Synth bass to bass amp...help!

[copperandstars]

Hello everyone,

Here is my situation:

I am starting a band that mixes a lot of electronic music with indie rock stuff. We would like to have synth bass to give it an electronic feel. I will be programming the bass on fruity loops on my laptop which we want to use live.

Is it possible to run a 1/4 trs out from a device like a m-audio quattro into the input on a bass amp? We want to run it into a bass amp for extra power, I think synth bass would be really weak if we had to run it out of the PA. Would this work, and if so, how should I go about setting it up?

Thanks!

Ryan

[subtractor]

It would work, but I'm not sure it would be the best thing to do...
Have you tried it?

[AlChuck]

A bass amp takes a low-level signal from a bass guitar. Also, part of the sound of bass (like guitar) comes from the relatively lo-fi nature of the amp. The signal from a synth is line level and it already sounds the way you want it to sound. Sending it to a bass amp will not improve it. I think you are far better off sending it through a PA that has excellent bass response, especially if it's one of those nice modern techno bass sounds with a ton of super low end...

[copperandstars]

Thanks for the responses.

I would love to be able to go through the PA. The only thing is that we will be touring and depending on a lot of different Pa systems, some of which are not so nice. In those cases the bass would sound really bad, which is why we wanted to have the synth go through an amp so we have it completely in our control. Should we just invest in a couple of our own PA speakers?

Or will a certain other kind of amp sound fine?

Thanks!

Ryan

[Bill Assumpcao]

Couldn't he just run straight into the power amp of the bass amp? Bypassing the pre-amp? Just a thought, cause
what do I know?
Bill

[copperandstars]

Hey that sounds like a great idea bill!

What if I just used a power amp with a bass cab? The power amp won't change the sound of the bass like a regular amp would, and the cab will give it a good sound.

What do you think?

[sqkychair]

A bass amp is probably the wrong idea for this.
You need almost the same sound you get from the PA system, clean with lots of low end.
Running into the power amp section of the bass amp might work unless it is tube.
Also you need full range speakers, most bass amps use a 15 or larger speaker, the highs will suffer.

OTOH, this might work if you are trying to duplicate the sound of a bass guitar, but you
said are trying to add an electronic 'feel' to your sound.

So, come out of the laptop into some kind of preamp to warm it up a bit(optional).
Send to FOH, and monitor onstage with a big clean full range speaker.

If your PA is too wimpy to handle the lows, then whatever speakers you were gonna commit to this for
onstage sound, should instead be committed to your PA system. A good sub out front is gonna improve
all the low end and your kick might just balance with your Fruity loops bass.