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Kala UBass Megathread, Part 5

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#401
fuzzy beard said:
Any one playing there ubass throug tube amps? Low power tube amp? results? comments?
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Yeah, pretty regularly actually. Either through a Mesa Buster 200 1x15 combo (a rather clean and quick all-tube amp), or on larger stages through a Fender 300pro into a 2x15 cab. I usually go for a cleaner setting there too... It sounds like the end of the world! (in a very good way)
 
#403
fuzzy beard said:
Do you run through a pre amp? Seems from my reading alot of people are pre amping the hell out of these things! And if you pre amp do you find you keep some of the amp voiceing still?
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Yup. The pickups in these things need buffering to bring out all the tone! I use either a Fishman BII (when running into an amp) or a Fishman Platinum Pro Bass di when going direct without an amp.
 
#407
fuzzy beard said:
I don't think I understand pre amps then. So you run into the input not an effects return? I thought you guys were bypassing the amps pre.
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Well,... that could be done, certainly & would probably sound great (plugging into the effect return)! I just run it into the front end of the amp though, not boosting volume too much - just taking advantage of the high buffering impedance of the BII.
 
#408
fuzzy beard said:
Any one playing there ubass throug tube amps? Low power tube amp? results? comments?
Click to expand...

When I first got my hollowbody Ubass I plugged it into my Ampeg SVT-VR connected to a Bergantino NV610 in my basement studio. I had the amp volume set where I normally keep it for most of my active basses, which is to say reasonable studio volumes. I innocently started to tune my bass starting with an open E (un muted of course)...
All hell broke loose! I about soiled my pants, my wife flew down the stairs to strangle me, all the china in her curio cabinet was completely rearranged, windows shook, doors rattled, it was beyond thunderous. Holy WOW, I had no idea how hot the output was on this tiny little toy sized bass.
That's the only time I've plugged it into any of my tube amps, one note was enought for the wife to lay down the law - no Ubass with the SVT ever again!. So I haven't tried it again but now that I know what to expect I think I could get some fantastic sounds out of my tube rigs.
Maybe I'll try my smaller tube rig first (Musicman HD150 / Bergantino HT322) and this time I'll set the volume on zero and work my way up.:D
 
#410
fuzzy beard said:
Ok that makes sense to me now. Sorry!
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It's cool! I learn something new here almost every day! :-)

Either approach would work great. When running a preamp into another pre (like my BII into the pre on the amp), it's important not to overload the second pre in the chain with overall signal level or extreme eq. Otherwise it works great!
 
#411
I didnt know you could run a pre into another pre. Thats were i was getting hung up. My Bassman 20 tube amp doesnt have a effects loop so i was worried about a U-Bass with my amp. But i get it now thanks! U-Bass=cable=pre amp=cable=amp=uprightish tone!
 
#412
I know what impedance is, but I don’t have much insight in the finer details of impedance as a factor in sound amplification.

However alone putting my low end Fish n' Chips preamp

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in between the tuner and the EPS Session 60 improves clarity and output of my acoustic UBasses. And that even with all sliders set in the neutral center position.

In practical use I differentiate their positions. The lowest operates around 100Hz. And oddly enough I have to keep that frequency range lower than the others. The 2nd partial of the open A string is 110Hz and it is very prone to feed. If the 100Hz slider is all the way up, the A string tends to sound an octave too high.

I read about the Fisher bass preamps that they have two band equalizers. It might be sufficient, but somehow I could see the purpose of having more detailed controls down to 30Hz (the open B string of a 5 string bass).

Does such ones exist for an accessible price? I am not out after high end professional studio gear.

Kind of painful to my ears, but still very impressive. A few months ago I heard a young player laying out a jazz walking line on his upright bass. What was a new experience to me was the effect of every single note sounding as if was the main focus of the equalization. The bottom frequency was extremely loud with next to none overtones heard. That low push as said was painful, but the precise transmission of tonality and rhythm at the same time was musically very efficient. As I understand equalization it operates in frequency bands rather than in specific frequencies. Was the said effect achieved by real time computer controlled equalization?

Klaus
 
#413
fuzzy beard said:
I didnt know you could run a pre into another pre. Thats were i was getting hung up. My Bassman 20 tube amp doesnt have a effects loop so i was worried about a U-Bass with my amp. But i get it now thanks! U-Bass=cable=pre amp=cable=amp=uprightish tone!
Click to expand...

I usually use my Aphex Punch Factory compressor before the input of my Genz-Benz Streamliner 900. I can get a little boost from it when the compression is turned down, but mostly it's about impedance. Most amps these days have a 1Meg impedance, but I find that the 10Meg impedance of the Punch Factory improves the tone of passive piezo pickups.
 
