A Question for all youse stereo guys

[BeenDown139]

It looks like our 2nd gig is gonna be on the fourth of july at a big bar with a professional sound guy doing our FOH and monitor mix.  since we're gonna be in front of a lotta people, my plan is to play the SII until my back and shoulders give out, then i'll either switch to the headless or the MKD.  The SII is stereo only (one of its many endearing qualities).  so my stage rig has separately powered 1x15 cabs (neck channel) and 2x5 cab (bridge channel) driven out of the DS-5 so it's stacked stereo coming outta my backline.  for the mono bases, it switches over to bi-amped (parallel) mode.  the basic setup is shown below.

so my question is this.  how do you tell yer FOH guy how to deal with this?  give him both DI channels and let him mix it at the board (mono FOH is ok with me, as long as both channels get  heard).  elsewise it'll either be all thump or all twang out of the mains.

surely someone else has done this before.  i can tell  ya  i get  a lotta blank stares when i say i play in stereo.

[jazzyvee]

I've done the stereo thing with a series bass a few times and just asked for two DI's and i think they will just be mixed to mono on FOH.
I would imagine it could be a problem if you decide to switch pickups during your set as losing one output could be quite a noticeable change in FOH volume and tone.
On one gig I did at a music college, the sound guys took two DI's from my rig plus mic'd the two cabs.
Generally I go mono out from my rig.

[StephenR]

Check to see if the FOH guy has two DIs for you. Run each output of your DS-5 to its own DI then patch from each DI to your two amps. FOH can mix it down to mono if necessary and will appreciate having a clean signal from your bass with no EQ applied. If you have to use the built in DIs set them to pre-EQ,

Have a great gig, long time coming!

[BeenDown139]

thanx guys.  i guess i shoulda mentioned i always use both pickups, filters wide open.  i adjust the pickup balance between the two depending on how much snap or rumble i want and the overall volume with the master.  once i'm dialed in i use my fingering technique to determine my overall tone and hardly touch the knobs thereafter.  i always go with fresh rotosound rounds and play fingerstyle. i like a lotta zing outta my rig.  i can do this with my other basses, but the SII is really the ultimate bass for that kinda technique.  i'm the only one in the band without a pedalboard or effects.  if this turns into a thing, then i think ultimately i'll have to provide a mixed mono out to the FOH somehow.

[StephenR]

If you think you will be gigging the SII a lot you should get a stereo DI. I have heard really good things about this one... https://www.guitarcenter.com/Radial-Engineering/JDI-Stereo-Passive-Direct-Box-1427899477296.gc?algoliaQueryID=d489163c2c4d55419817acff2eb3bd8a&algoliaIndexName=guitarcenter.

[jazzyvee]

If i'm just gigging with the series bass and no bass rig, i use a Radial ProD2
https://www.radialeng.com/product/prod2 or my EBS Stanley Clarke Acoustic Preamp which mixes the two pickup outs to mono through the DI.


Stephen, unless the venue is one i've played before and know they get the right sound, i tend to go with post eq from my rig DI instead of a stand alone DI as many times we have found the engineer does not understand how to EQ the bottom end for reggae and the sound in the room is light on bottom end. Other gigs don't have that low end requirement. :-)

[BeenDown139]

thanks for the suggestions.  it inspired me to do a search on stereo-to-mono DI boxes and surprisingly it looks like there are a variety of options.  this looks like it might do it:

https://www.radialeng.com/product/mix-21

any comments/suggestions welcome.   i like  this because it's passive, which means i don't hafta jack with a wall wart and/or use up another slot on my power strip.  i'm fighting having to rack my gear.  so far i have 2 amps and a DS-5.  i like simple.  i can live with some bleed between channels.  plus it's small and can travel in the gig bag with the other rummage.

gotta rehearsal this morning, i'm sure this is gonna come up.  plus i think we need aboot another 8 songs to fill out the sets.  got ~6 weeks before the next show.  gonna get interesting.

[garyhead]

While I do not have experience with Radial Engineering products, I do know Tony Levin has been using these products for years.  Good enuff for T-Lev.....good enuff for me.

[FC Bass]

Cheaper and more expensive option from Radial:

https://www.radialeng.com/product/stagebug-sb2

https://www.radialeng.com/product/jdi-duplex/features

With the Duplex you'll have both options: Sending a summed Mono signal or a Stereo signal. For summed mono, use only one channel and the sum function as shown in the "Two stereo keyboards" diagram.

[gtrguy]

Well, you might not like my answer. I did sound for a while though. A good sound person can make or break your bands sound. If the club has someone who regularly does their sound then that person is going to be higher up the food chain than you. In other words, you don't tell them what to do. instead you ask nicely. Their first priority after an initial set up is getting a good vocal sound. From there they go down the list. Bass is down there somewhere.

Bear in mind they have a lot of work to do in a short amount of time. Just getting a drum set mic'd up is a major job. You may need a backup plan as far as getting them to run you in stereo with twin inputs into the board, for instance. Be patient with them. They can make or break your bands sound. They may well have clout as far as getting your band back in there for another gig too.

Enjoy and have fun though!!!