Bass through a PA speaker?

redant

Hello there.
I am very curious about the bass guitar. Or stand up base for that matter. After years of electric and acoustic, I feel the urge to learn to play this instrument. Even if it might not go to professional all the way.
Like so many, I don't really want to splash out before I see where this goes.
I can get a used base or entry level from my local music shop for a good price.

I have an existing 8 channel mixer and Titan 120 active speaker:
http://www.wharfedalepro.com/product-detail.php?pid=1

I was wondering if I could practice using this speaker. I won't crank it, but I don't want to damage the speaker if it was only intended for guitar and microphones.

Your input will be valued.
Thank you

Stoffeltoo

Hi redant

The wharfdale may be a little anaemic for what you want to do but if you keep volumes low and your EQ low on the desk channel strip, it is doable. Preferred would be a bass bin for those low frequencies. Keep the volume levels at 50% on your current rig and it will pass. Good plucking!

V8

I dunno - seen a few blown channels on mixers (usually the powered ones) and usually traced to a bass player plugging straight in. My local rehearsal studio has a ban on basses straight into the PA's - but one can run a DI box (or multifx) into the PA.

Like Stoffeltoo said, keep it low and could be okay...but drummers are loud & I'd rather err on the side of caution and get a cheep multifx to run through. I've got a ZoomB2 - cheep & cheerful - great for messing around.

Oddly enough at last nite's practice I ran 2x12 PA speakers (not powered) through a 350W bass head I'm trying out - despite everyone thinking it would sound crap, it didn't. My sound lacked the low end rumble a good cabinet will provide, but it wasn't bad at all - especially since I'm rocking a low B - if I was in a standard 4 string tuning it would be quite a usable rig.

Personally, I'd add a cheep multifx/DI for the peace of mind. And the sound quality will be better : http://homerecording.com/bbs/general-discussions/newbies/plugging-bass-directly-into-your-mixer-bad-195676/

Chabenda

Aha! Meron, interesting. My Dixon powered amp just lost the channel that I use for micing the bass drum, even though it is usually very low down as far as the gain and slider goes. The drummer is loud enough as it is. Would that still be sufficient to pop the channel?

V8

Chabenda wrote: Aha! Meron, interesting. My Dixon powered amp just lost the channel that I use for micing the bass drum, even though it is usually very low down as far as the gain and slider goes. The drummer is loud enough as it is. Would that still be sufficient to pop the channel?

Possibly - though I know precious little about mic'ing up drum kits or PA gear in general!

I've seen some horrendous attempts at micing up kick drums - E.g. someone walking up to the kick drum, throwing a cranked up dynamic mic into a kick drum during a set - and it was fine... ??? Well, the PA survived, our ears not so much.

From what I've heard - I'd think about running a limiter to protect the mixer/speakers - not only from the kick. There's quite a few threads on homerecording about micing up drums and PA usage in general. The chief culprit of blown PA gear (usually speakers) are noobie DJ's...!

I keep a very keen eye on the meter(s), if it's ever in the red, I back off the input gain. Usually...although last nite I knew the ashdown head could handle a tiny bit of red zone action - so I didn't mind a rare peak into the red on the input signal - but I was running a limiter on the Zoom for safety's sake and my ears were listening for clipping.

I definitely could have dialed in more bass on the head's eq. If I was finger style only (no slap or pick) it could have been okay. But when I dug in with a pick, I saw the meter wasn't so happy, so I backed off. The head is a loaner and I like my mates!

babbalute

Meron Rigas wrote: I dunno - seen a few blown channels on mixers (usually the powered ones) and usually traced to a bass player plugging straight in. My local rehearsal studio has a ban on basses straight into the PA's - but one can run a DI box (or multifx) into the PA.

Like Stoffeltoo said, keep it low and could be okay...but drummers are loud & I'd rather err on the side of caution and get a cheep multifx to run through. I've got a ZoomB2 - cheep & cheerful - great for messing around.

Oddly enough at last nite's practice I ran 2x12 PA speakers (not powered) through a 350W bass head I'm trying out - despite everyone thinking it would sound crap, it didn't. My sound lacked the low end rumble a good cabinet will provide, but it wasn't bad at all - especially since I'm rocking a low B - if I was in a standard 4 string tuning it would be quite a usable rig.

Personally, I'd add a cheep multifx/DI for the peace of mind. And the sound quality will be better : http://homerecording.com/bbs/general-discussions/newbies/plugging-bass-directly-into-your-mixer-bad-195676/

Put the speakers of a pa system on a hollow wooden box i.o.w elevate them from the floor. Without adjusting your lows on the amp you will no hear them, actually you might want to turn them down as they might be to loud and to deep. I play with a little Fender 30 W Rumble on wool mat on a wooden box and this thing kick ass and is more than loud enough for our practise sessions with a loud drummer. Low and Mid EQ settings a all center, treble is at 1 o-clock volume can go up to 2 o-clock without distorting. Use both basses as per my listing. Have used this "little" amp with a 150W 15" speaker in a bigger cab, amazing how noisy it can become without much distortion at high volume. Remember bass is not always about the lows, mid eq is important to complete the sound with a decent cab(a wooden box in my case) At one stage I removed the rubber feet on the little amp so the wood from its cab came into direct contact with the wooden box, needed to run down the low setting.

mr-volume

Hi redant, it sounds like your speaker is a 12-inch. Bass is best played through a 15-inch speaker, which is designed to reproduce the low frequencies you need for a true bass sound. However, as long as you keep the volume down you can safely play your bass through a 12-inch - it would be fine for practising or jamming along with an acoustic guitar, say. But if the speaker distorts in any way you're too loud. If you're going to play in rock band with a drummer you'll need more volume, at which point you should get a proper bass amp.