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Need some more BOOM, time for a preamp?

doctorpunch

doctorpunch

Mar 26, 2010
419
1
Holtsville, NY
www.killjoymetal.com
#1
Bass:

It was a little project I worked on...
Took a Fender Blackstar P Bass body and routed out the neck pickup cavity for a Precision pickup, dumped in the PUP set from a P-Bass Lyte Deluxe. Threw on a Jazz neck and a Badass II bridge. Strung with GHS Bass Boomers 115-55 set to C#

Rig:
Tech 21 Sans Amp: Level, Bass, Treble, Presence, and Drive are at the 12:00 position, blend is all the way up. Constantly on.

Ampeg SVT-4 Pro Head: 9-band is set with a cut in the high-mids and a boost in the low-mids it looks just like this: ~
Gain, Compression, Low, Mid, and Highs are all set at 1:00 position and the character switch is at 2. The boosts and the -15dB are out

Going through an Ampeg 8x10 fridge.


AAAAAAND the problem:
When its played alone it sounds and plays awesome. Punchy, clear, and fast. When I play with the band it barely cuts through the mix, especially when playing anything in the middle. The lows growl very nicely and the highs are perfect. I can feel it hitting so I know it's there, It actually causes a noticeable (and during hot gigs, refreshing) amount of wind, I just can't hear it.

My bass previous to this was an Epiphone T-Bird Pro IV. It boomed like a motha. Everything cut through perfectly. I just hated how it felt. Aside for the wood the main difference is that the Epi was active and the Fender is not.

I love the playability of the Fender but the sound of the Epi. I noticed the two different pickup styles on the fender work for different songs so I wanna keep the P/Double Jazz setup. Should I be looking for an onboard preamp? If so, which one? I never use tone controls or onboard EQ's so I'd like it to be as simple as possible.
:help:
 
#2
you could try backing off on the compresion a bit, sometimes if its two high it can choke the low end. ive never used that head so i dont know how hard the compressor hits at that setting. in my opinion though, i wouldnt think an on board preamp would be necesary, i also use a sansamp. and its an active preamp so its similar to haveing an on board preamp. obviously not exactly the same but you get the idea. maybe try screawing with the eq a little more on it.
 
#3
How close are you standing to the cab? You might need to move farther out to hear it better.

I'd also back off on the drive control a bit. Too much distortion along with compression can make the sound blurry and mushy and indistinct. It makes it blend in too much and it disappears.

I use a fair amount of compression, both with an old MXR AC limiter and the built in multi band compressor in my Trace Elliott, and I'm often too loud! So I think the Sans Amp might be the culprit, or you need to move father away from your amp.
 
#5
A byproduct of the tube emulation in our SansAmp products is compression. My suggestion would be to either turn off your amp's compression or reduce the drive of the BDDI or experiment with different blend settings. Also it would probably be beneficial to engage the -15dB pad since you are running a preamp (BDDI) into your bass amp's preamp.

That is really a full featured amp. Not to discourage you from using our product but is it really necessary with this particular rig? If it is I would suggest either setting the front end of your amp very flat or plugging the BDDI into the power amp return just to get a better handle on the SansAmp tone and response and then use your bass amp's tonal controls for your final tweaks.
 
#7
Usually judicious use of overdrive and compression goes a long way in a live situation. Loud drums and guitars make you dig in a lot more than you realize compared to playing an amp in isolation at home or in the studio.
 

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