Switching between upright and bass guitar in a set

[Cat Burrito]

I plan on doing this a lot with a new band I'm getting off the ground and wondered how others work switching between electric and double bass. I've seen the fantastic Al Gare play with KatMen twice this week and he seems to run two rigs starting off on the upright bass, moving onto bass guitar before returning to the upright to end the set. Works well for him.

In the past I ran the upright through the PA and played my bass guitar through the rig but think I've done both through my one rig in the past too (just adjusting the volume on the amp - assume they didn't have enough inputs on the PA that night).

What are you guys doing? Any genre, EUB players too - I'm genuinely interested in top tips here. As much as I like Al Gare two amps just makes me think it's one more thing to pack!

[PTB]

I just use a Boss LS 2 to switch between basses & balance the levels and send a line to my MarkBass combo.

It works fine for me as neither instrument needs much eq'ing to sound good. If you need very different eq for one, I'd simply add something between the instrument & the LS2. If going into the PA, I also take separate D.I.'s before the LS2.

Edited September 11, 2013 by PTB

[Lfalex v1.1]

If I had to do it, I'd use my little 8 track mixer. It happens to have bucketloads of gain, and is great for level matching. I'd then feed it into a head or power amp. No switches as such, I'd just switch the channel off on the mixer whilst using the other instrument. I'd use its DI out to feed the house, as that's nice and clean.

Edited September 11, 2013 by Lfalex v1.1

[icastle]

I use an AB switch and set my amp EQ flat.

I rely on the active electronics on my basses to give me the bass sound I want and the tone controls on my Fishman pre amp (on the EUB channel) to give me the EUB sound I want.

Dead simple.

[franzbassist]

I use my BSX EUB for about 25% of an average gig, with songs spread through the sets. I use a Radial Bigshot i/o to switch between that and my fretless, using the trim pot to balance the output and mute for tuning. I try to get a "core" tone from the amp eq and then use the active eq on each bass to taste.

Edited September 11, 2013 by walbassist

[Paddymick]

+1 for using an A/B switch.

EB runs in via my SansAmp and DB via a Fishman ProPlat. I use the pre's to balance out the levels. Amp eq is flat or thereabouts depending on the stage/room.

Keep meaning to try the DB/Fishman in via the fx loop, but haven't got round to it yet...

[artisan]

I run my DB through a fishman pro plat straight into the effects return on my amp & plug the bass guitar into the front of the amp.
Just have to remeber to unplug the bass guitar when using the DB.

[fatback]

Not something I've had to do often, but I use an EA Doubler, which is ideal. Separate EQ for each of the two channels. Also the mid EQ is centred differently on each channel, one suiting upright and the other electric.

A pricey enough amp but hassle free, powerful and tiny.

Edited September 12, 2013 by fatback