New Rig

[bassace]

Here's a pic of my new rig which I've been using for a few weeks. It's a coming together of a few ideas I've had recently. The Barefaced OneTen is a great speaker, practically unbreakable, especially if you are using it with DB. Trouble is it is much too bassy when floor standing, you have to eq the signal within an inch of its life. But elevate it and it behaves itself.

As a jazz freelancer it is very rare when I play a gig at a venue that provides PA. Mostly the musicians bring their own small units. If there is PA I usually get ' but we don't put the bass through the PA.' I like to use a mic, but most BD players will agree that mics don't work too well through backline. The usual rule is pickup to backline, mic to PA. So when we have a stage to play on I run two separate channels. The second channel is a mic channel and I have a 10" Wizzy on the front of the stage, no pole needed.

I already had a Puma 500 which is a compact amp considering its output. So I got another one for the second channel. A better alternative would have been a BonaFide which is a true two channel amp. But as I already had a 500 it was less costly to get another. Other main amps are available, I suppose, but not one that would fit in the width of the stand.

The heart so the system is the Grace Designs Felix which has recently come on the market. This is a full studio quality two channel preamp. Each channel has a switchable three position input impedance setting, a high pass/notch filter, bass, three-way para mid and treble and muting/tuning, phase reverse and boost. The two channels can also be mixed although in this case they are kept separate. Oh, and the mic channel has 48v phantom. So it really is a Swiss Neutrality Knife. So the PU and mic go separately into the Felix, get controlled and generally mucked about with and come out to be fed into the power amp section of the Pumas.

All this breaks down Into two units for travelling. The stand/rack amps and Felix fit into a Rockbag with a weight of 15 lbs. So although the description may sound a bit unwieldy, in practice it's all quite simple. And I can also use just the pickup channel for the plug and play gigs.

Edited February 8, 2016 by bassace

[philparker]

Interesting stuff, especially about the Grace Designs Felix pre-amp, I've never seen one of those before. I've got a two channel AI Clarus +, which I'm hoping will cover my rare occasions.

I don't get enough DB gigs to experiment with different set ups, but it would be nice to be prepared for that inevitable fast ball.

[bassace]

You could almost do the same job with a Clarus, if push came to shove. The second channel signal can be taken off after the preamp stage and fed into a second power amp and thence to the front of stage speaker. You'll have full eq, phantom power, notch filter and phase reverse. It's not necessarily going out and buying lots of gear but utilising what you've got already.

[TPJ]

I couldn't get the One10 to work for double bass. After several tries with two or three amps and two different basses, I just couldn't find my sound with it. They are great little speakers and worked really well for slab, but I needed it to double. Glad it's working for you.

[bassace]

[quote name='TPJ' timestamp='1455014600' post='2974947']
I couldn't get the One10 to work for double bass. After several tries with two or three amps and two different basses, I just couldn't find my sound with it. They are great little speakers and worked really well for slab, but I needed it to double. Glad it's working for you.
[/quote]

It's certainly a very dark speaker but, as I said, can be transformed by raising off the ground. I've got a speaker for this and a speaker for that and I wanted to get to one that would do everything and I think I've achieved that - for now.

[Owen]

I had clocked the Grace designs thing and would love to try one at some stage. GAS never stops giving

[bassace]

I hope it has for me. I'll really have to have a fire sale soon.

[Owen]

I feel your pain.