PA for an amp?

B

BillyFurnett

New member
Hi guys,
After some unexpected and disasterous flooding my bass player and I no longer have amps. To get the job done we've been playing through our powered mixer's 1/4 in's and I'm wondering if we need Direct boxes??

I'm using a removable sound hole humbucker pick up and the bass is just a Fender P.

Any help would be appreciated.

Biilly
 
The guitar might not need a direct box but the bass will benefit. It will match the impedance and probably make his low-end sound like it should. I have a Behringer DI-100 that sounds good and it sells for about $30, I think it compares favorably to ones I have used that cost 5 times that much (I can't believe I just recommended Behringer) :eek:

Countryman type 85, Radial JDI, Whirlwind, Sansamp Aoustic DI, Aguilar, BBE, BSS, etc........ there are a million of them on the market. I would definitely look at the Radial direct boxes if you have the money for them, Bass Player magazine and other reliable sources believe they are exceptional quality/value for Jensen-equipped direct boxes.
 
Ok thanks for the suggestions...
I can dig that the sound might be improved for the bass, but is a Direct Box mandatory, I mean, will harm come to the bass or the PA?


Thanks
 
I don't think any harm will come at all, it's just that a bass with passive pickups needs to operate at a high impedance to avoid loading the pickups too much and compromising tonality. You will probably get a better sound with a direct box, how much better depends on the mixer and that particular bass. Try putting an active direct box between the guitar and powered mixer and see if there is an improvement in sound.

A direct box does several things. It converts a high impedance signal to a low impedance signal so that an instrument can be plugged directly into a mixer. It also changes an unbalanced signal to a balanced signal. It also let's you run a long cable without losing too much signal, like in a live situation on a big stage. They can solve ground loop problems, etc. Very useful tools for any gigging musician- most bands I know own several of them.
 
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