Help: Upright Bass Feedback Solutions?

Subject: RE: Help: Upright Bass Feedback Solutions?
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 15 Jul 01 - 11:25 PM

Wow, I had this problem once (well the bass player did) and it was well nigh unsolvable. The sound he was getting was pretty terrible (unbalanced with lots of percussive noise). He was using a Fishman, which should be state of the art. One time, someone else sat in with his bass (this was a Django reinhardt type swing band) and the problem instantly went away.

We eventually figured out that, although our bass guy was well-skilled he simply played TOO HARD for the pick up to be effective. This probably won't help your situation, but our bass player had to revise his style a bit and play softer. The problem went away.

Keeping in mind that his HARD style came from years of Bluegrass playing where he never had a pickup and rarely even had the bass miked.

I play guitar pretty hard as well, and sometimes have "overdriven" Piezo pickups.

Rick

Subject: RE: Help: Upright Bass Feedback Solutions?
From: GUEST,knappo
Date: 15 Jul 01 - 10:22 PM

Rich: Thanks! Next time we'll try your suggestions. I appreciate your help. Have a great day. Tom

Subject: RE: Help: Upright Bass Feedback Solutions?
From: RichM
Date: 14 Jul 01 - 09:51 AM

It may be feedback in the lower frequencies.

Experiment with the tone controls on the monitor (if there is any). Turn down the bassier frequencies a bit.

Or, move the bass cabinet itself further back, or to the side. Just a foot or so. See if this helps. This is assuming the feedback is coming from interaction between the pickup and the bass cabinet.

It could also be coming from the PA system! For instance, if the bass cabinet is pointed at a mic, certain frequencies may cause occasional feedback.

Rich McCarthy

This is assumin

Subject: RE: Help: Upright Bass Feedback Solutions?
From: GUEST,Knappo
Date: 14 Jul 01 - 07:48 AM

RichM: I don't know the name of the pick-up but it is wedged into a space on the bridge, connected to a wire that goes to a plug where he runs a guitar cord to outboard pre-amp then to his bass cabinet (acts as monitor) which is usually to his side,2-3 feet or behind him a bit, then out to a mixing board/PA. Not very technical, sorry. The feedback is somewhat sporatic. We just played on an outdoor deck and had no problem. Though indoors, it may come and go thoroughout the night. Our music is not too loud. Two acoustic guitars, bass and vocals. Thoughts? Thanks, Tom

Subject: RE: Help: Upright Bass Feedback Solutions?
From: GUEST
Date: 12 Jul 01 - 12:43 PM

I play upright bass in a 5 piece acoustic band, into a PA, and I have a bass amp as my monitor. All with no feedback problems.

some questions I would like to know before giving advice:
What kind of pickup?
How close to the bass is the the bass cabinet? What kind of music? ie, how loud is it?
Do you use a PA system?

RichM

Subject: Upright Bass Feedback Solutions?
From: GUEST,Knappo
Date: 11 Jul 01 - 10:11 PM

Hello, The bass man in our trio has been having some feedack problems of late. He plays an acoustic upright with a pick-up into a bass cabinet. I read about using an equilizer to turn down the guilty frequencies and/or also to stuff foam into or cover up the F holes. Has anyone experienced this problem and what worked to correct it for you? Thanks, Knappo (Tom)