in a gym which seats 300-500 per service; 3 svcs. My sound guy loves my rig and DI, he also loves the fact that my bass puts out very strong fundamentals. He takes my sig from the DI and also mics the amp and runs it thru an optical compressor...........it's massive when it hits the 2X18 subs below the stage!
Our drummer is playing the woods behind a plexie sheild; yes there is a difference in the way we gel when the sheild is removed. Sometimes horns, strings and always guitars and the ever present B3. BTW, if you're ever in Iowa City, Ia, check out Parkview EV church, the 9:45 service is packed to the rafters with college students...........it rocks!
 
#43
My situation is clearly different from the majority.
The church is for 300-500 people, the latter wehn we open teh rear wall and I pity those who sit there... Our soundboard is run by more or less happy amateurs, and its situated in the rear corner, under the gallery. And the speakers are intended for speach only. Isn't that just great?
So, I'll have to make do with the old 125W 15" Carlsbro. I never turned the volume past 30%, yet, and somtimes they want me to turn it down: when the pianists singmic takes up the bass...

I really have to do something about this...
 
#45
Humbuck it looks like you have traveled the same path as me. My sound has progressed in the last few years. I was using a sparkly, roundwound strung, jazz bass. Now, most of the time, I am playing a Carvin fretless with humbucking pickups and TI flats blended all the way to the bridge pickup. My Carvin is all about full clear round notes with a strong low mid punch. With a bigger ensemble, the bass has to find it's own voice in the mix. In our band, the guitars (2) and keys (2) take over the middle and upper mids. Because of our sanctuary, the lows can't be overly stressed. That leaves a lower mid area where I have to be loud and clear.
 
#46
Currently I have my own Mackie Board(both musicians myself and the keyboard player have our own little board)+ SWR 500 2 Aguilar 4x10's and a JDI Direct box which runs thru the church's 48 channel Mackie board.I know this might sound like overkill but we have a 1500 seat santcuary so everybody thats sits in there can hear the music CLEANLY !.Also we got rid of the Roland Electronic drumns(hooh ray !)and have a set of Pearl Masters acoustics which gives us a much more fuller sound.
 
#48
Hey Joe, which carvin bass are you using, and do you have the single coil or M/M bridge transducer? I'm thinking of converting to fretless. I'm 1/2 way thru building a semi hollow bass, "ala Rob Allen". complete with TI flats, a Moses neck, and piezo bridge. Pure fundamentals seem to float my boat these days; for years I have been going for the "piano-esque" sound, and have never been satisfied with the mids.

H2
 
#49
Humbuck, my Carvin is an LB75 with stacked humbuckers in the standard J positions. It is neck thru construction with a lined ebony fingerboard. The active electronics are an older version where the mid control was a little different. It almost acts like a frequency sweep rather than a boost/cut at a fixed frequency. I assume it is cutting a fixed amount at a variable frequency (?). It took a minute to figure out, but I could dial in a sound I liked in two minutes. I run the bass and treble in the flat positions, set my mids to the highest (frequency?) setting and don't move them. It will go from huge to Jaco by just changing the blend.

It was a lucky Ebay find and came with some kind of junk roundwounds on it (luckily not used much). When I put on the TI's it just sang. Now it won't stay in the case anymore and my Fenders are getting very jealous.:D
 
#51
wow guys, it seems i'm not the only one having trouble with bass at a church! it feels like i've used everything in just about every way but still struggle to get a decent balance between sound and volume.
on all these occasion i used the bass amp on it's own. i used to use a GK800RB through a Laney 4x12 for outdoor stuff and for big services, (we occasionally had 24hr worship services, crazy fun) but found it too big for the P.A and often for the band! so i tried a 2x15 + 1x12 and it too killed our worship team and the congregation. so i went in the complete opposite direction and used a 1x10 + 1x12 rig and it did ok, but it seemed to struggle during the praise times, so i tried using a single 12 and using it as a monitor and running throught the P.A. it worked good but placed my sound in the hands of our sound tech. a part-time drummer.
for ages i was abolutely struggling to get any sound out of my B-string through the P.A, even though we were running a huge pair of 18" subs. after talking to the sound guy about what i wanted and showed him my sound, i asked if it were ok for me to have an opportunity to eq my sound on the desk. he had the 80hz filter on! no wonder i couldn't get anything outta my B! after a bit of training (i used to work in pro sound) and a little bit of compromise on both our behalfs, we acheived a sound we were both happy with. i've since moved away from the town and now am in a much smaller church. there i use a GK700RB/210 and it does good.it's taken a bit on talking but we've got it sorted out

the main thing i've found with working with all different kinds of churches, and all different kinds of congregations is the underlying lack and need for communication. i didn't acheive anything by having a huge bass rig. sure it was fun. but when we get onto that platform we should be up there for one purpose and one only. to support the leader in inspiring the congregation to worship our God. we are there as worshippers and not musicians. we are just privileged to be blessed with such gifts of (somewhat) talent and equipment and therefore should enter the area humbly and respectfully.

