I normally play with an acoustic guitar or two and one or two vocalists. Tonight: 2 loud electric guitarists, keys, acoustic guitar, 4 vocalists, drums and the kala. Lucky I got a heads-up and brought along an amp to use as stage monitor. I ended up upping the upper mids and treble on the fishman and dropping the bass a bit just to cut through but the kala held down its own in the mix. Loved the tuner out on the fishman too, made a quick tune before playing easy. Didn't even bring a back up bass.
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Kala UBass Megathread, Part 3
- Thread starter smperry
- Start date
- Status
I'm really digging the Thunderguts on this bass. They are clear and much easier to get around on than the stock strings. I am going to grab one of the Californial Solid Bodies to replace my acoustic now. Any of you guys use the Thunderguts on the solid?
Peredur said:
Actually there are decent buffering pres. We have been talkin about a few of them throughout this thread. The Baggs and the Fishman are popular. The Radial PZ-Pre is another good one. There are several small belt pack types designed for upright. Other floor units too. On paper, many of them have very high impedance inputs. Many have phase switches and High pass filters. Almost all have some type of tone control or active EQ bands. Many amp and pedal makers are putting 1MegOhm inputs in.
It is true that none of these features are new. Heck, I own a bag full of them right now. I have owned 2-3 times as many as I currently have now and tried even more.
None, I repeat NONE that I have heard or tried come close to the performance of the F-Deck. I'm not so naive to say I'll never EQ or further process my signal again, but set flat and plugged in, there is nothing like it. I will use it with the upright on today's gig and report back.
slaerts said:
Great! I personally use a Samson clip on tuner. Works great. I either pull the SnapJack cable off or turn the amp off.
The Baggs and Fishman are similar in function but radically different in sound IMO. I am finding more and more that they are so different but both so usable that I always have both on me. I plug in and tweak both and use whichever sounds better. Live with the Hog I find myself ending up with the Baggs. The solid tends to end up with the Fishman, as does the upright.
One weird psychological thing though... To my ears generally the Baggs sounds better to me at home solo, once set. But I don't like turning knobs that far. The best sound from the Fishman IMO comes from subtle adjustments, which puts my mind more at ease for some reason.
One thing about the low end on these things. The Baggs is very strong and tight, more than I could ever get out of the Fishman. And the Fishman is ooey gooey, almost tube warm. But not as tight. It really depends on the room and the band.
The thing that is now turning everything on its head is this F-Deck. Just what I need...more choieces to fill my head and distract me from playing.
Gig today. Upright, then U-bass on the last set. It was F-deck all the way. Totally flat amp EQ for the upright, and very minor tweaking for U-bass. Only tweaked the EQ to further emulate the upright. I think I got it very close.
Interesting to note that during setup I dialed in the deck, then replaced it and dialed in the Fishman. The most usable setting on the Fish was not even close to the great sound from the deck with flat EQ. I'm also getting a ton more headroom on my amp too. I could barely turn it down enough.
Interesting to note that during setup I dialed in the deck, then replaced it and dialed in the Fishman. The most usable setting on the Fish was not even close to the great sound from the deck with flat EQ. I'm also getting a ton more headroom on my amp too. I could barely turn it down enough.
Attachments
BassBron said:
From what I hear the improvements are:
1. Accepts AC wall-wart power
2. Aluminum housing vs. plastic
3. 2-stage high pass filter: one set at 35hz, the other variable like the current one.
This may well be the best bang for the buck piece of gear. You have to hear it in real life to believe it. Literally the sound in my head is coming out of my amp.
Still being built, I think. The series 2 meets my needs...maybe I'll get a 3 for my second one, if I can wait that long
Still being built, I think. The series 2 meets my needs...maybe I'll get a 3 for my second one, if I can wait that long
Anyone willing to take bets on this one?
For my electric bass rig, I have other powered pedals when I feel so inclined to put them back on. I might look to the Series 3 to live on that board.
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What did all of you guys do with your time before the ubass came along?
PS: One of you should have an endorsement by now.
PS: One of you should have an endorsement by now.
scotch
It's not rocket science!
- Nov 12, 2006
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Joe Nerve said:What did all of you guys do with your time before the ubass came along?
...
I played my Ashbory bass!
The U-Bass totally supplanted it though.
Sunday was a very long day for me. My setup for the day was my Kala U-Bass and Fdeck HPF-Pre. Sunday would be the live test for the HPF-Pre.
I filled in on bass at The Vineyard Community Church in Mason. They have a practice at 8am, with services at 9am and 11am. The music for each service is about 30 minutes. So, I got nearly 2 hours of playing time in before noon. The setup for this was U-Bass -> HPF-Pre -> House PA. I had an in-ear monitor to hear myself, which doesnt allow me to hear much in the way of lows. But what I could hear in the house, the results were pretty good. The sound guy is a big fan of bass guitars, so I was placed well in the mix. From the previous time I used the U-Bass at this church, the U-Bass was a little less thumpy and the truer sound of the bass was coming through. The Fishman Pro EQ is a nice box, for sure, but it colors the sound of the U-Bass. It is not a bad coloring of the sound, just different. My main concern was not having any EQ control over the mids. The mids are where the piezo quack live and I was concerned how that might affect the resulting sound. To my surprise, in a live setting with a keyboard, guitar, drum set, acoustic guitar and vocals, I couldnt hear a whisper of quack. And by not lowering my own mids, my bass seemed a lot clear in the overall mix. I wasnt just being felt, I was also being heard. EQ lesson learned. And I rather liked the more natural sound of the U-Bass. It reminds me of the Behringer ADI21. It didnt color my sound, but it lacks an HPF, so a lot distortion and thump was getting through it.
