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DI to the board - pre-efx or post-efx?
- Thread starter behndy
- Start date
Also,IMHA. I've heard bass players who's signature tone was "super-scooped" and sounded great. Should they abandon their sonic-identity because the soundguy has a problem?
Don't get me wrong, I understand the delicate balance exists and often some compromise must be made. But, too many times, it seems these threads go in the direction of "we don't want to hurt the soundguys feelings". Of course the soundguy has a reputation at stake, but SO DO I! And I'm the one standing up on stage!
Don't get me wrong, I understand the delicate balance exists and often some compromise must be made. But, too many times, it seems these threads go in the direction of "we don't want to hurt the soundguys feelings". Of course the soundguy has a reputation at stake, but SO DO I! And I'm the one standing up on stage!
For the record, I go into a gig with an unknown sound guy assuming that he is a potential problem. Experience shows me that at the level of gigging that I do (bars, clubs, local festivals) there will be one or two less than competent sound guys for every ten I meet. It's not okay to treat every soundguy like a jerk and neither is it okay to treat even the less than competent sound guys like a jerk.
But by talking with each one before we get set up I can usually get a good feel for what's in store before we get to the point of sound check and try to make accommodations diplomatically as necessary.
This is what happens when you act like a jerk to the soundguy:
If you get a bad soundman, there's nothing you can do about it, so I just try to straighten them out as much as I can but try to be nice but firm about it. I can size them up in about 30 seconds, and I have a standard plan of attack for all of them. It usually works to get a decent enough mix out of them, sometimes even a good one. Fortunately I'm in a position where I get to either boss around soundmen, or if I'm not, I'm at least respected enough to where they listen to me and my crazy ideas.
- Dec 18, 2000
- 13,201
- 340
- Disclosures
- greenboy designs: fEARful, bassic, dually, crazy88 etc
When you wrote that, at the same exact moment on a prosound board, this appeared:
any bass player who assumes all soundguys are a potential problem is an arrogant SOB!
And another kitten died.
Maybe it's unique for me, but I've never really encountered these issues.
99 out of 100 times I show up and there's a cable and DI in place for me. It's already there.
I then plug whatever feed I want into the DI, either a line from amp, line from my pedalboard, I can't recall ever plugging my bass into the DI directly.
If I mic the cabinet, I simply unplug the XLR from the DI, connect another length of cable (mine) to his cable and plug in and position my mic.
Only a few times have I been asked to even make an adjustment, in those cases it's been with the pedalboard feed, asking for more or less on the gain for the IEM.
99 out of 100 times I show up and there's a cable and DI in place for me. It's already there.
I then plug whatever feed I want into the DI, either a line from amp, line from my pedalboard, I can't recall ever plugging my bass into the DI directly.
If I mic the cabinet, I simply unplug the XLR from the DI, connect another length of cable (mine) to his cable and plug in and position my mic.
Only a few times have I been asked to even make an adjustment, in those cases it's been with the pedalboard feed, asking for more or less on the gain for the IEM.
I would go bass into DI first - clean signal
If using effects I would mic the cab
So you end up with effects + clean blend to FOH
I use a Lakland 55-02 > Avalon U5
If using effects I would mic the cab
So you end up with effects + clean blend to FOH
I use a Lakland 55-02 > Avalon U5
Hey all. Great info from everybody. Thanks!
The way the bass is in the band i'm playing with, the efx on the bass are super necessary. I kinda NEED the distortions and the other stuff 'cause there's no guitar player & the synth playing leaves a lot of space for the bass to fill up.
So is realllll good to hear that most people that want to run post-efx-di don't have / don't let it be a problem.
So i've changed my setup so my di (Sansamp PBDI) is at the end of the chain.
Thanks again!
-0behn desu0-
The way the bass is in the band i'm playing with, the efx on the bass are super necessary. I kinda NEED the distortions and the other stuff 'cause there's no guitar player & the synth playing leaves a lot of space for the bass to fill up.
So is realllll good to hear that most people that want to run post-efx-di don't have / don't let it be a problem.
So i've changed my setup so my di (Sansamp PBDI) is at the end of the chain.
Thanks again!
-0behn desu0-
I am not a fan of giving the sound guy a pre EFX DI signal.
I don't personally use any bizzare effects but I've seen some nightmare scenarios that scare me off of it.
I have a friend of mine that plays bass and at one particular show of his. He was stage monitoring himself with a ampeg 8x10 with an SVT 4. In addition to this he had a pretty heavy distorted effect signal and on some songs a wall of fuzz. ( its what his band likes meh )
The sound guy insisted on a clean DI pre effect.
So here he is rocking away with a massive wall of fuzz on stage and thinking all is perfect in the world. All the while the FOH is 100% clean and just non stop "clack clack clack" from the bass as he slaps frets.
-Rav
I don't personally use any bizzare effects but I've seen some nightmare scenarios that scare me off of it.
I have a friend of mine that plays bass and at one particular show of his. He was stage monitoring himself with a ampeg 8x10 with an SVT 4. In addition to this he had a pretty heavy distorted effect signal and on some songs a wall of fuzz. ( its what his band likes meh )
The sound guy insisted on a clean DI pre effect.
So here he is rocking away with a massive wall of fuzz on stage and thinking all is perfect in the world. All the while the FOH is 100% clean and just non stop "clack clack clack" from the bass as he slaps frets.
-Rav
Or he might want to insert a comp/limiter into the board's bass channel or channels. Likely he's planning on that already, but a polite inquiry on that should work AND reassure him you want to work together with him.
Speaking as a bassist, an effects hound, and a sound engineer, if a bassist is running effects i'll always take an effected signal, or better yet 2, a wet and a dry. i'll then try and mix the effects along with the clarity a di brings.
in my experience, a di/pa does weird things to an effected bass. its not bad persay, but i've grown to like that fizzy di'd bass od sound that we all know and love....or maybe its just my own.
i also set the di on any amp heads to post eq, unless its problematic.
in my experience, a di/pa does weird things to an effected bass. its not bad persay, but i've grown to like that fizzy di'd bass od sound that we all know and love....or maybe its just my own.
i also set the di on any amp heads to post eq, unless its problematic.
If the soundman insists on taking my signal straight out of the bass, I unplug my Jazz and plug in my EB0 copy with the tone rolled about 3/4 off. I get a tone I can live with in the FOH and I know how to change my EQ on stage. This is important. Find out how you best like the naked sound of your bass using only the tone and volume controls. If it every happens, you're at least moderately prepared.
