Level matching basses with compressor

[greggory garner]

I’ve been playing on the road with my Fender P bass and my 1960 Gibson EB-0, and the original mudbucker in the Gibson is a very very hot pickup, and the p pickup is pretty normal volume. I’ve been trying to figure out how to level match these basses as to not blow up my cab when I switch to the Gibson, and make it easier on our FOH guy. I have a JHS punchline and I’ve been using the compressor to try and match them, but it seems no matter what I do to it the Gibson is always louder, even if the threshold is hitting when I’m playing the quieter P bass. What do you guys use to level match basses playing live? If you do.
Putting up a pic of the old Gibson cause it’s just such a cool axe.

 

[greggory garner]

Alongside my mighty T-40

 

[devnulljp]

Turn it down?

 

[Wasnex]

The best solution IMHO is a two channel preamp that gives you separate gain and tone controls for each bass.

If I understand, you are running the compressor with both basses. The result I would expect is the louder bass to be way more compressed. It should still be louder, but the difference should be less.

I haven't played around with a Punchline, so this is a guess. If you don't want heavy compression, try using the compressor for only one bass. Depending on how the controls work, it may not matter which bass you decide to compress. Adjust the Gain to match the levels, and then set the threshold for the desired compression.

 

[ijump206]

BOSS line switcher pedal in front of your compressor. This gives you up to 3 channels. Set two channels up to get the same level flowing into the compressor.

 

[tpaul]

Wouldn't a simple clean boost pedal do the trick? Set it so the boosted Precision is at the same volume as the unboosted Gibson. Then you just have to remember to turn the pedal on or off when you switch axes.

 

[Domespeed]

are you using the drive on the punchline? if not, you could use it as a second channel with its own volume, maybe with the drive set to minimum.
Not familiar wirh the punchline, so this might work or not

that said, I have used pedals like the Boss OC2 as a second volume with the effects level turned off

 

[gregmon79]

Maybe utilize something like this at the beginning of your chain?

Mixer and Summer Pedals | Saturnworks Pedals

 

[Alban]

Use the compressor to make the Gibson less loud, instead of trying to boost the P. I assume that you only use the compressor for one of your bases, right?
If you need to use the comp for both basses, you’ll need an A/B switcher with gain controls.

 

[klattman]

I use the unit 67 at the front of chain for that purpose. It is a compressor but it has a wide range of level and a large knob. I rarely use the compression control. You can use something like this or a boost pedal and mark the two level knob positions that provide the same output to the rest of the rig downstream.

I even put one ahead of my HX stomp because then I don’t have to have separate amp patches with different gain settings.

The advantage is your gain staging down the line stays the same and you don’t have to overcompress one vs the other.

 

[WaldoNova]

I used to use a Source Audio PEQ01 for this. There is a v2 but that might be overkill for your needs.

 

[scuzzy]

Clean boost pedal for p-bass.

 

[Christophe C]

Tc electronic spark to boost the fender.

 

[MCF]

View attachment 7063220
Alongside my mighty T-40

That is a beautiful pair of basses you have there.

 

[Lapicide]

Browne Amplification The Fixer was designed exactly for what you experience. That's what I use when needed. They go for new $150

The Fixer — Browne Amplification

 

[FullumMusic]

There's a better tool for the job than a compressor. Something like this:
Moreley ABY Mix. Plug both your basses in. Adjust the gains so their levels match when you switch.

That way, the output of the ABY Mix is one level. Whatever your signal chain is after that is going to get the same level signal and react to it in expected ways.

For something like the Morely ABY Mix i'd say put the louder bass to Unity (the open circle), and then boost the quieter bass until it matches.

--

Using a compressor to match levels can be done, but it's not ideal, and you'll wind up with one bass sounding incredibly over-compressed, lifeless, and squashed.

Either you have to compress the life out of the louder bass to lower the output, and then turn off the compressor for the quiet bass. Or you need to compress the life out of the quieter bass and then crank the makeup-gain, and then turn off the compressor for the louder bass.

And that means one of your basses will be over-compressed, and the other will have no compression. And if you like to have some compression when you play, you'll need a second compressor for the other bass. And then you'll have to balance their two levels, and then be turning on and off two compressors every switch.

Instead of buying a second compressor and juggling two overly-squashed sounds, just get a 2 channel switch with mixer/individual gains and balance the bass's levels before any processors or effects.

 

[Alper Yilmaz]

An alternative to the Morley solution proposed by FullumMusic is Radial’s Big Shot i/o Instrument Switcher. With this one, you simply reduce volume of the louder one to the other’s level.

BigShot i/o - Radial Engineering

The Radial BigShot i/o is an easy to use instrument selector that lets you quickly transition between any two instruments and send the output signal to your amp.

www.radialeng.com

 

[Plain Old Barry]

Turn it down?

Lower the pickup on the EB?

 

[Rooster009]

My Sennhieser wireless transmitter has an adjustable output level and has a led to show when it’s peaking the signal. I adjust each bass so that it’s just below the peak indicator.

 

[Discount Bassy]

GigRig Three2One.