Different volumes when using 2 basses

[the low one]

I’ve recently acquired a Jazz bass fretless to go with my fretted P bass. The Jazz bass us using flatwound string and the P bass rounds. As I would expect the P bass is louder that the Jazz so what’s the best method of making them the same level when switching basses on stage? Do you:

use an A/B type setup,
or boost / EQ pedal,
or separate preamp,
or alter the volume / gain on you amp or preamp
or another method

I need a solution when DI ing to the PA, not just using my amp.

 

[Tony G]

My first suggestion is not to have the volume knob on both basses maxed out. Keep them maybe about halfway to start, and adjust them as needed. That way you can turn up your jazz to about 3/4 volume and it will be as loud as your p-bass at about 1/2 volume.

 

[SuperDuck]

Yeah, there's a reason the volume knobs aren't on/off switches. You could even max out the Jazz and just roll the Precision off a little bit to match.

 

[ExaltBass]

I use my Radial Bassbone - I'm able to dial in tones and volume to suit my different basses. Nice DI too!

 

[Lowtonejoe]

I’ve recently acquired a Jazz bass fretless to go with my fretted P bass. The Jazz bass us using flatwound string and the P bass rounds. As I would expect the P bass is louder that the Jazz so what’s the best method of making them the same level when switching basses on stage? Do you:

use an A/B type setup,
or boost / EQ pedal,
or separate preamp,
or alter the volume / gain on you amp or preamp
or another method

I need a solution when DI ing to the PA, not just using my amp.

+1 for the Radial Bassbone.

It will do exactly what you want.



Joe.

 

[the low one]

My first suggestion is not to have the volume knob on both basses maxed out. Keep them maybe about halfway to start, and adjust them as needed. That way you can turn up your jazz to about 3/4 volume and it will be as loud as your p-bass at about 1/2 volume.

Thanks for the reply. Do you find that not maxing the volume on a passive bass affects the tone, especially when using effects such as distortion or overdrive which rely on gain?

 

[Tony G]

Sorry, I can't answer that as I have never been one to use effects. However, don't most effect pedals have an input gain sensitivity control anyways?

 

[lamarjones]

+2 Radial Bassbone, if you still don't know what that is, check it out!!!! Its MADE to solve this issue.

 

[Blake Bass]

+3 for the Radial Bassbone -- it's the best product out for balancing levels between two basses.

 

[pickles]

Using the volume knob:

1) changes the tone slightly
2) is not easily repeatable

On the gig you don't want the headache of trying to dial in your volume before each song. And your soundman doesn't want you jumping around in the mix.

The bassbone was designed to do what you want, but if you don't mind a little bit of extra lows and highs on the lower output bass, I think the Sadowsky outboard preamp sounds better.

Also very important for any setup like this is a mute switch at the front of the signal chain. If you make one cord-unplug pop while you're plugged into the PA, you're going to spend the rest of the night lost in the mix, because the soundman is going to bottom out your slider and leave it there to protect his gear. The Sadowsky has that, but on the bassbone you have to give up the effects loop features to get it.

I'm still looking for other products. I'd love something with just a mute and two levels with no EQ, that is absolutely transparent sounding.

 

[the low one]

I'd love something with just a mute and two levels with no EQ, that is absolutely transparent sounding.

That would be ideal

 

[high mileage]

On the gig you don't want the headache of trying to dial in your volume before each song. And your soundman doesn't want you jumping around in the mix.

Yup. Lots of ways to do it but the Bassbone might be the best one. I always put the volume all the way up on passive basses but the change in tone really isn't much of an issue with active basses.

 

[DanielleMuscato]

+1 on finding a solution other than your volume knob. Volume knobs on guitars are not strictly attenuators, and will alter your tone, aside from just being plain inconsistent.

By the way, you can get a mute footswitch (or just use a volume pedal) if you want to use the Radial. If you have a tuner in your signal chain, you can likely set it up as a mute, too.

Dave

 

[KJung]

My first suggestion is not to have the volume knob on both basses maxed out. Keep them maybe about halfway to start, and adjust them as needed. That way you can turn up your jazz to about 3/4 volume and it will be as loud as your p-bass at about 1/2 volume.

Turning the volume knobs down on passive basses significantly changes the tone of the instrument (reducing treble response)... so that's probably not a good option.

K

Edit: Dave beat me to it in the previous post!

 

[Tony G]

I guess I'm just too used to have nothing but active basses. Just scratch my comments then.

 

[pickles]

Oh, one more needed feature is a buffered tuner out. Both the sadowsky and tonebone have that.

The thing I didn't like about the tonebone was making me choose between the effects loop in a mute. That just seems like a huge oversight, and I was really disappointed when mine arrived and I read that in the manual. Also If found that even when maxed out, the volume was a little lower with the tonebone patched in than without, so it was having trouble triggering my envelope filter and compressor.

Check this thing out: http://www.tonebone.com/re-bigshot-io.htm

Looks like it might fit the bill.

 

[pickles]

The problem with the big shot is that I really just want to use one cable.

Mute, unplug, swap basses, plug in, unmute. I'm afraid with two cables I'd trip over one or get all tangled.

Actually, in my case things are simpler since my active bass has an output control in the cavity ... so I really only need mute and tune for a front-end box. The BigShot would probably work fine for that. Its nice that its totally passive.

 

[lamarjones]

The problem with the big shot is that I really just want to use one cable.

Mute, unplug, swap basses, plug in, unmute. I'm afraid with two cables I'd trip over one or get all tangled.

Actually, in my case things are simpler since my active bass has an output control in the cavity ... so I really only need mute and tune for a front-end box. The BigShot would probably work fine for that. Its nice that its totally passive.

It sounds like you want to swap basses, I have no desire to do that which is why I suggested the bassbone, and why the mute thing never bothered me.

I use an active and a eub. Hit the switch, put my electric on my backside, ready to rock. As for tuner, that is sent from amp as it is rackmount, so never an issue.

 

[Gegatso]

Modified volume pedal with 2 inputs, each having a volume knob. This way you can have your basses full open on the pickups, not have to switch cables when switching instruments. You just turn up the volume and play. If you need to unplug, you can use the pedal to kill the output.

 

[scotch]

I think the simplest solution is to get a high-quality clean boost pedal.

However I would also like to nominate:
"something with just a mute and two levels with no EQ, that is absolutely transparent sounding"
Maybe three selectable levels with LED indicators & an isolated tuner output!