Direct Box?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Slackmaster2K
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Slackmaster2K

Slackmaster2K

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A DI box will do exactly that. There are several options here. First, the POD from Line6 is the favorite with just about everyone for guitar DI and supposedly works great for bass too. From what I hear, there is also a Bass POD as well. The POD runs around $300 though, so might be a little expensive.

I don't have a bass cabinet so I use the SansAmp Bass Driver DI box from Tech21. It's a pretty nice unit...not stunning or anything but it gets the job done and sounds real. Kinda tubey. It'll run around $120. Look for a used one. Oh, and it'll accept phantom power from your mixer or preamp which is a nice feature.

Other that that, you could always use any old preamp. Does the bass rig have a Line Out? Does your mixer have line-level inputs? (line vs. microphone that is) If so you can run a line from the bass amp to the mixer no problem...just watch your levels, start low. You might also look into getting a more versitile preamp like the ART Tube MP which will work for DI, and is a great preamp for microphones and a variety of applications. The only problem with using a preamp only is that it will have no cabinet emulation which is an integral part of a DI box. Without a DI box, the bass will sound dry and lifeless...kinda fake. With a DI box, it'll sound more like a mic'ed cabinet which is what you want. Don't rule out using just a preamp however, as a bass won't sound as bad as an electric guitar using this method.

And one final option would be active pickups which will push more than passive pickups...therefore you would be able to plug the bass right into the mixer and you'd get adequate levels.

Slackmaster 2000
 
Hey,
I would like to practice jammin late with a few friends and not disturb anyone. Unfortunatly the bass amp is too loud, so we decided to just practice through a headphone mix. Do the bass need a direct box to get to the mixer so we can hear him in the head phones? How would I hook this up so the sound no longer comes out of the bass cabinet and just through the headphones instead. We tried just the bass plugged right in, but it was too faint. I would appreciate any help. Thanks
 
Thanks slackmaster,
The bass head does not have a line output on it, just a effect send and return. We do have a TUBEMAN plus with a quarter inch input on it, so can that be used as a bass pre.? Or will the DI box just be more worth our time in the long run?

Basically what a DI box or pre amp does is just allow you to plug right into that without going through an external amp???

One last thing, i do think the bassist has active pickups on his bass. Does that mean i can just plug his cable directly into the mixer and it should sound ok?
 
One thing that helps with actives is to drop some of the gain. They are potent and on my head I have a switch to cut it by -15 DB, it's good to try to trim your pre-amp, otherwise they tend to flip and give you nasty distortion.
 
Why don't you just try it? Plug his bass into the mixer and see what happens. Try the Tubeman thing and see what it sounds like. Try the effects send of the bassist's preamp. Just keep your in/out levels LOW to start out with and you shouldn't blow anything up. Don't do anything obviously dumb like connecting a SPEAKER out on a cabinet to your mixer.

Basically a DI box is just a preamp with circuitry to emulate a fully blown bass cabinet. It might be worth it for you, or it might not.

If you start looking around at all of your equipment, you'll start noticing preamps everywhere. Effects boxes are "preamps", your bass player's pickup system has a preamp, your guitar amp has a preamp. It really depends on whether you JUST want something good enough to practice with, or something good enough to eventually utilize (e.g. for recording or whatever).

If you're just into practicing then start screwing around. Just don't plug anything into your mixer that you know is really hot...like an output from a power amp. That's a big fat no-no.

If you can't stomach the sound you get with your existing equipment, then go to the music store and try out some pedals. I'd really recommend looking into the Sansamp Bass Driver since you're bass player will probably be the guy buying it. You could invest in something more worthwhile like a POD...but a moron bass player would never utilize a POD to its full potential :) Just kiddin...we like to joke about bass players around here sometimes...at least I do :)

Slackmaster 2000
 
You know Slackmaster

Bass players and drummers always seem to get it, but playing bass as long as I have, I'm starting to like it.

Also if you're going to play out quite check out heads with XLR outs. Running them with the pad most have today and being able to use any EQ that most have can give a monster tone.

Absolutely nothing wrong with a direct box though because the board itself should be able to give you the shape you want!
 
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