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Double Bass Preamp For Doubling

kirkm24

kirkm24

Jan 1, 2007
2,331
51
Columbus, Ohio
#1
I am getting into the world of "doubling" between electric and acoustic upright. I have been researching options and there seems to be so many options available.

Right now, I use a REDDI direct into the house with Shure in ear monitors (SE425 dual drivers) and I love the sound. My Electric Bass is a Marcus Miller modified with Aguilar Electronics.

I am probably going to get a Realist pickup because I am more interested in a darker sound for the upright. When I played upright in the past, I used an Azola Bug Bass EUB and just plugged it straight into an SWR amp with no preamp.

Has anyone ran a Realist straight into a REDDI? Is a preamp required? I want to incorporate the REDDI into my setup somehow because it sounds so great but maybe with the UB it doesn't.
 
#2
kirkm24 said:
I am getting into the world of "doubling" between electric and acoustic upright. I have been researching options and there seems to be so many options available.
Click to expand...

If you only look at it, there actually aren't that many true two channel amps for doubling on the market. The new Flex/Clarus+ From Acoustic Image, The Markbass LMK (now discontinued), and a Walter Woods (probably out of your price range).


kirkm24 said:
Right now, I use a REDDI direct into the house with Shure in ear monitors (SE425 dual drivers) and I love the sound. My Electric Bass is a Marcus Miller modified with Aguilar Electronics.
Click to expand...

All great stuff. With your rig, it is conceivable that you could just use the Headway EDB-2 as your pre amp. It has a single channel EQ that you could assign to Channel 1, and a second channel that you would use for your Fender Jazz. That gives you full EQ for the DB, and a pre amp gain stage for the EB. That could then be run to the REDDI, if you aren't using any amplifier.


kirkm24 said:
I am probably going to get a Realist pickup because I am more interested in a darker sound for the upright. When I played upright in the past, I used an Azola Bug Bass EUB and just plugged it straight into an SWR amp with no preamp.
Click to expand...

Well, the Realist is a very well thought out pickup. I consider the Realist Wood, as it's a less like to dent the top of your bass. The Realist Life Line is also an option, provided you have bridge adjusters on your instrument.

kirkm24 said:
Has anyone ran a Realist straight into a REDDI? Is a preamp required? I want to incorporate the REDDI into my setup somehow because it sounds so great but maybe with the UB it doesn't.
Click to expand...

The REDDI has a 1 Megohm input impedance, that's very compatible with the Realist, but it doesn't solve your need for a two channel device, for doubling. You could indeed just run the REDDI directly into the mains, but generally running a DB direct into the house with monitors isn't the ideal setup, unless you have a individual monitor channel for the bass.

Ric
 
#3
Ric Vice said:
If you only look at it, there actually aren't that many true two channel amps for doubling on the market. The new Flex/Clarus+ From Acoustic Image, The Markbass LMK (now discontinued), and a Walter Woods (probably out of your price range).




All great stuff. With your rig, it is conceivable that you could just use the Headway EDB-2 as your pre amp. It has a single channel EQ that you could assign to Channel 1, and a second channel that you would use for your Fender Jazz. That gives you full EQ for the DB, and a pre amp gain stage for the EB. That could then be run to the REDDI, if you aren't using any amplifier.




Well, the Realist is a very well thought out pickup. I consider the Realist Wood, as it's a less like to dent the top of your bass. The Realist Life Line is also an option, provided you have bridge adjusters on your instrument.



The REDDI has a 1 Megohm input impedance, that's very compatible with the Realist, but it doesn't solve your need for a two channel device, for doubling. You could indeed just run the REDDI directly into the mains, but generally running a DB direct into the house with monitors isn't the ideal setup, unless you have a individual monitor channel for the bass.

Ric
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advise on the Headway. I wasn't familiar with those but just looked them up. Looks very interesting.
 
#6
kirkm24 said:
Thanks for the advise on the Headway. I wasn't familiar with those but just looked them up. Looks very interesting.
Click to expand...

