Switching between upright and electric during sets.. need pedal suggestions

[40Hz]

I’ve used a Morekey ABY Mix which is a jazzed up version of their fully passive ABY switch. It adds volume controls for each input so you can match your source levels better.

 

[taliesin]

I used the Radial ABY for my BG and electric upright which worked fine except it required a preamp on the upright for the best operation.

I replaced it with the Bassbone OD which has a channel for the piezo pickup so i can match levels without needing a preamp on the upright - it also gives me some tone control and and HPF which I find helpful as some some rooms have challenges with the upright.

It's a bit pricey but lots of useful features for me and does exactly what I need.

 

[Dbassmon]

Sans Amp Deluxe works for me. Has AB switching, direct box, good eq. with 3 presets per input, correct impedance for piezo or pickup.

 

[ArtechnikA]

Found this pedal that is passive unless you want the LED's to light up.
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Anyone use this Morley pedal or something similar?

I do; works fine...
Since all the battery has to do is light the LED it will last a long time...

 

[Deleted member 165050]

Fender do a simple AB pedal very cheap.

 

[Whippet]

grace design felix

 

[Stewie]

Grab a Line-6 G10 wireless. Silent removal and insertion, clean signal. You'll finally be able to spin the bass too. I have to hit the -20dB button on my amp to switch. My Fenders put out a lot more signal. The hardest part is finding a place to stash the upright

 

[yousaiditman]

Grab a Line-6 G10 wireless. Silent removal and insertion, clean signal. You'll finally be able to spin the bass too. I have to hit the -20dB button on my amp to switch. My Fenders put out a lot more signal. The hardest part is finding a place to stash the upright

Oh man.. your killin' me. I've seen this before and wireless is super cool but signal loss and/or tone loss?? Don't know but wireless would be awesome and this little G10 would solve a lot of my issues.

 

[Dr. Love]

I've used the Morley ABY, the Boss LS2, and a Radial Bassbone. All do the job with strengths and weaknesses. My "go to" is the Radial because of the EQ and DI options unless there is a problem with power availability (no outlets, ground loops, etc.)

 

[akrachanko]

If you like to take on DIY projects a simple A/B should be enogh and really cheap. I did this to switch between my bass and other instrument (guitar, keyboard or piezo drum) when playing solo looping.
You can check the kit in general guitar gardgets:
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This is a pic of my A/B, it is so small that I just keep it in my board and used as a mute switcht when needed. I bet you can even get a smaller foot print if needView attachment 3076550

I made my own A/B switch a while back literally in a pinch. It was a DPDT switch, a plastic enclosure, and 3 jacks. Just wire the switch to connect either one set of two or another, and that was it. It cost me maybe $15 from Radioshack, RIP . I wouldn't recommend it long term, but there is value in making your own. This kit looks excellent, and customizing the art on pedals is a ton of fun.

 

[bherman]

great suggestions.. I was thinking super simple passive pedal that won't degrade the signal. Found this pedal that is passive unless you want the LED's to light up.

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Anyone use this Morley pedal or something similar?

I use a Morley A/B pedal and it works fine. Only advantage of the others (preamp pedals) is that you can preset different levels and eq. If you dont need that, simple will work fine.

 

[Stewie]

Oh man.. your killin' me. I've seen this before and wireless is super cool but signal loss and/or tone loss?? Don't know but wireless would be awesome and this little G10 would solve a lot of my issues.

No signal loss or distortion on my Fenders. The Krivo on my upright has a very low output and there is a slight squeal that started a year after I started using the G10, it comes through the amp (Ampeg B2R, turned up way past half on input and master). This squeal is unnoticeable over the amps fan. I made a plate to hide the jack behind the fingerboard. People often ask how I get so loud without plugging into an amp HAHAHA.

 

[Wasnex]

I'm in a cover band where I play both upright and electric in the same set. Usually I only have to switch once in a set, but sometimes I've had to switch out 2-3 times depending on requests from the audience or the BL changing his mind on the setlist.. Grr.

I am really surprised by how many people suggest switching only. In my experience, string and electric bass typically require drastically different gain and EQ settings.

If this is a one off gig with a limited run, I too would go with a simple, low cost solution. I initially made my own AB box. But, I doubled for years in concert bands and big bands so it was well worth the cost to get a more eloquent solution that provided separate gain and EQ for each instrument in addition to on/off switching. IMHO, the string bass benefits greatly from parametric EQ and notch filtering, especially if you are pushing the volume.

Another option I considered was the EA Doubler.

 

[Altitude]

I second the PZ-Pre
When I doubled I used the original Radial Bassbone. Radial gear is built ridiculously well and the Bassbone did it's job fantastically, but I always had a preamp in front of each channel. If I were to do it again I'd just get a PZ-Pre and be done with it.

+1 for the Bassbone, for all my doubling gigs. Of note - one channel in the Bassbone is pretty much a passthrough with a level, and the other has EQ controls plus a level. When I double it's mainly an Ergo upright that needs much different EQ treatment than any of my electrics, so it goes through the EQ channel and the electric goes through the straight one.

Works like a charm.

 

[cchorney]

I've used a Morley A/B/C switch to bounce between different electric, but going from upright to electric some additional pre-amp help might be useful to keep the volume levels at unity and to eq as necessary, so for that maybe a Tech 21 BDDI Deluxe?

 

[GoLeafsGo]

i use bigshot io from radial ... sturdy pedal, great great great !!!! it looks simple but you can hook up your tuner on it, use it as mute, and you can match your levels of your basses with its trip pot and you can add some brightness with a switch it has in case you have some signal loss... what more can you ask??? i use this version of the pedalView attachment 3076887

+1 on this...I have one too, great for matching output levels on different basses. Just stomp on the pedal and you are good to go.

 

[Wasnex]

+1 for the Bassbone, for all my doubling gigs. Of note - one channel in the Bassbone is pretty much a passthrough with a level, and the other has EQ controls plus a level. When I double it's mainly an Ergo upright that needs much different EQ treatment than any of my electrics, so it goes through the EQ channel and the electric goes through the straight one.

Works like a charm.

I an see this working pretty well. Back when I used the AB box, I had an SWR Red Head. I put a 31 band graphic in the rack slot of the amp. This gave me a different gain structure and EQ for string bass.

I used the 31 band EQ to tune the string bass the same way I would ring a room for feedback...boost two bands at a time and if you find any super sensitive areas, cut the slider that is closest to the feedback.