Hi All,
I was wondering if anybody else in guitarnoiseland :) had problems with insufficient bass output level. I've noticed that when I record with my basses I don't get a good strong signal. I've had it happen with my Fender J-Bass that is very customized at this point. I've also had it happen with my Peavey T-40. It seems to happen on my amp and when I'm recording. I have to turn everything way up to get any kind of signal. On my J-Bass I've tried all kinds of things to get things to have more power. I've rewired it a few different ways, put in different pickups, adjusted the pickup height. I consistently seem to get about 2/3 the level of the guitar.
I don't seem to have the same problem when I'm recording with my guitars, just the bass. :?
Thanks for any advice to help solve this problem.
-Aleholder
It seems to happen on my amp and when I'm recording. I have to turn everything way up to get any kind of signal.
Not sure what you mean. Are you taking a line from your amp to a recorder? What's the entire signal chain?
Keep in mind if you are using the amp's direct output, that's going to be a mic-level signal. If your recording device wants line-level signal, then your volume's going to be low.
I seriously doubt the bass's electronics have anything to do with the problem, as long as you're getting a "normal" strong clean signal when you play through the amp by itself.
"Everybody got to elevate from the norm."
Try connecting your 6-string to your bass amp to confirm that the amp has normal sensitivity.
Also, try using an active pedal, even one of your guitar pedals. If that works better, it seems that your bass has an impedance matching problem. Have any of your mods added series resistance? Did you replace any pots with different values?
Thanks for the replies. :)
As far as the signal chain is concerned, it is either directly from my bass to my Boss Micro BR or my amp an SWR workingmans 15 or to my pod xt, but not all three at once. Just depending on what I'm doing. I have a Zoom bass multi-effects too. Putting that in or out makes no difference. There is no extra resistance, but the only thing I haven't swapped out so far is the volume pot. Hmm. I wonder if that is it. I can't remember if the two volume pots are 250K or 500K. :? I'll have to open it up and measure it. I wired it according to one of the basic J-Bass diagrams I found on the 'net.
