KB300 please help!

[MarcelVD]

Hey guys, I have a question I hope you guys can help me decide how to use my KB300 Peavey combo. I have multiple options. I own a 1978 Fender p-bass and I am wondering how to plug it into the kb-300.

I was using that kb-300 since I was the keyboardist in our band for awhile since we couldn't find one, but we did find a basplayer instead. Well now that the basplayer left and we did find a keyboardist, I'm switching back to bass.

So instead of buying another amp I want to try the kb-300. Roast it if you want but I think it should be able to sound pretty vintage and it's LOUD!

Now my options are:

1: Plug it in the kb-300 preamp. ( one of the 3 channels) The normal way so to say!
2: I have a Sansamp fly rig V1. I can plug that in the pwr amp in and bypass the preamp of the kb-300.
3: Plug the bass straight into the pwr amp in without any preamp whatsoever since my 78 p-bass has an awesome vintage sound of it's own.

I have a Boss CE-3 chorus and a tonepress barber compressor also so for option 4: I was thinking using option 1 and connect them between preamp out and pwr amp in ( effect loop).
I could use also option 2 and use the chorus and compressor from the fly rig instead.

See my dilemma? I hope you guys can help me decide whats best.

Much appreciated! Thanks a lot in advance!

 

[Wasnex]

I have used the KB300 as a bass amp and it worked fine and got louder than I expected/needed. I don't remember if the bass I was using at the time was active or passive. The 33K input impedance might be a problem for a passive bass. However, try it and judge for yourself. If you don't like the results, most pedals that have a buffered bypass should work. This includes some tuners such as the Boss TU-3. You could also use an EQ pedal or something like a clean boost.

 

[CascadeBass]

In my experience, keyboard-centric combos were synonymous with bass-centric combos. There may be some overthinking going on here.. plug in to the instrument input and you should be solid.

 

[agedhorse]

In my experience, keyboard-centric combos were synonymous with bass-centric combos. There may be some overthinking going on here.. plug in to the instrument input and you should be solid.

You are missing the most important difference... a bass (or guitar) combo will have an input impedance around 1meg ohm which works well with passive pickups (and active pickups using passive output z emulation), this is a keyboard amp with an input impedance of ~33k ohms, WAY too low to sound decent with a passive bass. IIRC, the OP is using a passive P bass, which is why several of us are recommending other things (like buffered pedals).

The other issue is that I believe going from memory) that this combo is looking for a line level signal. Combine the pickup loading with the input sensitivity driven from an active source, and it's not a great (or even acceptable) solution for most players that I know of.

There is no overthinking here, unless the OP has very low expectations.

 

[frankie5string]

I think I'm just gonna plug the bass in one of the channels. I tried the Sandamp but it makes the sound more modern. I'm striving for the natural vintage sound of my p bass.

Boost the midrange on the Sansamp to get that vintage "Meat" back.. When I go direct live, I always have to set the Mid control to 3 o'clock.

 

[CascadeBass]

You are missing the most important difference... a bass (or guitar) combo will have an input impedance around 1meg ohm which works well with passive pickups (and active pickups using passive output z emulation), this is a keyboard amp with an input impedance of ~33k ohms, WAY too low to sound decent with a passive bass. IIRC, the OP is using a passive P bass, which is why several of us are recommending other things (like buffered pedals).

The other issue is that I believe going from memory) that this combo is looking for a line level signal. Combine the pickup loading with the input sensitivity driven from an active source, and it's not a great (or even acceptable) solution for most players that I know of.

There is no overthinking here, unless the OP has very low expectations.

I had this sense of "don't hit reply yet" when I posted that. Thanks for the education! I understand.

 

[Wasnex]

The other issue is that I believe going from memory) that this combo is looking for a line level signal.

From the OM

 

[winston]

FWIW, way back in my high school days (class of 1990) I played through the school's KB300.
Instrument inputs handled passive/active basses just fine - I had a Kramer Pioneer JJ (passive), Guild Pilot (active EMGs) and Alembic Spoiler fretless (active).
The 33k input impedance definitely was not ideal with the Kramer. And it was a beast to haul around!

The KB300 was hifi compared to the Polytone 1x15 + 2x8 combo the school owned.
Polytone had tremolo & distortion builtin, when I got bored and wasn't playing the sousaphone in stage band I would crank the FX and get the nastiest looks sent my way!

I also thought the KB300 with the Scorpion 15" and horn sounded way better than my Peavey TKO65 with heavy duty 15" and no tweeter.

 

[agedhorse]

From the OM
View attachment 7375529Sensitivity should be ok, the input impedance remains an issue with passive basses

 

[Ostie]

Unplug the KB 300 and plug into a Peavey bass amp. You can get vintage Peavey amps for cheap.

 

[jtg]

FWIW, way back in my high school days (class of 1990) I played through the school's KB300.
Instrument inputs handled passive/active basses just fine - I had a Kramer Pioneer JJ (passive), Guild Pilot (active EMGs) and Alembic Spoiler fretless (active).
The 33k input impedance definitely was not ideal with the Kramer. And it was a beast to haul around!

The KB300 was hifi compared to the Polytone 1x15 + 2x8 combo the school owned.
Polytone had tremolo & distortion builtin, when I got bored and wasn't playing the sousaphone in stage band I would crank the FX and get the nastiest looks sent my way!

I also thought the KB300 with the Scorpion 15" and horn sounded way better than my Peavey TKO65 with heavy duty 15" and no tweeter.

Same story here except our HS bass amp was a TNT 130. The KB 300 worked fine straight in. Not exciting, but no worse than the TNT.

 

[Nebadon2000]

To Op: Whats keeping you from trying it straight in?

I have experienced what sounds awful to me others are content with

I was selling a 1x10 Yorkville Amp used for rehearsal and Bass Player for top Cover Band in our area wanted amp to place near drummer so he could hear him better in side project Original band he was with

I set up Amp to what I considered best sound/tone: he used my Bass and played said this isn't working went to car got his Ibanez Premier and cranked Bass and volume it sounded awful to me Bommy and distorted he then looked at me yes this will work

 

[J Wilson]

It'll work, with the understanding it's looking for the output level of keyboards which is different than bass, so some basses it may not like, and of course the tone controls are more for keys than bass guitar. I once got to a venue with an 'amp furnished' and there was a KB500: Worked fine, though as I said, the tone controls weren't the best for bass.

I'd look to use it UNTIL I could round up a proper bass amp, if you stay with it that long.