Bass setup issues

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WI Amateur

New member
Hello, totally new to the forum and amateur sound guy, hope this is the right place to ask about this issue.

A little background on the PA setup, Mackie 1604 vlz pro board that we've had for about 6-7 years and been real reliable. We run in mono, all panned left, mains leave the Mackie left out to an eq, from the eq to an electronic crossover and out to speakers, tri amp setup. All equip is in place in large wheeled rack to make live setup easier/faster.

Here's the issue, when I try to set my bass up in the mix it sounds distorted and overdriven. Here's some of the troubleshooting I've done and if anyone can offer advice I'd appreciate it.

1-check the bass and amp combo alone, sounds clean and no issues.

2-set the bass guitar channel on the Mackie to mid/0 on all eq settings, select the correct PFL/solo and adjust until meter is approx "0" on main led's

3-have been using the line out of my Line 6 bass amp for the last 2-3 years so that is normal, when problem persisted regardless of adjustments on the eq's or trim control I tried mic'ing the cabinet and still sounds bad

4-tried different channels, different mic cord from the line out, the led's for the solo setting are not maxing out, not even in the yellow and no clipping on the eq or the power amp, just sounds terribly distorted

5-this is a passive bass so no battery issue, in fact tried both basses just to be safe, they are identical Musicmasters and same sound on both

6-I can get the 3 vocals, guitar, and even the kick drum to be loud as all get out with no issues, even tried the bass in the kick drum channel.....has all the "oomph" of the kick drum but bass still sounds distorted.

I know I rambled on the above troubleshooting, hard to remember the exact order but I believed I've verified the bass amp as working on it's own, ruled out the direct line out by mic'ing the cab, verified channels by trying different ones, cables ,etc. Did try a direct box out of the line out just for grins and same effect.

Maybe if someone with some real knowledge can make sense of what I'm saying they can ask appropriate questions to clear up what the issue is.

Thank you!
 
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Did you try plugging your bass into the DI first, them into the amp? This would show if the amp is at fault here. Also, did you try plugging your bass into the channel?

Bassically, Michael
 
I did try that but being a passive bass I had to set the trim unbelievably high to get much signal. Volume was very low and didn't hear the issue but it seems to "appear" ONLY when you give it any volume through the mains. If that makes sense.

Figured I'd ruled out my bass amp by mic'ing a clear sound from that.
 
The speaker setup is as follows, subs are Bag End's, the tops are Peavey "cluster" cabs that have had the drivers and speakers updated over time. Tri-amping using QSC amps.
 
ok...so perhaps the problem lies in either the post main eq setting or your crossover gain, pad, filter setting.
Did you try a different channel in the crossover?
Does the crossover have a separate sub routing and pad?
 
It's funny you said that, I've been writing down options of things to check and crossover channel /input gain were on the list. The PA is about 45 miles from me and I get there about once a week. Had this problem last Monday when setting things up. Won't be able to check til Monday but thanx for the thoughts.
 
I'm a little confused... You're coming DI out of your bass amp?? What amp are you using? And you mic'd the cab and it still sounds distorted?? Now that is weird.

Sounds like gain staging, but the mic'd cab thing is suggesting the problem is something else. Page 3 of the manual has a quick guide to set the channel level.
http://www.mackie.com/pdf/1604vlzpro_om.pdf

Also, make sure all your Aux sends are turned down.
 
You bet Joro, thanx. Seems that if the inputs somehow got jacked up into the crossover that would explain it getting distorted there and still not clipping on the amp.

Chili, yes it's weird. I have a Line 6 Lowdown 300 bass amp. Love having all the effects built in, we're three piece so I can add little touches for filler during guitar solos. Anyway, yes it sounds distorted when I use my direct line out or the mic. And as for setting level I'm very familiar with that process because the job of running the board falls to me at gigs. My normal setup is set all the trim controls to "0" to start each time, use the PFL and set levels on each channel we use to around zero. Once I have all those set I would individually use Aux 1 for monitor levels, which are also zero'd to start with. We use no affects loops since each of us have our own vocal pedals on our individual mics. So the setup is pretty simple, left out main, aux 1 monitor. And when playing live we place my bass amp and the guitarist's amp close enough to the drummer that the only thing in the monitors is the vocals.

The solo/pfl levels are nowhere near clipping which I would expect based on the sound, and as I said no clipping on the sub amp. Seems that I've cleared the bass amp as part of the issue by the fact that it's clear/fine on its own and the same whether plugged in or mic'd. Thanx too for taking an interest Chili.
 
Have you tried plugging some headphones into the mixer to monitor what it sounds like at that stage? If it sounds bad, then it's the chain to that point, if not, it's the amp/crossover/speaker chain.
 
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