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Double Bass Which DI with Full Circle?

#3
If all you need is a high quality direct box to go from your FC pickup to PA / recording mixer, the Countryman Type 85 has been an industry standard for many years and is still one of the best sounding direct boxes. It provides a 10 Meg ohm input impedance and a transformer balanced output.
 
#5
In my experience the Fishman Pro Platinum Bass DI matches up great with the Full Circle if you need EQ/phase switching/compressor/highpass filter. Most gigs where I DI the sound people are not DB experts and I can control the sound that goes to the PA to minimize feedback.

As the others said for a straight DI a Countryman or active Radial would work great.
 
#8
Ya know I used to be with Zachomach on this but softened after I ran into a several sound guys that didn't know how to make the bass audible in the mix without a DI. Now I just tell them in a very polite way to get as much of my sound from my mic (I use an Audix D2 on an H-Clamp) send them a DI and just worry about playing. Not worth being stubborn about it.
 
#9
The last time I had to use a DI with no choice one way or the other the sound guy like most had no idea what to do with an acoustic bass. I sounded like a big boomy always about to feedback pile of ****. I about reached over and ripped out the DI since he had a monitor right by the amp turned up but I couldn't do it since it was setup for the next group and the leader would have killed me. Unless you absolutely have to take control of your own sound unless you are really trusting. A mic is the best way.
 
#10
Mic or no mic, some soundguys will always find ways to stuff up your sound. With a mic you run the risk of being inaudible front of house. Plus you have to deal with bleed, monitoring for the rest of the band, wind-noise, resonant frequencies feeding back etc.

With a pickup you run the risks of being mixed overpoweringly loud, sounding like a slab, and that's about it... at least your signal will get through! And in the final analysis, isn't that the most important goal?

I'm not advocating a return to 1970s 'dreaded bass direct' (even though I enjoy a lot of those albums, and the greats like Ray and NHOP always sounded good direct), but a realistic appraisal of reality can be helpful.

So, if you roll up to soundcheck and the sound-person doesn't know his AMT from his elbow, it's good to have a pickup in your bag O tricks.
 
#11
That why I bought a Fishman Platinum Pro. It allows you control over your sound by allowing you, with the flip of a switch, to give the soundguy a post eq signal. I remember reading an interview with Rufus Reid where he talks about having as much control of your sound from the stage so the soundman has little to mess up.

I've tried the mic only thing before. Great if you have somebody who knows what they are doing. Might as well not have carried that big thing to the gig if they don't. I played an outdoor festival with an amp on stage and mic only to the pa. Nobody in the audience could hear me.
 
#12
fingers said:
Rufus Reid where he talks about having as much control of your sound from the stage so the soundman has little to mess up.
Click to expand...
That's right but the soundperson is fully capable of screwing up without your control no matter what you do.

Case in point: Last Saturday afternoon, outdoor festival, 2 set show. Louder band, I don't bother with a mic. Sent a DI from the Focus. Very low stage volume for me, I always play the PA on these gigs and get just my pitch from the stage rig. He gets part way through the set and my bass starts feeding back like mad. I also notice the harder I play the quieter I get. It's pumping through a compressor.

He squawks through the monitor talkback between tunes something unintelligible, I say over the PA out loud perhaps he should turn off the compressor on the bass and let me control my own dynamics. He throws up his hands, turns off the compressor. No more feedback the rest of the show. It felt much better from stage. Low end was pumping and it was quiet between tunes. I'm sure it didn't sound like an acoustic DB out front but I'm also sure it worked as a "good" sound. Sometimes you take what you can get.

If he'd have had a mic send it would have been even worse. He couldn't make the DI work right, the mic was clearly past his skill level. If we didn't play quite so loud I'd send a mic signal mixed in with the line before he ever got the signal but sending a mic in addition to the line would have been a disaster. He clearly had no idea what to do with me and was treating my signal like a Rock electric bass.

In this case I'm going to sound like whatever he thinks I should no matter what I send and I'll have little say in the matter.

Point is to try to send as "good" a signal as I can out front and hope for the best.

Second gig, small room PA for acoustic guitar and voice only. No sounddufus. I get to use my mic and line through my stage rig to fill the room. Sounds like a beautiful string bass again. Much more satisfying.
 
#14
I guess I should answer the original question.

All things being equal which they aren't I'd choose a Fishman Pro Platinum EQ to go with the Full Circle. They have a pretty good idea of what's useful for the pickup they created.

If you don't have that kinda bread just get whatever passive DI you can afford and be done with it. If you're amp has one on it, use that and don't spend any more dough.
 
#18
I usually record to two tracks--one a ribbon mic and one a di pickup sound. that way i can blend if necessary. On my last session, I used my full circle through an Avalon U5. Everyone, including the engineer, said it was the best direct pu sound they ever heard. I still prefer to use only the mic(vintage ribbon), but sometimes adding a bit of pu helps the attack. By the way, avoid the f-hole!!! I get the best sound aiming the ribbon mic towards the center of the top, just above the bridge. When the engineer isolated just the pu, it sounded better than any direct sound I have ever gotten. The Avalon U5 is fantastic.
 

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