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Bass synthesizer into Ampeg - SVT-CL


Marsy
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Hey guys,

Just a bit of quick advice for a synth newbie about amplifying my synths at rehearsals/gigs..

I have 2 synths that I need to amplify.. The first is a string emulator that lies in a guitar sort of frequency range.. This I think guess would be fine through the PA that currently only has the vocals going through it.

The second is a bass synth (arturia - minibrute) that produces FAT and LOW synth bass.

To amplify this I am thinking of buying an ABY pedal so I can play it through my SVT-CL and then, at the stomp of a pedal revert back to playing my P bass through the SVT.

My question is.. If I do this, Is this safe? Is this the correct way to do this??
Do I need to be concerned about damaging the speakers in my bergantino nv412? Do I need to plug the synth into the '-15db' input of the SVT that is recommended for 'active basses' ?

If so what ABY pedal do you recommend? Or is a Boss LS-2 the best tool for the job??

The later question is probably more suited to the 'effects' forum but I've gone here since it's a double barrelled question...


Thanks in advance bass guys!


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Having tried a synth on a 70s SVT with two 810s, I'd say: approach with care.
Before buying anything: have you tried the synth through the amp at all? (-15 dB indeed, and [b]synth volume at 0 to start with[/b])? It is very likely to sound horrible, due to both voltage/impedance mismatch and the SVT's transient and frequency response characteristics. The much loved Ampeg sound is all about the stuff that is the "opposite" of what synths are about - as it were.

I don't think your cabs are in danger though, as long as you approach with care. As there is a difference in sound between the amp's distortion and the cabs farting out, it's not so that any distortion you hear is necessarily the latter. In case you're unaware, the latter is what you hear when a boy racer drives through your street. :)

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I haven't tried it yet no..
Hoping to tomorrow.

I've been playing it through my ashdown 115 combo (solid state) here at home and it sounds great. But when your slamming a subby square wave or sawtooth into it, it sounds like the speaker is struggling a bit. Although maybe it isn't.. I suppose that is just the nature of 'that sound' ??

Maybe tubes aren't the way to go for bass synth and I should consider purchasing another solid state head or a better PA..

Thanks for your input!

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I think keyboard synths are one of the hardest instruments to amplify due to the frequency range they can occupy, from fat low bass to piercing highs. Having said that when I was in a band many years ago with one of my oldest friends he just used to run his keyboards through a WEM Dominator 25 (a valve combo) for home practice and we never had any issues (though it wasn't being thrashed in any case). The Boss LS-2 sounds like a good idea where you can at least try to balance the volumes between the synth and P bass but where you might run into trouble is trying to dial in EQ on the SVT for both instruments as the needs of a keyboard synth could be quite different to a bass guitar. I'd just try the synth through the bass rig at low volume with your usual tone settings (for bass) and see how it's sounding.

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I used a Morley ABC to play both my bass and Bass Station II simultaneously. Worked a treat!

By that I mean have them 'live' at the same time, I'm not cool enough to be playing both at once, sadly. :(

Worked pretty well for me - however if you've got full PA support with an engineer etc then I'd definitely DI the bass synth separately - I tried running both through my bass amp at big gigs and it just caused hassle as the engineer wants to apply different EQ/compression etc to each instrument for the FOH.

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[quote name='Marsy' timestamp='1415455650' post='2600525']
I've been playing it through my ashdown 115 combo (solid state) here at home and it sounds great. But when your slamming a subby square wave or sawtooth into it, it sounds like the speaker is struggling a bit. Although maybe it isn't.. I suppose that is just the nature of 'that sound' ??
[/quote]

Hard to judge from a distance, but I'd think that it is indeed possible the speaker "struggles" (as in just responding to the changing voltage and not being able to deliver the exact "square" or "sawtooth" that the amp tries to put through it.
That said, the distortion can well come from the amp as well or from its lack of contorl over the speaker, and an amp will normally not be able to put out exact squares or sawtooths (sawteeth).
Then again, neither can the synth itself, so all of this is just a matter of degrees - in several meanings of the word.


[quote name='Marsy' timestamp='1415455650' post='2600525']
Maybe tubes aren't the way to go for bass synth and I should consider purchasing another solid state head or a better PA..
[/quote]

It's not the tubes that make the difference, but the design of the amp as well as its control over a load. My concern has to do with the SVT-CL possibly being similar to the old SVT. Tube amps can be made to stellarly high Hi-Fi specs, despite the output transformers.

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I'd say try it & use your ears to check how it sounds.
I've put the IPad running Animoog throught my Markbass & it sounded awesome. My old bass setup was using effects to make my bass sound like a synth, getting synth like lows & that sounded awesome too.

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[quote name='Marsy' timestamp='1415458020' post='2600568']
Arp - Quartet
[/quote]

Lovely string synth - a rebadged Siel that sounds similar to the wondrous Crumar Performer. I'd strongly recommend getting a proper keyboard amp, since bass amps tend to colour the sound, and an SVT CL does that more than most bass amps. The colouration may benefit a synth bass, although I'd suspect it would sound a bit woolly, but your going to lose a lot of the "sizzle" of a string synth.

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[quote name='chriswareham' timestamp='1415484745' post='2600891']
Lovely string synth - a rebadged Siel that sounds similar to the wondrous Crumar Performer. I'd strongly recommend getting a proper keyboard amp, since bass amps tend to colour the sound, and an SVT CL does that more than most bass amps. The colouration may benefit a synth bass, although I'd suspect it would sound a bit woolly, but your going to lose a lot of the "sizzle" of a string synth.
[/quote]

The OP has said that'll probably be going through the band's PA (currently only handling vocals).

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