Double Bass Settings for amp and preamp

[giaschel]

Hi all,

I've been playing double bass for about a year and I will soon need to play with an amp, which I haven't done yet. The gig is a church basement for about 100 people. The only other musicians will be a pianist and two singers.

I have a Traynor SB112 amp and a Fishman bass preamp. I've been playing with the settings for both but I'm not sure I'm getting the most out of the two. Can anyone recommend good settings?

The settings in the pictures show what I have so far. But every time I turn up either the volume on the preamp or the gain on the amp, I get a big feedback. Turning up the Depth knob didn't change that.

Thanks!

 

[sean_on_bass]

What kind of pickup are you using?

 

[Francois Blais]

Maybe put the low expander in the middle to disable it if possible.

 

[giaschel]

Thanks!

I'm using a Fishman Full Circle pickup.

As for the Low Expander, this particular knob is actually increasing from left to right, contrary to the EQ knobs. It seems the far left position is best after I tested it.

I also turned off the tweeter (Out position)

 

[Roland GR 88]

I would start by using the -6db padded input and leveling the eq on the Fishman. Subtract frequencies instead of boosting them and do the same at the amp. Positioning of bass and amp is critical as well when your guitar is a big bass trap with a pickup in it.
Good luck and if you're in Canada remember you can rent GK MB150 from L&M for less than $20.00.

 

[AGCurry]

I would start by taking the preamp out of the circuit and seeing what happens. I can get a reasonably-good sound with my K&K Bassmax directly into the SB112, and I play to more people/bigger rooms/bigger band than you. I can't imagine being unable to keep up with a piano and singers with a 100-person audience.

 

[giaschel]

I would start by using the -6db padded input and leveling the eq on the Fishman. Subtract frequencies instead of boosting them and do the same at the amp. Positioning of bass and amp is critical as well when your guitar is a big bass trap with a pickup in it.
Good luck and if you're in Canada remember you can rent GK MB150 from L&M for less than $20.00.

I tried plugging in the -6db jack and this is an improvement, indeed.

I'm guessing the preamp does what an active pickup would do? Does this has to do with the impedance? I'm not familiar with this concept.

I'm in Montreal. L&Ms here are all in the suburbs. Too far for me.
But I actually like the Traynor I have for DB. It's just that I'm trying to get more volume out of it and this feedback comes. But with your comment, I may be on the right track, also about the positioning. I just need for my neighbour upstairs to leave for work so I can crank it up

Thanks!

 

[giaschel]

I would start by taking the preamp out of the circuit and seeing what happens. I can get a reasonably-good sound with my K&K Bassmax directly into the SB112, and I play to more people/bigger rooms/bigger band than you. I can't imagine being unable to keep up with a piano and singers with a 100-person audience.

Thanks AG. I'm glad to see you also like the SB112.
I tried what you suggested but it seems I'm still getting the feedback. I will try again when I get to the venue next.
When plugging directly, you don't get the boominess that a preamp with low-cut filter is supposed to do?

 

[bherman]

I use the same pickup with a similar preamp. I have a different amp, but that shouldn't matter, the Traynor should be fine. I can manage feedback ok, mostly by paying attention to where I am in relation to the amp. You don't want to be right in front of it. Try standing off the the side a bit (maybe 5-10 ft). When I play a gig, I try to be at least 3-4 ft off-axis from my amp - more if I can. Also put it on a small stool if you have one to get the amp up off of the ground (1-2 ft). You'll hear it better, and sometimes floor coupling can exacerbate feedback.

Also, as others have said, start with your preamp settings all in the middle (flat). Also try changing the phase switch to the other direction and see if that helps.

 

[Chris Symer]

You may also want to try rotating the pickup 1/8 turn so that the wire comes out inline with one of the corners of the bridge leg rather than pointing straight up. The sound is not quite as “open” in that position, but it is often helpful in regards to feedback at higher volumes.....

 

[BarfanyShart]

Use the active input on the amp, and get as far away from the amp as possible. I'm not familiar with the Full Circle, but if it doesn't need that pre-amp to function, you might try taking it out of the chain.

 

[Povl Carstensen]

Hi all,

I've been playing double bass for about a year and I will soon need to play with an amp, which I haven't done yet. The gig is a church basement for about 100 people. The only other musicians will be a pianist and two singers.

I have a Traynor SB112 amp and a Fishman bass preamp. I've been playing with the settings for both but I'm not sure I'm getting the most out of the two. Can anyone recommend good settings?

The settings in the pictures show what I have so far. But every time I turn up either the volume on the preamp or the gain on the amp, I get a big feedback. Turning up the Depth knob didn't change that.

Thanks!

A couple of suggestions/ideas. When using the preamp, you probably get the best sound going into the "active" input on the amplifier. Since you are not really using the amps tone controls, you could also bypass them, and go straight into the "aux" input. A third idea is to try without the preamp, and go straight into the passive input on the amp. I am all for simplicity.

 

[AGCurry]

Thanks AG. I'm glad to see you also like the SB112.
I tried what you suggested but it seems I'm still getting the feedback. I will try again when I get to the venue next.
When plugging directly, you don't get the boominess that a preamp with low-cut filter is supposed to do?

I find that the tone controls on the SB112 are adequate for mitigating boominess... but I'm not a tonal cork-sniffer. To reduce feedback, try following @bherman's suggestions above. Placement matters.

 

[giaschel]

Active input and placement seems to be doing the trick. Thank you all for your replies!

 

[Josh Kneisel]

I generally run everything pretty much at noon, but I do cut some of the bass and low mid if anything. I started using my preamp as an active DI to send to the board and run the through to my input. Before I did this I was running the preamp into the return on my head to bypass the built in pre, but eventually decided my pre didn't push the amp enough. I am using a Gage Lifeline and a GK 700RB for most gigs or sometimes a fender rumble 40watt combo which I also just go straight into and I do cut the bass and low mid a bit on that.