mic + pick-up

[jrixn1]

I currently play with a pick-up which goes straight into an amp head, which drives my cab and also provides DI to the PA.

I am considering adding a mic into the mix, and I'd like to be able to control the blend of mic/pick-up going to the on-stage amp without affecting the signal going to the PA. It is ok (in fact probably preferable for the sound engineer) for me to send two separate DI signals (pick-up + mic).

I'd like the pick-up to remain going via the pre-amp before going to PA.

The mic requires phantom power.

I think the solution is to buy a DI box and some sort of mixing device (eg Boss LS-2, Samson S-mix, other suggestions?).



Does that sounds about right, or have I missed something? Any other considerations?

Edited January 30, 2015 by jrixn1

[henrywillard]

Hey, jrixn1.

The [url="http://www.tonebone.com/pzpre.php"]Radial Tonebone PZ-Pre[/url] is such an incredible piece of gear for blending two pickups, [i]however[/i], frustratingly it only has 6.35mm jack inputs, and no XLR inputs, so blending a microphone or any pickup with an XLR connection proves problematic.

I would also be interested in hearing if anyone has a solution to this? I have a PZ-Pre and would love to blend my Wilson K4 with a DPA4099B, but am not sure how to get past the XLR connector problem (sorry jrixn1, I don't want to detract from the topic of your post and your question!)

It's worth looking around or trying to find out if anyone knows of a pre-amp similar to the Tonebone that has XLR inputs, to save you faffing around with a pre-amp and separate mixer set-up. If there is a high-quality pre-amp out there that allows blending like the Tonebone and has both jack and XLR inputs, that's your winner, right there!

[symcbass]

Vintage Revolution acoustic box live
My D-tar Solstice also does a decent job, I just find the eq frequencies aren't perfect for bass, still a nice true sounding pre though.

[philparker]

I use a Headway EDB-1 (there is a model 2 now!) to blend piezo PU and mic input, it has separate gain, equalisation, notch filter etc.

[Gareth Hughes]

+1 for the Vintage Revolution in theory ( I haven't heard one).

One thing about your signal path though - the DI from your amp head will most likely include the mic signal coming in through the effects return, so you would have a duplicate mic signal going to the PA - one directly from the mic DI and the second coming from the amp DI.

I could be wrong though - and your amp's DI might be pre effects return, but if it is then it might also be pre EQ too and then that might affect the sound of your pick channel. Though, that might actually work in your favour as your pickup would be unaltered by any amp eq changes. Ignore me if this doesn't make sense - I think I've dropped the ball somewhere here.

[jrixn1]

[quote name='Gareth Hughes' timestamp='1422802182' post='2676888']
One thing about your signal path though - the DI from your amp head will most likely include the mic signal coming in through the effects return, so you would have a duplicate mic signal going to the PA - one directly from the mic DI and the second coming from the amp DI.

I could be wrong though - and your amp's DI might be pre effects return, but if it is then it might also be pre EQ too and then that might affect the sound of your pick channel. Though, that might actually work in your favour as your pickup would be unaltered by any amp eq changes. Ignore me if this doesn't make sense - I think I've dropped the ball somewhere here.
[/quote]

Thanks, Gareth - what you said completely makes sense. I checked, and on my amp (which is a Streamliner, BTW) the DI is switchable between pre- and post-EQ, but either way it's always before the effects send.

And thanks, everyone, for all the suggestions. A few options for me to consider.

[Gareth Hughes]

Good stuff.

Here's another potential spanner in the works - the effects loop on a Streamliner is in series, meaning that the signal will leave the amp entirely and then have to return via the effects return (obviously). So, in your scenario - your pickup signal would leave the amp via the effects send and would not be present on the effects return until it comes from the mixer.

This gives you two options now, but requires a second external DI. Place the DI immediately after the pickup, before the amp or place it after the effects loop but before the mixer. This then leaves you with the option of using the mixer before the amp altogether or using it straight into the effects return, bypassing the amps eq. Given the humungous low end of the Streamliner, a DI with an eq or high pass filter would be a good choice.