Acoustic bass guitar with a regular bass rig (good idea)?

[jazzyvee]

On Monday this week I had a short notice dep call to hold down the bass so I brought my mesa boogie rig. Walkabout head and 2x10 powerhouse cab. Most of the night I was playing bass and there was a double bassist there who just played acoustically as a soloist and singer.


Later on a band came up to do a set and had an acoustic bass guitar which I plugged into my bass rig and eq'd it so that it wasn't too loud or too bassy and turned the tweeter to it's minimum setting as I know these things seem to kick out a heft of a signal. My parting words were don't turn anything and don't blow up my cab!

Anyway as their songs went on I had to keep walking back to the stage to turn down the volume then bottom end and upper mids as it sounded raspy ( he was using a pick). On the one occasion I saw him turning up the volume between songs I went over reset it below where I originally had it and stood behind him for the remainder of the set.


I'm not going to do that again. In future any acoustic bass players will have to go through the P.A.
Any advice for me using that setup for myself in the future is it a good idea to use a regular bass rig or would I be better off with a dedicated acoustic bass guitar amp.


At home I use my PJB Briefcase and that's ok at the volume levels I use.

[jure_the_second]

Hello.

I use the Orion bass and acoustic Breedlove together on many gigs with the same rig. It's true - the acoustic bass has a hotter signal, but not that much. The volume setting on acoustic is therefore set lower than on Alembic.

Rig is Markbass LM3 and 4x10. Works great for all.

Best regards.

Jure

[edwardofhuncote]

Jazzy, most piezo-equipped 'acoustic' basses, -including uprights- tend to have a lot of midrange-y quack. I can only imagine that being amplified by use of a pick. Although I use an Acoustic Image Clarus II, and a D-Tar Equinox pre-amp to tame unwanted honks and wolfs on my upright, I do use the Walkabout with my other piezo-equipped bass guitars. You can address that with the Walkabout's mid and high settings, and get a little more surgical using the parametric eq. I've yet to plug a bass into that Walkabout and not get the sound I'm looking for actually. Such a great little box.

On letting other guys use my stuff... I haven't had quite the trouble you did, but if I had... I'd have to re-think the limits of generosity. 

[jazzyvee]

Thanks guys, i wasn't so much worried about the amp getting damaged although I'd like to get a good sound from it. I guess my biggest concern is having my speakers blown by a heavy handed bass player. I am always careful to ensure my personal sound is clean and only as loud as it needs to be with no grit or edge but I have the view that many bass players see grittiness to be a desireable characteristic so when I hear that coming through my cabs I worry if it's gonna damage my speakers.
 

[Glynn]

My constant nightmare.  Others potentially damaging my gear.  I have had to be unpopular at gigs when it is suggested that another bass player stands in to have a go and say that I don't let anyone use my gear.  This was slightly awkward when one bass player was the bandleader's son!! Fortunately I knew him and he didn't mind.  Who would pay up if something was damaged? - the insurance company wouldn't, I'm sure.
A similar one I have had was a keyboard player (very good) was booked to play with us and asked if he could put his keyboard through the PA(mine) rather than bring his gear in!!! (Some vocalists and cabaret acts used to do that with bands I was in - " Can I plug into your PA rather than bring my own in out of the car? The irony was that the cabaret was on about £200 for one person and the band was on £350).
Grrrrrr!
Just a Friday rant from Glynn.
Have a good weekend.

[gtrguy]

The last time of the very few times this has happened to me, I was doing a fill-in gig with a band when their former bass player showed up and wanted to sit in (after asking me if it was OK). He had a 6 string (I was playing a 4 string) and pushed the hell out of my small amp (SWR Workingmans 12 combo), especially with that low B string.  I have big rigs that can handle a 6 string without a strain, but don't bring them unless they are really needed. He also then went on to play most of the tunes while I had to sit there, which was rude (he was a great player).

It was kinda like going out on a date where the girls old boyfriend shows up and spends the rest of the evening talking to her. For that and other reasons, I no longer take calls from that band to play with them (and I am still getting them).

[smokin_dave]

A couple of weeks ago, right in the middle of a set, the over tipsy friend of the bandleader staggers up to the stage and asked to sit in wanting to play my Rogue.I said no and pointed to my backup Squire four string and said he could have a go with it but on the next set.He yelled "No.I have to play.RIGHT NOW".I laughed and told him that if he did not return to his table, RIGHT NOW, that I was going to take my Squire and clock him over the head with it.The tipsy one ends up leaving the club altogether and I looked over at the bandleader and he was doubled over with laughter.
I mean this has nothing to do with my rig but I just think it quite rude to just demand to sit in on someones gig.I never even think about doing something like that. Unless I'm invited by a bandleader, and most of the time if asked I decline, I really just like to just listen to the band.

[edwin]

I let everyone use my rig and a number of acoustic bass guitar players and upright players have done so and love it. I've only had a problem once, where an opening band blew up my Eden head, but I'm convinced the Eden would have gone out for me, too. It was the first night out and those things are pretty notoriously unreliable.

[keith_h]

I don't let anybody play my basses when I'm out. I do let them use my rig and have provided it along with PA for some events where I ran sound. If I'm just providing the backline I help them get the settings. Once it is set up explain it is strictly for onstage monitoring and if they touch it during the performance without my approval they take responsibility for any issues out front as I take a pre-EQ DI to the board which is what the audience should hear. Never have had a problem. If I'm sharing my rig for a gig I basically do the same thing except tell them it gets turned off if they starting making changes without my approval. Agian I've never had a problem.   

I had something kind of similar to Smokin Dave at an open mic where I was part of the house band. The guitar player used his passed on father's late 50's Les Paul. Some drunk guy wanted to sit in but didn't have a guitar with him. The Mike offered him the house Strat but he would have none of it. He started off with a bribe of $20 for one song and by the time he was asked to leave it had gotten up to $150. After he was gone Mike just gave everybody one of those looks.  If it had been me I doubt I'd have been so patient.