little sound help for a novice

VacateIsTheWord

For the past year, i've been playing bass out of a 60 watt combo amp (I plug directly into the input). I got a multi-effects pedal 2 months ago and i'm buying a cabinet in a few days (peavey 4x10 and 400 watt nitrobass head). I am rather new to the set ups of multiple speakers and I was wondering if anyone would help me out with my question. How would I set it up so that I could be plugged into both the cab and the combo amp at the same time? Thanks.

vacatetheword

OMG YOU STOLE MY NAME! :O

mccreadyisgod

There are a number of ways to achieve this. First a couple questions:

Which amp do you prefer the sound of?

Do either of the amps have direct outs (1/4" or XLR)?

Does your mulit-FX pedal have multiple outputs (stereo or redundant)? If so, you could use one into each amp.

The simplest way would be an ABY box that splits the signal to one amp (A), the other amp (B) or both amps (Y). This would require some money for a good ABY box, so let's explore the other options.

You could get a Y cable from Radio Shack or a music shop that splits the signal. Unfortunately, this cuts your signal strength, so while it's a cheap fix, it affects your sound.

The best option is if one or both of your amps have 1/4" direct outs. These are not speaker outs, but rather signal-level outputs from the preamp. Plug into the one amp, then from the direct out to the next amp. Done. This is especially nice if one of the amps has a power-amp input. Direct Out signals are typically a bit hotter than normal (maybe equal to an active bass) so watch your gain.

Hope that helps... if you need clarification, just ask!

VacateIsTheWord

Yeah, the head has XLR (what does that stand for?) So it should work then. Another couple of questions to a man who knows what he is talking about...Would I want to mic the combo and run it through the p.a or would i be fine (ill be playing bars, nothing bigger than a theater) with out miking it. And 2; i have a distortion channel footswitch for the combo and i like the distortion on that. I've read that Jeff Ament has distortion that only comes out of some speakers, but not others. I'm not saying that I want to emulate his sound but is that a common thing for bassists? Thanks so much. Much appreciated.

mccreadyisgod

Well... hmm...

XLR stands for Extra Long Run. XLR cable is used primarily for microphones and pro audio connections in sound systems. If you only have an XLR direct out, you'll have to get an adapter cable like this:

http://www.hosatech.com/hosa/products/PXF-100.html

XLR Female to 1/4" Unbalanced Male.

A 400-watt amp thru a 4x10" cabinet should be loud enough for most venues. If you play bigger venues, the sound guy probably would take a DI or a mic line from your amp, but you have plenty of power. A band I work with regularly runs a 200-watt amp thru a 6x10" cabinet that is plenty loud.

Some bassists with fairly involved rigs have lots of options available to them, like putting distortion through part, but not all, of the rig. Jeff's rig is one of the most complicated I've ever seen, that's for sure. For bass distortion or overdrive, I would prefer to blend the wet and dry (distorted and clean) signals, so you have the root in the clean tones but you have that nastiness in the dirty tones that stands out. I think Tim C. of Rage Against the Machine/Audioslave uses a similar signal path.

VacateIsTheWord

Thanks for everything. (McCready is god)

mccreadyisgod

Jeff's rig from the Yield Tour (1998) can be seen here:

http://www.sonymusic.com/artists/PearlJam/gear/images/sfja1098.gif

This site has the most recent equipment list:

http://www.giventowail.com

Go to the Gear page, then surf through the amps, basses, and effects.

Hope the info I gave will help you figure this stuff out...