Double Bass upright/electric doubling and p.a.

[snowmobile]

Hello! Can you help a beginner on this subject?

How do you, who play both electric and upright on same gig, send your signals to the p.a. desk? Do you send separate channels for each or do you use an a/b box/d.i. to switch between instruments and send only one channel? (assuming that the upright is equipped with a piezo or mic & pre)

 

[Jeff Bonny]

Hello! Can you help a beginner on this subject?

How do you, who play both electric and upright on same gig, send your signals to the p.a. desk? Do you send separate channels for each or do you use an a/b box/d.i. to switch between instruments and send only one channel? (assuming that the upright is equipped with a piezo or mic & pre)

I used to use a two channel preamp that sent one post EQ signal to the FOH console. I went post because doing it this way you end up EQing not just for your stage sound but also for FOH. For the small PAs I was playing through this worked because most often there was only one PA channel available for the bass anyway.

On a mixer with more channels I would much rather send separate pre EQ signals for each instrument and let the soundman whose ears are out front do what he gets paid for and deal with the mix. A couple of Radial JDI direct boxes would be my choice if you already have your stage setup sounding good. Do you have your stage sound together or are you also looking for a mixer for that too? That's probably gonna make a difference in how you approach buying the gear to deal with this issue.

 

[dukeorock]

I use a Genz ShuttleMax amp. Two pres, match my output and send it thru the same DI...no complaints so far

 

[snowmobile]

Ok, thanks for your answers!

Jeffbonny: I'm not planning to buy a mixer for now. I'm just wondering what to do if I play in some club where they have their sound guy and their FOH and we bring the backline only.