Double Bass Looping pedal setup

[davehertzberg]

I've been messing around with a looping pedal (Boss RC20XL) with my upright. The difference in volume and timbre between the sound of the bass and what comes out of the amp is pretty noticeable after the first go-round, since after I play and record something, then it comes only through the amp's speaker. I've been wondering if maybe having a different kind of pickup (like an Ehrlund?) or even a mic would make a big difference by creating a more natural sound coming out of the amp. (I have both a Realist and a Full Circle on my bass with a Genz Benz Shuttle 10T.) Any ideas?

 

[longfinger]

try emailing this girl

http://www.agatakurzyk.com/
http://www.youtube.com/user/dustymotion

She's the Boss/Roland Loop Station champion from Poland and uses her cello.

I've heard Garcia-Fons do this live too, and using a microphone helps, as well as using a PA that is powerful enough to cover up the acoustic-only sound of the bass. That way, you get used to the blend all the time... and the audience will only really hear the amplified sound.

 

[Les Fret]

Forget your acoustic sound. You have to rely totally on your electric sound to make this work. Otherwise there will always be a big sound difference between the looped (electric) sound and the sound of the bass acoustically.

So just make sure you have a decent electric sound and you're ready to go.
There are a lot of people doing this nowadays. Especially woman cello players I noticed all doing the same thing.

 

[DoubleMIDI]

The problem is that you hear a mix of your acoustic sound and the amplified sound when you play but only the amplified sound out of the looper.

The best solution to it is using an EUB, so your sound is always the pickup sound only, directly or out of the looper.

The next best solution is to try to come close to your acoustic sound out of the amp, which is really difficult. I came close to that with a Full Circle, impedance buffer (might not be needed) and a AI Ten2 a few days ago when we tested some amps with my bass (I haven't tried bowing in this combination).
A microphone would deliver a better sound but will probably pick up the looper output (and other sounds that should not be looped), so it might only work in solo parts.

 

[Huy Nguyen]

I have an old RC20 myself.

I think the problem is that it's mainly voiced for guitar and other instruments - not bass. So what gets reproduced is not the same thing that went in. I don't think these any choice about this unless BOSS makes a bass version.

OTOH, you can just consider it as the timbre of the pedal as a separate instrument and just accept that it's how it's going to sound and work with what you get.