pluging jass bass into instrument input in Avalon 737sp

[Hostileto]

Would this blow it up?
Can I put a compressor pedal before the preamp

Here is the gear I have
Jass bass
compressor pedal
fuzz pedal
Avalon 737sp
protools omni

should that list be the chain order?
Do I need a preamp pedal? like a tech 21

The Avalon and omni both have instrument level inputs

 

[AGCurry]

If the compressor pedal is designed to be plugged into a guitar/bass amp input, plugging it into the Avalon should be fine... although I wonder why you wouldn't just use software compression on the track.

 

[Frenchy-Lefty]

No issues here. That's what the Avalon is made for. It is already a preamp so no need to add one.
Just watch the levels on the Avalon input so that it does not saturate.

My personal advice, the opto compressor in the Avalon is super high quality . You might be better off not using the compressor pedal and add around -3db of compression with the Avalon.

Two things about compression:
- Fuzz or distortion already compress the sound significantly so go easy and avoid to chain a compressor before or your bass will get lost in the mix.

- Recording engineers rarely use much more than -3/-4 db of compression on bass in order to even out the notes' volume. After that, you kill the dynamic so much that your bass track has no punch.

In general I advise against compression on bass when playing live and very little when recording.

 

[silky smoove]

Why are you putting a compressor in front of an Avalon 737sp that already has a compressor? The obvious reason is because you want to, or you dig what your particular pedal compressor is doing. If you're just looking for dynamic control I would personally just use the one on the Avalon.

 

[Hostileto]

A few month ago I plugged my bass into the avalon - and resistors fried! costing me 500$ to fix.
So I have to assume bass frequencies is some thing the avalon can no handled directly into it
I use the avalon for guitar mics and vocals mics - I recently bought at tech 21 DI wondering if the puting that infront of the avalon would help or just skip the avalon and go tech 21 Di into my DAW

 

[silky smoove]

So I have to assume bass frequencies is some thing the avalon can no handled directly into it

It most certainly can. I’ve used 737s on many recordings. The manual even includes suggested settings for bass guitar.

 

[Frenchy-Lefty]

I really don't think it is why your Avalon got fried. I often recorded bass in pro studios through a 737.
I have owned my Sansamp BDDI since 1993 so I am super familiar with it.
It does record well but it has its own sound that does not work for everything. I recently played my PBass with flats with the Sansamp and I was flabbergastd by the results. Very close to the bass sound in Cake which love.

My favorite setting to record:
All knobs at 12 besides the bass knob that I set at 11 O'clock

I use a Neve RNDI for cleaner DI sounds.

 

[JW56789]

There is nothing about plugging a bass into a 737SP that would harm it, unless the controls had been set crazy hot or there was some other problem. And plugging some compressor pedal in ahead of it and ignoring the compressor already built in is simply dirtying up the performance of one of the greatest channel strips available.

There are few devices that would best a 737SP. I'd seriously suggest you spend a lot of time in the manual or have someone qualified show you how to use it.

Here's the .pdf download of the 737SP manual, scroll down to page 27 for suggested bass guitar settings (both preamp and compressor).

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[eduluke]

Not sure if it's the best compared to dedicated bass DI, but the 737 has been my to go bass recording device for the last 10 years without any issues.
At least compared to the other pres I have in my studio (Neve 1073, SSL Alpha, Millenia STT1, Dacs), the 737 sounds the best on bass.