DS-5R with Non Series Basses.

[jazzyvee]

Today I've been working on my bass rig to see if I can get it set up again for another attempt at bi-amping with my Series II.  So after wiring it all up all was going well.
 
Then I thought if I wanted to use my same rig with my non series basses then I'd need to re-patch it each time which could be a pain. Then I thought..... what about if I disconnected the mains to the DS-5 and plugged my jack into the DS-5 would it give me two signals out?
 
It acutally did and with the switch to mono and the jack from my bass into the bass output socket of the DS-5R the signal went out of both rear jacks into my rig just the same as when powered on with the Series II and BIG SOUND.  
 
Obviously not the same as one pickup per jack but enough to give me two signals to play with.  
 
The output from each individual jack is marginally lower than it would be by plugging direct into the front of my amp and there is probably some impedance mismatches going on but aside from that It sounds great... well fantastic.  
 
Anyone else tried it?
Can anyone think of any problems I may encounter doing this?
Would I cause any damage to a bass if the power was accidentally on the DS-5 when doing this?
 
Jazzyvee

[sonicus]

Yes , I have used the DS5-R as a passive mult-split with a mono non Series bass so that I would have 2 signals . I sent the 2 signals to an SF-2 and then to an F-2B and then to a power amp.  You do not have to switch off the power to the DS-5R  because the power  supply is not in the circuit of the audio signal. The +/- voltage from the power supply circuit is on discreet pins on the 5 pin connector. Here is the pinout :
                                              pin 1 ground  
                                              pin 2 neck pickup
                                              pin 3 bridge pickup
                                              pin 4 +Volts
                                              pin 5 - Volts
       
The Mult is passive - and as a result down 3dB  or half gain down if split passively rather then more gain.

[jazzyvee]

Hi Sonicus, I had a chat with Will Gunn a short while back and he advised putting the SF-2 before the the pre-amp in the signal chain but when I tried it i got distortion on the signal at low home practice volume. If you are doing it and no probs what could I be doing wrong?  
 
Jazzyvee

[sonicus]

Hi Jazzy.  
               Your    Gain Structure   might not be conducive to the results that you desire. You can try this ; incremental gain increases from the beginning of the signal chain to the end.  
 
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/diyaudio-com-articles/186018-what-gain-structure.html
 
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/apr98/articles/gainstructure.html
 
http://audioundone.com/three-rules-for-creating-an-effective-gain-structure
 
http://www.gearslutz.com/board/so-much-gear-so-little-time/152928-gain-structure.html

[jazzyvee]

Cheers Sonicus, I will have a read of this when I get home from work.
 
Jazzyvee