Different volumes when using 2 basses

[mikeswals]

Why waste money on extra gear for such a simple solution....
All I did is adjust the pickup heights on my P's and J's so they all match. I had to since I have 3 of each.
Raise up the ones on the J, but not so high that the string hit the pickup poles, then lower the ones on the P.

 

[Lowtonejoe]

Why waste money on extra gear for such a simple solution....
All I did is adjust the pickup heights on my P's and J's so they all match. I had to since I have 3 of each.
Raise up the ones on the J, but not so high that the string hit the pickup poles, then lower the ones on the P.

That is a solution that can work.



Joe.

 

[ehque]

Why waste money on extra gear for such a simple solution....
All I did is adjust the pickup heights on my P's and J's so they all match. I had to since I have 3 of each.
Raise up the ones on the J, but not so high that the string hit the pickup poles, then lower the ones on the P.

exactly what i was thinking too.

 

[the low one]

Why waste money on extra gear for such a simple solution....
All I did is adjust the pickup heights on my P's and J's so they all match. I had to since I have 3 of each.
Raise up the ones on the J, but not so high that the string hit the pickup poles, then lower the ones on the P.

I understand what you're saying but don't you want to get the best out of each bass all the time? I don't always take 2 basses to a gig so when I'm using just one I want the beat sound I know it can give me.

 

[jokerjkny]

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

nah,

its actually a very good suggestion, cause not everyone has 250 to drop on something you could possibly do for free!

 

[scotch]

Yeah, adjusting your pickup height should be the place to start. Good suggestion.

If there is a "sweet spot" your looking for to drive an effect, things get trickier. There are also cases where the pickup height difference can be too dramatic for some people, in which case you may need a different solution.

Pickup height is definitely the place to start, I assumed you tried it already. Just don't put the Jazz' pickups close enough to where they start reducing sustain when you play high notes up the neck.

 

[pickles]

I decided to try the BigShot IO. $79 on MF and I think it'll work great for me.

 

[T-MOST]

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.

Get a BassBone. It's a A/B boxwith a foot switch and vol/EQ. You can set seperate Volume and EQ and switch back and forth.

 

[Jazzin']

What I do is keep the volume knobs on all my basses different so they all output the same volume. I also use my limiter pedal if necessary.

 

[mikeswals]

I understand what you're saying but don't you want to get the best out of each bass all the time?

Oh trust me, I get the best sound possible out of both my P's and J's. You can adjust these to a degree without killing any tone, and making a simple volume level-matching adjustment doesn't kill any available tone.

 

[lamarjones]

In this scenario, with it being a p and a j, you can definitely work with the height, and maybe get a simpler a/b box.

If you had a passive and an active, I would say adjusting pup height is not gonna get you there, but those aren't the droids we are seeking currently....

 

[the low one]

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

That’s what I’m after. I want to use one lead and unplug it when changing basses, not leave both plugged in and switch between them.

So what I want is a box with one lead in and one out, like a normal pedal, where I can toggle between 2 different levels which I can set, and a mute. I’m sure a bass EQ pedal would do the trick, apart from the mute.

 

[bigbajo60]

I definitely work with the pickup heights on all my basses... I own several different basses but just one rig, so it's important to me to get a close match volume-wise.

Another helpful tip I can share is that when adjusting the pickup heights, I plug into my studio recorder so that I can have a visual representation of the bass's signal strength via the recorders' volume meters.

Lots of good ideas to consider in this thread.

 

[afroman]

I had that problem when going from fingerstyle to pickstyle with the same bass on the same gig. I used a BOSS EQ pedal which was really good since you can eq if you need and change the LEVEL slider to get equal volumes with you 1 basses. Now I use a Sansamp ParaDriver wich also gives me some very nice overdrive for pick-playing.

The voume or boost pedal ideas are also good ones. If you only want to have equal volume between different basses I think the Boss eq pedal is the way to go and they're pretty inexpensive.

 

[rockstarbassist]

Ernie Ball Volume Pedal Jr.

 

[the low one]

Just found this on ebay, anyone tried one?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Boost-Switch-...2QQihZ008QQcategoryZ22669QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[Johnny Crab]

Used a Fulltone Bass Drive for what you want for a while.
A Line 6 Bass POD XT Live does it now with multiple channels for each bass.

For the least $$$, you can reset your pickup heights.

Another option is to get something like this:
Link Removed
and set the EQ FLAT and kick it on the boost your weaker bass to the correct level.