Can you run a bass guitar stright into mixer/pa?

[rickster]

Is it ok to run a bass guitar through my 400 X2 watt berhinger powered mixer for practice? ( I have 2 old skool 15" Carvin 3-way speakers) and no subs.If so are any tips you can offer me as not to damage my speakers?

[LHSL]

Is it ok to run a bass guitar through my 400 X2 watt berhinger powered mixer for practice? ( I have 2 old skool 15" Carvin 3-way speakers) and no subs.If so are any tips you can offer me as not to damage my speakers?

You can, but it's not recommended. Generally you want the thing you are plugging into to have an input impedance 10 times that the out put impedance of the guitar/bass. The output impedance of a bass guitar can wildly vary depending on several factors but is usually on the order of 100 kohm. There for you want an input impedance of around 1000 kohm (or 1 Mohm).

Use a Direct Inject (DI) box like this one to do that:
http://www.radialeng.com/di-j48.htm

There are several brands to choose from, but the better one you buy, the better your bass will sound.

[lonewolf]

As long as you match the guitar signal with the channel's input, you shouldn't have any problems. If your bass has active pups, you can use a line level channel, but if not, you will probably have to use a regular mic channel's 1/4" input.

Whatever you do, use the channel trim control to match up the signal's level to the channel.

[f.sciarrillo]

They make direct boxes for this type of thing?

[JackANSI]

As far as the mixer goes, that would be fine. I know plenty of people that do it all the time for recording.

Its just going to sound a bit different than what the person is used to with an amp..

A direct box or two is always something you want in your tool bag. But on that practice setup, a cheap one will sound the same as an expensive one..

I generally carry one of these and have not had any problems with it, even though its been dropped a ton..

http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i-ART-ZDIRECT-LIST

Open it up and measure the transformer with a DMM and its the same as the Radial passive one... for 1/4 the price...

[rickster]

Hey You up above me............^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Open it up and measure the transformer with the WHaaaa? ! Of a HUH?.....Sorry man, I only made it through High school.I do try to learn a little bit here and there though.
Radial Passive<-------------No Comprende!

[seven_star_customz]

if you have a sub why not

[lonewolf]

Hey You up above me............^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Open it up and measure the transformer with the WHaaaa? ! Of a HUH?.....Sorry man, I only made it through High school.I do try to learn a little bit here and there though.
Radial Passive<-------------No Comprende!

If you don't want to buy anything and its for practice only, this works OK:

1. Make sure mixer is powered off
2. Pick a channel that has a 1/4" jack, trim control & EQ.
3. Plug the guitar cable into the 1/4" jack
4. Turn the channel Trim control fully counterclockwise to the lowest position
5. Turn the channel Level control to the lowest position.
6. Turn the mixer power on
7. While thumping the thickest string open position, slowly turn the trim control up (clockwise) until its corresponding LED flashes red.
8. Slowly turn the Trim control back until the LED no longer flashes on the hardest thumps.
9. Slowly turn the channel Level control up to the desired volume
10. Tweak the EQ to taste. Be careful not to add too much bass.

If you don't like the sound (I probably wouldn't), you should buy a DI box or a cheap bass guitar processor or preamp.

[rickster]

Thanks verge...Those are instructions I can follow

[JackANSI]

Sorry didn't want anyone to lead you down an expensive path just for practice...

A passive (no electricity needed) direct box usually just has a few components inside, one of which is a transformer. Almost all small signal matching transformers these days are of excellent quality.

The only real difference in a passive direct box is the quality of the connector (so it lasts long), and the number comfiguration options to increase its usefulness (attenuation steps, filters, phase invert, etc).

An active direct box (like the Radial J48 suggested) usually have a chip or two inside (called opamps). But even the J48 uses a cheap TL082 opamp last time I had one open. So you are paying a huge mark up for the same components that are in a much cheaper model. The J48's power supply buffer is nice to have when running it on phantom power, but its not worth the price when you start looking at other models without bias towards price and/or brand that have the same features..

[slackin@dabass]

use a preamp. even a tube preamp would work. get something like a tech21 or an mxr and be done, plus, it's not just a practice tool, you can usually use preamps with an existing amp to enhance the tone of it. check ebay. you can always get great deals there.



musiciansfriend's selection of bass preamps:

http://bass-guitars.musiciansfriend.com ... ss-preamps




aguilar stuff sounds really good, but the price reflects that. the bbe rackmount preamp also sounds killer, but me personally, i love the tech21 stuff. get a sansamp pedal and run an xlr cable to your mixer. then, when you get your bass rig up and running, you'll also have a distortion pedal.


tech21 stuff on musiciansfriend.com:

http://bass-guitars.musiciansfriend.com ... 544+201007



it's not ultra cheap, but check ebay. they usually have great deals on this kinda stuff. another good place to look for bass equipment are the classifieds on www.talkbass.com and rockpage's own classified section.

[JackANSI]

Definitely consider the Tech21 stuff I love my RBI and wouldn't think of going anywhere without it (to play that is).

Its really handy, you can make it sound good with just about anything, and you'll only need a power amp and cabinet to make it a true stand-alone bass amp.

[slackin@dabass]

Definitely consider the Tech21 stuff I love my RBI and wouldn't think of going anywhere without it (to play that is).

Its really handy, you can make it sound good with just about anything, and you'll only need a power amp and cabinet to make it a true stand-alone bass amp.

word.