Double Bass Who needs a pre-amp with a PA?

[martinc]

I moved this post to the on stage amplification thread.

 

[Ric Vice]

Let me throw this out for discussion....

For years I have used my BassMax with the LR Baggs ParaAcoustic-DI or Fishman ProPlat into the PA board (I don't use an amp) ....when there is a sound tech.
I usually add some bass and roll off the treble using the pre-amp 'cos I like a big fat sound.
I also ask the sound tech for the same thing.
I suppose I have taken all this for granted and never really gave much thought to whether this is the best way to do things.
I am now thinking that, in effect, what I am doing is running my sound through two EQ systems..my pre-amp and the PA board.
Is this a good thing? Can one EQ setting affect another..for good or bad?
I have no control over the end result and do not have time during a set to stop and work with the tech to make corrections.
So......
-should I run my pre-amp flat into the PA board and just let the sound tech make any adjustments for my "big, fat sound"?
If so...why even bother with a pre-amp (for a single channel input) and instead just use the sound tech's onstage DI box? Would that not serve the overall sound signal better?
- or should I ask the sound tech to leave all the PA controls flat ( that would probably drive them crazy!) and just use my pre-amp for controlling the sound?

Thoughts?

Most intelligent sound engineers prefer to have you send your signal to the board pre EQ. The only thing I've noticed is that the few times we have run the pickup directly into the DI it sounds different, with those little Country Man boxes that a lot of sound guys use. They load at 10 Megohms though, so I don't know what's really going on there. Since you can't actually hear what you sound like FOH I'd leave it to them for better or for worse. Even using the Walter Woods Ultra, which isn't known for it's "DI" believe me, it sounds better to IMHO when they take the line out of the Woods pre EQ.

Ric

 

[martinc]

Thanks Ric:

I appreciate your comments. One option I am also considering is to run the pickup into a tube pre-amp and send that directly to the board.