#414
I have very effective and natural-sounding mini-setup.

Up to now all bass amps I have tested dissatisfied me because they always color the sound very much, and I don't have the feeling that I get an "acoustic" sound from my Mahogany Fretless.

Since I know more and more double bass players who play through active speakers instead of a bass amp, I tested it myself.

Now I have a QSC K8. Really great sounding, very smooth, not too much mids (like the new Yamahas...). Of course the K10 sounds even fuller, but I like very compact setups, and for small venues the K8 absolutely suffices. And I additionally have a very good PA box when I need one.

Preamp is also crucial - here I found (like many others already did) that the Fdeck HPF-Pre (mine is the Series 2) is THE device to go. MUCH better than the Fishman Platinum Pro I also own which totally colors the sound in a "wooly" way and doesn't allow for even distribution of loudness/punch/fatness across the bass` frequency spectrum. The Fdeck does this very well and easily. Speak about Plug and Play!

Now with just these 2 devices the tone is really beautiful and "acoustic", but sometimes has too little "punch". Because turning up mids does a disservice to the sound, I have a "Okko Coca Comp" (German handmade) compressor pedal in the signal chain between the Fdeck and the speaker which rather ingeniously adds punch without reducing the dynamics so much or adding artificial sounding color. This is handy when I play with drums, for instance.
 
#416
Are the pyramid strings ferrous? As in attracted to magnets? I was wondering because a typical electric bass pickup will work with them if that is the case, and I wouldn't mind building an ultra short scale with electric bass sound.
 
#418
Also, I recently got a new sub u bass from musician's friend. I was somewhat disappointed because it is an outdated model with no MiSi pickup (just a nine volt, no recharge) and also the bridge is just a straight bar, no intonated saddles or slant at all. Another thing is the truly inferior paint job. It has small bare spots all over it, and a place where a big piece chipped from the fretboard and was replaced with a glue in.
 
#419
Dicey said:
Also, I recently got a new sub u bass from musician's friend. I was somewhat disappointed because it is an outdated model with no MiSi pickup (just a nine volt, no recharge) and also the bridge is just a straight bar, no intonated saddles or slant at all. Another thing is the truly inferior paint job. It has small bare spots all over it, and a place where a big piece chipped from the fretboard and was replaced with a glue in.
Click to expand...

As far as the chip in the fretboard - maybe you want to return that one. They are not all like that.

As far as the no recharge - I don't think the SUB ever had a recharge system. It's always been a battery. The recharge system is in the higher end Cali models.
 
#420
ChristophMuench said:
I have very effective and natural-sounding mini-setup.

Up to now all bass amps I have tested dissatisfied me because they always color the sound very much, and I don't have the feeling that I get an "acoustic" sound from my Mahogany Fretless.

Since I know more and more double bass players who play through active speakers instead of a bass amp, I tested it myself.

Now I have a QSC K8. Really great sounding, very smooth, not too much mids (like the new Yamahas...). Of course the K10 sounds even fuller, but I like very compact setups, and for small venues the K8 absolutely suffices. And I additionally have a very good PA box when I need one.

Preamp is also crucial - here I found (like many others already did) that the Fdeck HPF-Pre (mine is the Series 2) is THE device to go. MUCH better than the Fishman Platinum Pro I also own which totally colors the sound in a "wooly" way and doesn't allow for even distribution of loudness/punch/fatness across the bass` frequency spectrum. The Fdeck does this very well and easily. Speak about Plug and Play!

Now with just these 2 devices the tone is really beautiful and "acoustic", but sometimes has too little "punch". Because turning up mids does a disservice to the sound, I have a "Okko Coca Comp" (German handmade) compressor pedal in the signal chain between the Fdeck and the speaker which rather ingeniously adds punch without reducing the dynamics so much or adding artificial sounding color. This is handy when I play with drums, for instance.
Click to expand...

I suspect that's a very nice sounding mini rig for the Ubass and the use of the QSC is a very different amplification route than most would take. Just a quick look at prices for this type of set up and you're quickly nearing or exceeding the $1000 mark on the rig (not including the Ubass). By mini venue I assume you're talking coffee shops, book stores and maybe resturants and small clubs. It would be interesting to hear what rigs others are using for these types of mini venues.

So how 'bout it Ubassers, what's your go to rig for mini gigs.

I just retired this month and now that I'm not traveling all over the world I'm considering playing out much more than I've been able to in the past, hence the increased interest in a proper rig.
 
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