Question about amp settings

[Mobay45]

I've got a question about where to set my amp and pre-amp controls in relation to my Bongo. Right now, I run the gain and volume on my pre at 50%, the volume on my amplifier at 50%. The only problem I have is that I have to keep the volume knob on the Bongo set very low. I would like to be able to turn up more at the bass. What setting should I lower to be able to turn up the volume on the bass? Or does it matter which one I turn down? It seems to me that I've heard that you shouldn't run the amp volume too low or it will be inefficient. BTW - The pre is a BBE BMax-T, the amp is a Crown XLS-402 and the cabinet is a Schroeder 21012.

[Freddy-G.]

Onstage, I always set my amp at the highest, or loudest setting that I would want to play at (with the bass volume knob all the way up), then use the bass guitar's volume knob to control the volume, depending on the song being played. This keeps me from running back and forth to the amp to change the settings.

Try turning down your master volume, until you have your bass' volume knob all the way up. I've always gotten a better sound by setting the preamp volume higher than the master gain.

It will be interesting to hear how others do it.

[SteveB]

My two cents would be:

1) turn up the knob on the bass all the way
2) turn the gain on the preamp all the way down
3) turn the volume on the preamp to 50%
4) bring up the gain until it clips or distorts, then back it off until it's clean again
5) use the preamp volume to set your 'max' volume limit

I'd keep the Crown (nice amp, BTW.. I have an XLS602) set at about 50% unless you need more. I wouldn't set it below 50% though. No real reasoning for that, just my instinct.

[Mobay45]

4) bring up the gain until it clips or distorts, then back it off until it's clean again

I don't think I can stand it that loud! This Schroeder is LOUD.

Thanks for the advice. We're rehearsing tonight for our CD release party tomorrow night so I'll try it then.

[Mobay45]

BTW- This is the first preamp/amp set up I've owned. I've always either had a head or a combo so I've struggled a bit with getting just the right sound. I also had a little trouble with the first amp I was using with this set up. I had bought a used Carvin DCM 1000 that just seemed to have some kind of problem that caused some distortion. They all went away when I switched to the Crown.

[SteveB]

I don't think I can stand it that loud! This Schroeder is LOUD.

Thanks for the advice. We're rehearsing tonight for our CD release party tomorrow night so I'll try it then.

With the Volume down low on the preamp, you should be able to crank the gain without blowing out your ears. Unless I'm not understanding the equipment description.

You've got a bass, plugged into a preamp, then into a power amp, then into one or more cabinets, right?

The preamp has both a gain and a volume control. (I'm not talking about the active eq on board the bass, I'm talking about a piece of gear) right?

[Psycho Ward]

Does it go to 11?


I can't be of much help, but I have noticed with my own equipment and now with an all tube amp too , it seems to me that the pre-amp, (channel in some cases) is where the tone is. Pay attention there and I like to leave myself a little headroom there on the bass guitar. But any changes with gain will seem to require attention down the signal chain, over-driving a solid state amp is whole different animal than over-driving an all tube amp...

Out of my three bass amps my Ampeg B15R/ B15S stack is by far my favorite, and there is a world of tones just by adjusting the gain and tone controls. I keep it in the 60 watt position rather than the 100 watt position. This also has an effect of pumping the amp at higher gain, but not busting your head.

Coming from the keyboard world we didn't worry much about amps, we were more concerned with direct to board conditions. On my current keyboard gigs I use a Bose PAS, but I'm going to buy the Motion Sound Pro 145 just for the B3 simulations alone!


Chuck
Back to your orgional question, find your sound in your pre-amp...

[Mobay45]

Last night at rehearsal I lowered the gain on the preamp and upped the volume on the Bongo. It made all the difference in the world. I had to drop the gain to about 2.5 and I had the volume on the bass at 75-80%. Every note sounded much more articulated and the tone was awesome. Now that's what I've been waiting to hear in my Bongo! I'll play live tonight and I'm looking forward to the kind of sound that I'm going to have.

[SteveB]

Mobay,

Great news! Glad to hear that you dialed in a better sound. Gain structure is so important. I keep trying to communicate that to my singer & drummer when they go wreaking havoc on the mixing board. They just start turning knobs all willy-nilly. They move the gain knob without paying attention to the position of the fader. What you must do is set the fader to 0 (unity gain), which is not all the way at the bottom of its range, but close to the top of it. Then slowly bring the gain up from 0 until you clip, and then back it off. The fader is mostly used for lowering volume in an emergency after the gain has been properly configured. Of course, when mixing down, it's a whole different story. But when you're tracking or playing live, you need to observe this logic or you'll turb knobs in frustration all day long.

The same applies to instrument amps. You should set the volume on the instrument for max output, turn the amp volume down low, slowly bring up the gain until you clip or distort, then back it off. Then raise the amp volume, and turn down the instrument output if you want to. Following this, you know you can safely crank the instrument output without distorting, and you can run your amp as loud as possible without distorting.

[basspastor]

Larry,
I had an old seasoned player (band manager for Dolly Parton) tell me he always turned is knobs wide open and did the adjusting from the amp. This allows you to get the full effects of the instrument. I started doing that and I must admit it does seem to sound better.
That is my .03 worth.

[sandaas]

Mobay,

Great news! Glad to hear that you dialed in a better sound. Gain structure is so important. I keep trying to communicate that to my singer & drummer when they go wreaking havoc on the mixing board. They just start turning knobs all willy-nilly. They move the gain knob without paying attention to the position of the fader. What you must do is set the fader to 0 (unity gain), which is not all the way at the bottom of its range, but close to the top of it. Then slowly bring the gain up from 0 until you clip, and then back it off. The fader is mostly used for lowering volume in an emergency after the gain has been properly configured. Of course, when mixing down, it's a whole different story. But when you're tracking or playing live, you need to observe this logic or you'll turb knobs in frustration all day long.

The same applies to instrument amps. You should set the volume on the instrument for max output, turn the amp volume down low, slowly bring up the gain until you clip or distort, then back it off. Then raise the amp volume, and turn down the instrument output if you want to. Following this, you know you can safely crank the instrument output without distorting, and you can run your amp as loud as possible without distorting.

+1

My thoughts excactly !

[Dees]

Does it go to 11?

My amp is a very special amp................it goes to 11

Now serieusly, I own a EBS Fafner, and use a Stingray (a bongo.... one day).
I maximize the volume on my bass, plug it in, start hitting the strings a bit harder than I normal do, and when the gain LED is starting to flash, turn it down a bit, and than push up the voluma, works great

[Rhythmbug]

I got a similar question. My trace elliot AH600SMX has 3 gain LEDs
- Green: Increase Gain
- Yellow: OK
- Red: Overload

I usually have my gain set to 12 o'clock and stingray volume at full, which prompts the Yellow OK led on whenever I strike a note.
Thats as far as it will go without the Red Overload led to start illuminating.
Is it safe to have the yellow led on most of the time?
Or should I dial the gain down a little?

Never got the operation manual with this amp (was 2nd hand) and already had it repaired (probably unrelated to gain though).

[Psycho Ward]

Once again I must offer this disclaimer first, I don’t know crap!

But, most recently I read my Bose PAS manual and also remember similar information from my Mackie mixer manual and some other gear as well, says it’s ok to flash in the red… a little. The threshold of the indicator is a little below the max headroom. You want a strong signal going in the amp, so I try to stay in the yellow with peaks in the red.

Psycho