Bass Guitar and PA's
 

Ok here is my question. Is it ok to run a bass guitar through the PA directly? Can it be run through a bass amp into a PA? Can you mic a bass amp and send it through a PA. I ask because our church has a really loud bass player who thinks that a bass will overload or fry a PA. I have heard this before but I don't know how true this is. He feels he needs it this loud so that he can hear his bass. I would much rather set up a monitor from the PA for him to hear his bass than to have him blow everyone on stage and in the congregation away with a bass too loud for the mix. Is there another way to let him have a personal monitor and still use the bass amp as the source for bass sound if the bass cannot be run through the PA? We have almost no money to spend on buying a new bass amp. Netheir him or the church. We are a portable church who has several musicians that we rotate through the team including other bass players. It would be really easy for us to simply plug the bass into the PA and be done with it. I know this would cause us to lose a lot of sound quality, but we are willing make that sacrifice for a better mix and ease of set up. I have a Roland AC-60 acoustic amp. Would a bass damage this if run directly through this or if it was used as a monitor from the PA?

We have a Carvin 12 channel powered amp run through 15" Carvin speakers if you need to know that.

Thanks in advance for any information you can give.

Michael

WilsonMic7
Yes, you can run the bass through a PA, but it's probably better that you go thru the mixing board first for balance. Yes, you can also run the bass thru a bass amp prior to going into the PA, thats what we do at our church. Our bass player (sometimes me) has the bass amp right behind him on stage, and a monitor in front of him with all the other instruments. It's NOT the best solution, but the person playing bass can definitely hear himself.
I don't know about running the bass thru our Roland AC-60, I practice my bass through a Roland Cube, and it works fine, but doesn't really have the bass "punch". I'm sure someone else out there has some really good advice. . .

A loud bass is a loud bass is a loud bass...

If you plug him directly into the board via a direct box and give him a monitor, he'll probably want to crank up his monitor just as loud as his amp was. In that case, you'll have the very same problem. Here are a couple of suggestions for your problem:

Place his amp on a chair bringing it up to at least chest-height facing him. It will give him more high-frequencey definition in his ears and de-couple the amp from the floor somewhat, therefore lessening the transmission of the bass to everyone else. You'll be able to know he is hearing it better than anyone else.

Now split him to the PA and ask him to use his amp as nothing except a monitor for him. You may end up asking him to turn down a bit for the good of all, anyway.

Bob

We use a DI to a mixer into the PA. The bass amp acts as a (loud) monitor and point source of sound. The PA gives the room some sound 'fullness'.

Recommend that you don't use the bass with your AC60. If you try to get a lot of sound punch, the speakers will overload. I got carried away playing bass at a jam session and literally melted the speaker coil windings on my practice (guitar) amp...I had been too lazy to lug my heavy bass amp to the event. A decent replacement speaker cost more than the amp.

I agree with Bob. Put the rig right up in his ear, or you can always replace him with someone who understands that great volume does not equal great tone.


Best,
Kevin Michael

Got the same PA mixer most likely (PA1200) and what we do in my trio is run the bass into a small bass amp (usually my Trace Elliot "Commando" - single 12'', 100w RMS, run at 3 or 4...maybe 35 watts), and then run it's line-out into the PA mixer...thus the bass amp is the "bass monitor", and the PA does the REAL amplifying.

I do the same with my acoustic amp and we achieve a great "stage" sound...balanced and no ringing ears!

Try this and see how you (and your bassist) likes it! :)