Preamp to Dial Out Bass

[ronadair]

I recently took delivery on a Composite Acoustics Xi with Baggs Active Element. I love the tone, however...

The bass, when amplified, is a bit overpowering for my finger style playing. I'm amplifying through an AER Compact 60 with the bass cut, mid and treble each at 75%.

Might I be able to dial back the bass even more with a quality preamp? If so, suggestions please!

Many thanks!

[YamahaGuy]

LR Baggs Paracoustic DI. Not cheap, not pretty, but works quite well. I'd try rolling the bass knob back to 10 o'clock. Should do the trick for you.

[ManyMartinMan]

A mixer would give you more control than most pre amps. It would also give you the ability to control your other inputs like a mic.

[The Growler]

I'll echo YamahaGuy on the Para DI. He's spot on.

[RockerDuck]

The Boss GE7 equalizer. Shape your sound and boost too.

[lkingston]

The Danelectro Fish-n-Chips EQ 7 band EQ sounds as good as the Boss GE7, but costs a lot less. I have both. Either one will do the trick.


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[guitaniac]

I personally like the Zoom A3 in the "quality preamp" category. It has considerable EQ capabilities and numerous other features, but takes a lot of study to get up to speed on.

As suggested, either the PADI or a 7 band graphic EQ will give you more precise EQ control than you currently have. With the PADI, you can actually put the notch on full boost (+3db) and rotate through its range (98Hz to 247Hz) to pinpoint the muddiest and most feedback prone frequency in the notch's range. Once you find the problem frequency, you can cut as much as is necessary (up to -6db) to clean up your tone. (This process is described in section 1B of the PADI manual. You can access the manual in the Support section of the LR Baggs website.) Using the notch in this way will make an overall bass rolloff unnecessary or less necessary.

One caveat. Using the Element system at full volume has been known to overdrive the PADI when the PADI's gain is set for its minimum of +3db. You may need to reduce the Element system's output level at your guitar if you're an aggressive strummer on occasion. If you only play fingerstyle, you probably won't have a problem.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by ronadair

I recently took delivery on a Composite Acoustics Xi with Baggs Active Element. I love the tone, however...

The bass, when amplified, is a bit overpowering for my finger style playing. I'm amplifying through an AER Compact 60 with the bass cut, mid and treble each at 75%.

Might I be able to dial back the bass even more with a quality preamp? If so, suggestions please!

Many thanks!

Hi ronadair

Yes you might be able to dial back the bass with a quality preamp, or just an average one as well. Even my Behringer V-Tone Acoustic Adi21 Acoustic Amp Modeler would do the job…at $29.

Yes I picked up one to check it out in 2014, and frequently use it as a loaner for people who show up to gigs without a preamp…it works great!

If your pride won't let you get by that cheap, the Fishman Platinum STAGE model is the best bang for the buck (at $148 on Amazon). It's got all the bells and whistles one could want including a freq selectable bass cut switch, gain, master volume, dual direct outs, and it can be powered by phantom.

[lschwart]

Originally Posted by ronadair

I recently took delivery on a Composite Acoustics Xi with Baggs Active Element. I love the tone, however...

The bass, when amplified, is a bit overpowering for my finger style playing. I'm amplifying through an AER Compact 60 with the bass cut, mid and treble each at 75%.

Might I be able to dial back the bass even more with a quality preamp? If so, suggestions please!

Many thanks!

You've gotten good suggestions about preamps with good EQ control, but it might be worth asking first why you're having bass problems that the EQ on the AER can't handle. Tell us a little more about the playing situation in which this is happening. Are you at home or on stage? What sort of room/stage? Is the amp in the floor or on a stand or some other platform? Where is the guitar in relation to it? Etc..

I ask these questions because the bass control on the AER is not all that different from the bass controls on the various preamps discussed here. Under normal playing conditions there's no reason the bass control on the amp shouldn't be sufficient.

Louis

[ronadair]

Thanks to all! The AER sits on top of my Mesa Boogie Lonestar in my office. I play about 6 ft from the AER facing it. The issue is that the bass notes overwhelm the high notes in spite of my efforts to hit the low notes more gently.

[lschwart]

Originally Posted by ronadair

Thanks to all! The AER sits on top of my Mesa Boogie Lonestar in my office. I play about 6 ft from the AER facing it. The issue is that the bass notes overwhelm the high notes in spite of my efforts to hit the low notes more gently.

Try playing with your back to the amp or with the amp over to the side where the neck is rather than the body. Facing an amp with an acoustic guitar is one very good way of generating low frequency feedback that actually sounds like sustained extra bass--the idea is to keep the sound from the amp from hitting the guitar top. This is particularly difficult to control in a small room, and depending on the acoustic characteristics of the room might be difficult to control even if you're facing away. If you do need to solve this problem with EQ, the notch filter on a preamp might be more useful than just the bass control on either the amp or the preamp, and a phase switch can also help. So can keeping the amp away from walls--and especially out of any corners of the room. An amp stand might also be a better platform than another amp. Finding ways to dampen the acoustics of the room can also help (carpet/rugs, wall-hangings, book cases....).

In a larger room or on stage, I think you'd find this is not an issue.

Louis

[guitaniac]

Bingo. I suspect that Louis put his finger on the problem - extra bass and muddiness generated by a guitar top which is reacting to speaker sound. The Baggs folks have always claimed that the Element is a fairly top responsive pickup.

Beyond that, I have to wonder if the light carbon fiber top of your guitar isn't even more reactive to speaker sound than a typical wood guitar top would be.

[ronadair]

Thank you for the suggestion to rearrange my setup. I'll try it when I get back to So Cal. I'm on the road.

[Guitar oriented. I've got an appointment with James Goodall to install a K&K Pure Mini in my - of course - Goodall.]

[lschwart]

Originally Posted by ronadair

Thank you for the suggestion to rearrange my setup. I'll try it when I get back to So Cal. I'm on the road.

[Guitar oriented. I've got an appointment with James Goodall to install a K&K Pure Mini in my - of course - Goodall.]

Let us know how it goes!

Louis

[ronadair]

So many knowledgeable & helpful people here. Thank you Louis. I will.