And then there was the Model A Club picnic. Mmmm, hot dogs. No music playing, but chasing my two boys around is a lot of work when there is a lake next to the picnic site.
The evening was capped off with a practice and jam session with The Bible Blues Band. An hour of practice, then an hour of music once the open mic gospel sing started. For this setup, I was running the HPF-Pre into a Fender Bassman 60 (the house amp, I was too lazy to pack my GK). The room is not overly large, so it works just fine. The little amp stayed clean the entire night. With the HPF in place, I didnt rattle it like I did the last few months. This allowed me to turn up the levels to compete with the 4 guitar amps (guest musicians) and still sound like a bass guitar. I even found myself turning up the mids a little.
I learned a lot Sunday. For one, I had this fear the last few months of the piezo quack, but allowing the bass to breathe more freely, I was getting some really good sound from the little bass. Two thumbs up for the Fdeck HPF-Pre. If you just want a simple little box to preamp your piezo pickup with a high-pass filter, it is a good value for the function. Second, I have been EQing my basses to death. Instead of allow each bass to sound like its own unique self, Ive been EQing them all to sound the same. I am finding all new sounds from my two main basses as a result of this non-EQing phase of my playing.
I filled in on bass at The Vineyard Community Church in Mason. They have a practice at 8am, with services at 9am and 11am. The music for each service is about 30 minutes. So, I got nearly 2 hours of playing time in before noon. The setup for this was U-Bass -> HPF-Pre -> House PA. I had an in-ear monitor to hear myself, which doesnt allow me to hear much in the way of lows. But what I could hear in the house, the results were pretty good. The sound guy is a big fan of bass guitars, so I was placed well in the mix. From the previous time I used the U-Bass at this church, the U-Bass was a little less thumpy and the truer sound of the bass was coming through. The Fishman Pro EQ is a nice box, for sure, but it colors the sound of the U-Bass. It is not a bad coloring of the sound, just different. My main concern was not having any EQ control over the mids. The mids are where the piezo quack live and I was concerned how that might affect the resulting sound. To my surprise, in a live setting with a keyboard, guitar, drum set, acoustic guitar and vocals, I couldnt hear a whisper of quack. And by not lowering my own mids, my bass seemed a lot clear in the overall mix. I wasnt just being felt, I was also being heard. EQ lesson learned. And I rather liked the more natural sound of the U-Bass. It reminds me of the Behringer ADI21. It didnt color my sound, but it lacks an HPF, so a lot distortion and thump was getting through it.
And then there was the Model A Club picnic. Mmmm, hot dogs. No music playing, but chasing my two boys around is a lot of work when there is a lake next to the picnic site.
The evening was capped off with a practice and jam session with The Bible Blues Band. An hour of practice, then an hour of music once the open mic gospel sing started. For this setup, I was running the HPF-Pre into a Fender Bassman 60 (the house amp, I was too lazy to pack my GK). The room is not overly large, so it works just fine. The little amp stayed clean the entire night. With the HPF in place, I didnt rattle it like I did the last few months. This allowed me to turn up the levels to compete with the 4 guitar amps (guest musicians) and still sound like a bass guitar. I even found myself turning up the mids a little.
I learned a lot Sunday. For one, I had this fear the last few months of the piezo quack, but allowing the bass to breathe more freely, I was getting some really good sound from the little bass. Two thumbs up for the Fdeck HPF-Pre. If you just want a simple little box to preamp your piezo pickup with a high-pass filter, it is a good value for the function. Second, I have been EQing my basses to death. Instead of allow each bass to sound like its own unique self, Ive been EQing them all to sound the same. I am finding all new sounds from my two main basses as a result of this non-EQing phase of my playing.
Useful information:
HPF-Pre Series 1
$50 + $5 for shipping and handling
Piezo preamp for upright bass
High input impedance
Adjustable high pass filter
Phase switch
Runs on 9-V battery (not included) Total $65
HPF-Pre Series 2
$65 + $5 for shipping and handling
Same features as Series 1, plus:
Volume control
Battery indicator LED
Total $70
HPF-Pre Series 3
Coming soon!
Blurb on main HPF-Pre page
Total $TBD
HPF-Pre Series 1
$50 + $5 for shipping and handling
Piezo preamp for upright bass
High input impedance
Adjustable high pass filter
Phase switch
Runs on 9-V battery (not included) Total $65
HPF-Pre Series 2
$65 + $5 for shipping and handling
Same features as Series 1, plus:
Volume control
Battery indicator LED
Total $70
HPF-Pre Series 3
Coming soon!
Blurb on main HPF-Pre page
Total $TBD
Of particular note with the Fdeck HPF-Pre (1 and 2) is that its EQ response is very flat. Some preamps purposely color the tone to achieve a certain sound. The HPF-Pre does none of that.
Coloring one's sound is not a BAD thing. You just need to understand that if you are looking for something to add "warmth" or some other tone to the U-Bass, the Fdeck will not do that.
It is a tiny box, easily the size of the clip-on wireless system.
I am trying to think now how I could make a leather pocket for it so I can attach it to my bass strap.
Coloring one's sound is not a BAD thing. You just need to understand that if you are looking for something to add "warmth" or some other tone to the U-Bass, the Fdeck will not do that.
It is a tiny box, easily the size of the clip-on wireless system.
I am trying to think now how I could make a leather pocket for it so I can attach it to my bass strap.
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