Kirk,
The EDB-2 is very small, and is threaded on the bottom of the box, so you can easily attach it to a microphone stand, so it's always at your fingertips for minor EQ changes. If you download the manual, from their website, it will give you all the info.

Ric
 
#9
The Radial Bassbone has only 500kohms input impedance.

Other option is EBS Microbass II, designed for doubling,
Or the Radial Firefly tube DI,similar feel than REDDI, but with two Channel and adjustable input impedance for both inputs, ( expensive ).
You can doubling with a single channel tool, with mute and bypass switch too, like sadowsky oouboard.
 
#10
Look into the new Radial Bassbone OD. It has more options for the upright than the standard Bassbone. I've been using the Bassbone for the last 5 months. It's great but you'll need a pre for it I found.

I acquired The Doubler by Euphonic Audio this week. It's a terrific micro head with two channels one for electric and the other for upright. At 550w it's powerful enough to run an Aguilar 212 and get asked to turn down without being put through the PA. I'm selling my Bassbone.
 
#11
the answer for you is the radial pz pre. its awesome. i use it for both basses. you can set one input impedance to optimize upright bass pickups and one for electric(although having too high an input impedance for electric wont be a bad thing like too low would.) the only down side to this is the fact that it has only one EQ to use with both channels, so you would have to twist knobs if you needed to change sounds on the device itself. no worry, the new one they have with the over drive solves this problem! 2 channels of eq, all the features of the pz pre, plus over drive! im getting one. i have been very outspoken in my praise for the pz pre over the years. i love it so much i bought a second one to keep in my gig bag at all times and one for the house. lately for upright i have been using some very mild overdrive. if this new unit's overdrive sounds good (not all sound good) it will enable me to use only one outboard device rather than 2. lately ive been using the pz pre into a tone hammer pedal or a micro red dragon.
 
#12
shwashwa said:
the answer for you is the radial pz pre. its awesome. i use it for both basses. you can set one input impedance to optimize upright bass pickups and one for electric(although having too high an input impedance for electric wont be a bad thing like too low would.) the only down side to this is the fact that it has only one EQ to use with both channels, so you would have to twist knobs if you needed to change sounds on the device itself. no worry, the new one they have with the over drive solves this problem! 2 channels of eq, all the features of the pz pre, plus over drive! im getting one. i have been very outspoken in my praise for the pz pre over the years. i love it so much i bought a second one to keep in my gig bag at all times and one for the house. lately for upright i have been using some very mild overdrive. if this new unit's overdrive sounds good (not all sound good) it will enable me to use only one outboard device rather than 2. lately ive been using the pz pre into a tone hammer pedal or a micro red dragon.
Click to expand...
+1
I've got the PZed-Pre. Though the 15v bites, the rest of the feature set makes it worthwhile.
I gig upright and "double" at home. Set the EQ for the upright, and an extra EQ pedal between the E-Slabass and the PZed. I, too, have been outspoken in my praise of the PZed-Pre, and will also be checking out the new BB-OD. I have the EA Micro two-channel amp, so I could avoid the PZed with the E-bass completely if I wanted to...
 
#16
Ric Vice said:
Kirk,
The EDB-2 is very small, and is threaded on the bottom of the box, so you can easily attach it to a microphone stand, so it's always at your fingertips for minor EQ changes. If you download the manual, from their website, it will give you all the info.

Ric
Click to expand...

That is a very cool feature. The EDB-2 is a great unit, for sure. The new AI Flex preamp also has the mic stand mounting option, and it's a great preamp for doubling.
 
#17
tombowlus said:
That is a very cool feature. The EDB-2 is a great unit, for sure. The new AI Flex preamp also has the mic stand mounting option, and it's a great preamp for doubling.
Click to expand...


Both are incredible pre amps, which one you choose would depend on your budget and your needs, I guess. The EDB-2 is roughly half the price of the Flex, so for those on a budget, that's certainly a consideration.

It's also a battery powered device, so you have the option of running it without using a "wall wart". The Flex is a full two channel pre, with all the bells and whistles and backed by Acoustic Image's stellar service. Both units have the right stuff to combine a condenser mic and a pickup, without having to use additional boxes.

Ric
 

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