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Double Bass New to DB Amp Rec

N

NocoLaw

Supporting Member
Jun 13, 2015
240
303
46
#1
I’ve been playing electric (P) bass for a while at church and a country ensemble doing winery/brewery/art gallery gigs, barn dances, etc. I’ve wanted a “real” bass for a long time, and have finally taken the plunge and bought a ‘54 Kay. I’d also like to put together a bluegrass group for the same kind of venues. I’ve searched and found recommendations for a PJ Double Four, GK, AI, EA; but I haven’t found the definitive setup. My electric rigs are Orange - the Crush 50 for small venues (me and a guitar) and OB1 500 or AD 200 with OBC 210 and 115 cabs for big venues (up to 2 guitars, drums, steel, and fiddle) with PA - and gather that the Orange gear is wrong for this. My Kay came with pickup, and I’d like an amp rig for it that would work. For any of the big venues, I’ll have a PA. It doesn’t look like the Double Four has an out to go into the PA. Is there a good rig for smaller venues that could also work as a monitor and out to the PA, and is good for my Kay? Should I just get the Double Four and a DI our for the board? I’m really inexperienced with the electronics/amplification side of things, but I’m in an area where there is a lot of demand for me (even with my limited skills); so, I’d like to be ready when the requests come.

Any help and advice is greatly appreciated.
 
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#3
Your 2x10 will probably work well for upright. I am not familiar with the brand, but if you pair it with a UB friendly head it should work. Usually we like light rigs that are transparent in sound, meaning the rig produces as natural of a tone as possible. With whatever pickup/amp combo you go with, you may need a preamp. Do a search, and experiment with what you already have so you have an idea of what works/what doesn't.
 
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#5
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#6
That's a polarizing pickup...some players hate them, others seem to love them! I've never liked them, I've used Full Circles for years now. Phil Jones stuff is great. I use a Genzler Magellan 800 head and love it for upright and electric, if you're playing lower volume stuff like bluegrass the 500 would be plenty. I also really loved my Acoustic Image head before I sold it, as well as Aguilar heads. For cabs I love my Greenboy fEARless F112, and also really loved every cab I got from Michael Arnopol at MASoundworks. I still have a MAS46. Check out their lines of cabs, as well as Barefaced. You can get tiny 1x6 or 1x8 up to 2x15. Surprisingly, the Fender Rumble combos have received some love on this board for upright, at a pretty low price point. Search this forum for thoughts on those. Good luck!
 
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#9
Do you slap for your local bluegrass circles? Out here light slapping is pretty accepted in the bluegrass circles (and of course for rockabilly and even for some old-jazz circles) and for bluegrass it can help fill in quite a bit and it's great for bass breaks. If you do plan to slap, having a pickup set that covers both the bridge and the fingerboard is helpful, otherwise you'll need to mic in order to get both pickup regions into a sound system. And, going the dual region pickup direction almost always points to at least a 2-channel pre-amp so you can blend your two pickup regions into a single mono channel going out. If you're using 2 bridge wing pickups and a fingerboard pickup then of course you'll want 3 channels to work with.

Many single channel piezo pickup systems don't absolutely require a pre-amp, but having one gives you lots more headroom and in many cases gives you EQ+ and gain settings that can be very helpful.

My chain is a Vic's Pickups Model C (bridge and fingerboard piezos, female stereo output) that feeds into a K&K Dual Channel Pro ST pre-amp, then out to my amp and/or to a DI. (I also have my pre-amp wired with a dual mono output cable so I can use my amp as a monitor and at the same time DI into a sound system.)

Regarding amps, personally I'm going as light and simple as possible for a very good sounding, moderately powerful amp, as my primary amp goal is as a monitor so I can hear myself play. For that purpose I use a Roland Cube BASS. For smaller venues, most of the time I set my amp up on a stool slightly behind and to my right so it feeds both to me and to any mics that are in use within range, and it balances out pretty nicely. For larger venues I'll use the amp strictly as a monitor and at the same time DI into the sound system. I usually get excellent reviews from all areas of the audience with this setup.
 
#10
I've never felt the need for a fingerboard pickup playing bluegrass and slapping. Even playing pretty loud country music I've never felt like I needed more, and a responsive band will take it down for a bass solo. I suppose if I was playing crazy-loud psychobilly or something I might feel different, but especially for bluegrass it's hard to imagine a setting in which one would need to amplify the slap.
 
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#11
I have not slapped with the bluegrass, but the country guys really want me to. It’s classic country, not rock/pop new stuff. Basically, Hank Williams to George Straight, and a lot in between. Some of the old Johnny Cash and the like would benefit from it. I’ve not been doing bass breaks with my P, but they want me to, especially with my “new to me” upright.
 
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#12
Well,
The Fishman will work acceptably with a decent Buffer/Preamp like one of the Fishman’s or HPF Buffer Preamp Series II from Francis Deck. One caveat here, a well played Fender Precision, will sound great with Hank Williams, George Straight, or Johnny Cash. It was fairly common in the studio for the Upright Bass to be doubled by a Fender (usually a Bass VI) to put an edge on the note, so it had better clarity and a sharper attack. I worked with Bill Porter who recorded Cash a few times. I can say that I’ve heard Victor Krauss with Lyle Lovett use a BP-100 very effectively.
 
#13
In one of the venues I play, I use my GK MB200 head with the house Orange OBC410, and it works well. I've found that the voicing of Orange amps (the Terror Bass at least) is not so friendly to double bass, but your 2x10 with a different head may work just fine.
 
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#14
Some unsolicited advice, and a little off-topic! If you're new to the upright bass, focus on getting a good sound with your fingers (unamplified) and playing in tune and in time before you try adding slapping to the mix! For me, when I start slapping it's really easy to stray out of tune and out of time if I'm not focusing! The slaps should be secondary to being the rhythmic and tonal foundation of the group, and not detract from that role. Also, playing with a good solid tone without amplification wil go a long way towards having a better tone with whatever amp setup you settle on.
 
#15
Great - thank you all very much. Your advice is well taken, both the solicited and un. I can tell I can use all the help I can get. The adjustment to the action height and tension will be quite a journey. I am going to see if I can find a good teacher in my area (North Texas between Gainesville and Wichita Falls, if anyone watching happens to know one).
 

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