MicPre/BassDI/live bass rig compressor

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tromostheory

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I'm looking for something under $600 that can act as a good mic pre, record good direct bass tones, and be used as a compressor in my live bass rig which just inludes a GK 400RB and a 2x10 speaker. I've been looking at the Safesound P1, and the Focusrite Platinum Trackmaster. Does anyone have any recomendations, is this even a good idea, and what would be the proper signal flow if something like this was included in a live bass rig? Thanks to anyone who can help.
 
check out the focusrite twintrack pro....I use it for tracking my warwick bass and it does a real decent job. It has an nice optical compressor and a sweepable notch filter that are perfect for bass......good for the price..
 
how do you use the focusrite?

how do you use the focusrite? Is it in your FX loop, do you record with it, does it act as a preamp before a poweramp?
 
Hi there.
I used to have something called a Focusrite Twintrak, but had to sell it due to money troubles! I would have thought it would fit your bill very well: http://www.dv247.com/invt/16453

Good luck with it.

EDIT: Just realised someone else reccomended this as well!
 
tromostheory said:
Is it in your FX loop, do you record with it, does it act as a preamp before a poweramp?
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Any mic pre that you decide to use as a bass preamp would work the same way. You would plug your bass into the Focusrite (or whichever preamp you choose). Then, plug the output of the preamp into the power amp INPUT (the effects return jack, in other words). You would not use the preamp on your bass head at all. The mic preamp would become your bass preamp.

Brad
 
Bassman Brad said:
Any mic pre that you decide to use as a bass preamp would work the same way. You would plug your bass into the Focusrite (or whichever preamp you choose). Then, plug the output of the preamp into the power amp INPUT (the effects return jack, in other words). You would not use the preamp on your bass head at all. The mic preamp would become your bass preamp.

Brad
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Exactly!!! The twinTrak is nice because it has an effects loop one each channel so If you decide to run in stereo use a mic/line splitter, plug into both inputs and you have a stereo bass amp with comp/fx/notch/gain on each channel.
 
twintrack

Could I just get the single channel version, and then when I wanted stereo, buy another one? Would there be any disadvantage? Are there any standalone compressor's that work well with regular bass amps? Thanks.
 
Sure, you could buy just a single channel. I don't see much advantage in having two channels anyway, if your plan is to only use it on bass.

If it's just a compressor that you want, then any rackmount compressor would probably do the job just fine. I have a Rane DC24 that I absolutely LOVE for bass, but I've also used dbx compressors and several other brands, and they all seemed to get the job done just fine.

Brad
 
tromostheory said:
I'm looking for something under $600 that can act as a good mic pre, record good direct bass tones, and be used as a compressor in my live bass rig which just inludes a GK 400RB and a 2x10 speaker. Does anyone have any recomendations, is this even a good idea, and what would be the proper signal flow if something like this was included in a live bass rig? Thanks to anyone who can help.
Click to expand...

The guy playing bass on the sessions down at our place this week used the ART pro channel into an SVT reissue thing. I was terrified of the thing when i saw it. I'm not a fan of ART. i have the Pro VLA and kinda think it's worth the price...

However - this seemed to work ok in this application - i dialed in the compressor - worked quite well. There are both opto and vari-mu options. We used the opto. There's also an eq section. We didn't use that.

I prefer nothing in the path but the bass, the amp and the fingaz - but this thing was actually surprisingly non-offensive in the chain. I'm not damning the thing with faint praise - i'm just not used to having something in the chain there not take away more than it added.

Proper signal flow: it has a DI input on the back and we plugged it into the amp. not sure if that's proper but that how the guy used it and it worked without added noise so i didn't question it.

Also - i think this would help add some character to your GK. i've owned one - they're great but you know - kinda vanilla.

300 or so new.

Anyway check it out and have a good weekend... :D
 
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Some decent suggestions here. I don't play bass in a live situation, but I really like the Groove Tubes Brick as a bass DI and a mic preamp for recording. It is solidly built and would do great for live, I'm sure. Couple that with any outboard compressor of your choice (I'm liking the FMR RNLA these days) and you'd have a pretty killer DI/Pre/Compressor combo. Just a thought.
 
would the bass (or mic) go into the brick first and then through a compressor, or the other way around? And thanks a lot guys for your input.
 
would the bass (or mic) go into the brick first and then through a compressor, or the other way around? And thanks a lot guys for your input.
 
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