discuss your issues with your sound tech, with the congregation even. who knows what some of them have had experience in. most importantly, make sure that ther's communication amongst the team members. we're a family on and off the platform and need to act accordingly.

but i digress, i found that using a headphone monitor system helps me, and just a few effects. a boss CEB-3 using the wet output for me and the dry for the sound guy works well. and a small amp for self monitoring doesn't hurt for that 'felt not heard' factor.

guys i don't think i've said much of use but it's been good to get a few issues i've been struggling with off my chest. thanks
 
#52
I am new to the Church Bass Club. I was in rock bands in the Chicago area in my teens and then stopped playing completely for 29 years. I only started again about 6 months ago, when I was asked to join the Praise Team at our church. I began by plugging my Ibanez BTB-400 directly into the sanctuary's sound system. That didn't last long. Much of the time, I couldn't hear myself in the stage monitors over the drums or the guitar(s) (the guitar players had small amps onstage). My wife also said that she often couldn't hear me in different locations in the sanctuary. I now use an Ibanez SoundWave 65 Watt practice amp with a 12 in speaker plugged into the DI. Not only does it give me more control over the volume, the SoundWave is a tilt-back and makes a good monitor. Best of all, I can actually hear myself at all times!

I also have a 35 year old stack consisting of a Univox tube (yeah!) amp, one 2 X 12 Univox cabinet and a second cabinet (15 in speaker) made by my father (a master cabinetmaker from Germany) and myself when I was 15. I've threatened to bring in the Univox stack and use the practice amp as a preamp (which works well at home), but I haven't had the guts to try that yet. I'd probably break all the stained glass windows! I am also considering getting a Sansamp RBI, since I prefer playing the "Rush versions" of Tommy Walker songs!

The sanctuary holds about 250-300 people. The room isn't too big, but does have a fairly high ceiling in the middle (30+ feet?). We have a small stage that holds the drums, a grand piano, a keyboard, the bass player, one or two guitar players and usually 2-3 vocalists. It gets crowded. We have various drummers and they all use a full acoustic set (behind a plexiglass shield). We also have a youth group service on Fridays that plays in the "bassment" of the church; I haven't played that gig yet, but it tends to be louder than the Sunday services, in spite of sometimes using an electronic drum set.

I am having a blast! I thought I would never do anything with music again, and now I am part of a growing and dynamic ministry. Additionally, my oldest son (nearly 16) has started helping with the Praise Team. He is doing PowerPoint lyrics, he is just beginning to do some sound work, and he makes a good roadie (he is 4 inches taller than me, much stronger, and free!). This is also bringing us closer together. So, overall it's a great experience. I can't wait to see where it leads. We are considering forming a band and going on the road.
 
#55
sorry Joe, i should have clarified that.
it kind of came about by accident. a while ago i was struggling to get much practice through an amp because of the time that i found to play, so my mum bought me a Danelectro estudio thing. it's designed for guitar but i found that it had a really cool bass sound so i started using it as a preamp.
one day i was setting up a new foldback system at our church and found that we'd damaged one of the channels on one of our foldback amps so i thought that i'd just run my foldback feed to the input of the estudio, and use a few effects as a temporary preamp. the only thing i don't particularly like is that now i have two leads running from my person. but i found that it was so easy to use and it dramatically lowered the stage volume, that i'm not that worried. i still use a small (1x12) bass amp, but run a mix through the headphones. i just put the leader, the keys, the electric guitar and the bass through my headphones. i find that i still get the overflow off the stage sneaking through into my ears, which is handy when someone gets up to speak or when someone else leads a song.
i'm not saying that this would work for everyone, but it sure helped our church. the estudio was $30 AUS on sale and a half-decent set of headphones cost $20AUS on sale. so for $50 i've saved myself (and some of our church members) from the un-necessary volume bug. plus, i can still use the estudio for home practice!
 
#56
Ive been playing with my church's morning praise team since it started about 2 years ago (and on/off for the night service as well) and havent had too much trouble with getting a good sound. I play thru a Hartke B90 combo amp (90 watts, single 15in), into a direct box into the system and then into the PA, which isnt usually set up during the day, only at night. In that case i simply have the soundman stand at the back after he finishes mixing at the board, and tell me how much more he wants... which is usually plenty enough for me to hear myself.

Hes a nice enough guy to let me set my monitor volume BEFORE he sets me into the mix, to be sure i can hear myself. If in that case hes getting too much signal, the direct box has a pad for up to -40 db, so i get knocked down on that before i go to the board. Problem solved 99% of the time.

And i forgot to detail the contents of our band, and situation... usually 3-5 singers, keyboard, aouctist electric stright in with DI, and a piano. Drums are all acoustic, with hot rod sticks (or whatever you call them, the thingies with all the little sticks wrapped into one) and a plexi screen when needed, depending on how heavy handed hes feeling. Church is good sized, average to large sanctuary, (sorry i cant elaborate, not sure how many it seats) and i must say the acoustics are great in there.

Peace, and good luck.
 

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