Double Bass Doubling Gig Tonight (my gear)

[The Bass Clef]

I got a gig tonight in a classic country band… 42 songs (22 on upright, 20 on the Fender). So I thought I’d do a little “rig rundown”. After 2 decades of sitting in storage, I got my Englehardt C1 bass fixed about 2 months ago (fingerboard unattached itself over time and needed planing). Also got a new adjustable bridge, a Realist Lifeline pickup, and new strings - Thomastik Spiro solos tuned down to Eb standard (yes, this country band tunes down a 1/2 step).

For amps I wanted something I could double with. I tried an Acoustic Image Clarus, my Peavey MiniMax, an Aguilar TH500, an Ampeg PF350, and a couple others, but settled on my little Markbass CMD 121P Combo I already had. To me, it sounded the best (and biggest) out of everything I tried with the upright bass, and it has a very good electric tone too. Everything else seemed to work a lot better for one than the other. I also picked up a matching NY 121 extension cab. The Markbass is pretty easy to double with too…

I run the upright through an older Fishman Pro-Eq Platinum Bass pre, into the FX return on the Markbass. Unlike most amps, the FX return on the Markbass still goes thru the amp’s preamp and EQ section (I know it’s weird). So I set everything to sound good for the electric (which I try to set as flat as I can) and then I make EQ adjustments for the upright with the Fishman. This works out pretty good actually. The gain knob on the amp doesn’t have any affect on the upright signal going thru the FX in, so for the electric I set the amp gain knob to right before clipping and the amp master vol to typical “gig level”. Then I match the upright’s volume with the main volume knob on the Fishman. This has all been working out pretty well for me so far. The Fishman really does wonders for controlling feedback! I also have an instrument cable with an on/off button (by D’Addario) for the upright, which I use to mute it when I play the electric (and I just turn down the volume knob on my electric when I play the upright).

The reason I go thru the amp’s FX return on the back, instead of the balanced XLR input right there on the face of the Markbass is because 2 things… That input is affected by the gain knob (which is my only independent amp volume control for my electric), and the XLR out on the Fishman is significantly quieter than the 1/4” out, to the point where I couldn’t get the amp loud enough without diming it. Anyway, thanks for reading if you stuck around this long. I’m just excited to be back out playing upright again regularly!

 

[bherman]

Looks like you are all set for a fun night!

 

[Wasnex]

The only thing you seem to be missing is some way to mute the UB, so you don't have to fiddle with the gain control on the Fishman.

 

[The Bass Clef]

The only thing you seem to be missing is some way to mute the UB, so you don't have to fiddle with the gain control on the Fishman.

The instrument cable I use for the upright has an on/off button on the jack.

 

[The Bass Clef]

I ended up running a line out of the XLR on the Fishman pre to the PA. My rig worked well as a stage monitor, but the bass volume faded fast out in the crowd. I think I’ll probably be doing that all the time now because even in a typical sized bar tonight, my amp alone couldn’t keep up with the drums and 2 guitars (which were all un-mic’d). Once I ran myself thru the PA after a couple songs, it all came together mix-wise. Even the dancefloor seemed to come alive the minute everyone could hear the bass well. I just have a loud country band I guess.

 

[Hectobar]

Looks to me like you got it figured out. I’ve always found doubling to be logistically tough. Good plan letting the pa do the heavy lifting.

hope the gig is awesome!

 

[Zbysek]

I do the same when doubling. I use the same amp head (MB Little mark 3).

I send my Bass guitar’s signal to FOH via Aguilar Tone Hammer preamp.

I send my electric upright to FOH via Broughton Messenger preamp.

works great!

 

[Jefenator]

Lots of ways round the barn as it were when it comes to doubling.
The logical / control freak side of me would love some dual channel solution where each instrument has fully independent gain & EQ.
But the primal / practical part of me has been making do without for decades.
Once I get the upright piezo buffered & phased, with HPF to taste & level set to match the electric, I find it's all smooth sailing.

 

[oren]

A couple of years ago I thought I was going to be doing a lot of doubling and I bought a Grace Felix 2, which is a great, if pricey, doubling rig - two channel studio quality preamp in a pedal format, with separate eq, impedance switching for each channel, separate low pass/notch filters, lots of routing options. It turns out I only double occasionally, but it works great when I need it!

 

[Zootsuitbass]

Chiming in….. the effects return is effected by the EQ on the face of the amp??

Im thinking of doing this….so Im wondering

 

[The Bass Clef]

Chiming in….. the effects return is effected by the EQ on the face of the amp??

Im thinking of doing this….so Im wondering

Yes, i found it odd that it's wired like that too. But I just set the EQ to sound good for electric bass (running into the normal input on the face of the amp), and then I EQ the upright to sound good with the Fishman pre (which it goes thru before it goes to the fx return on the amp) . I've played about 10 shows with this set up now and it sounds great for both basses. I also run an XLR out of the Fishman to our PA, so upright comes thru the mains too. I haven't needed to run my electric signal thru the mains at any of the clubs I've played yet, but it has been absolutely necessary for the stand up.

This little rig works nicely as a stage monitor for stand up, but it doesn't cut it on its own - the feedback gets too bad (at least on certain notes) before i can get it loud enough thru the amp alone. We don't play particularly loud either... it's classic country, not rockabilly. I don't suspect any 500ish watt 212 rig would be able to cut it all on its own for standup in my band. I don't know how anyone gets by in a full band with one of those little 1x10 upright specific amps, unless it's a jazz combo (and even then). All that said, with a little PA support, this rig has been working out well for my doubling needs.