Why do I need a DI box for my bass?

Buenos dias, amigos!

I recently provided the PA and did sound for a show, and the bass player showed up with no amp (or cable or tuner for that matter), and wanted to run through the mixing board. Of course he did not have a DI box either, and he had never even heard of one. He said that he always runs his bass straight into the mixer and never has any problems. Well, why would he need a DI box?

First off, in the good old days things were more simple. Guitar players had their own amps, bass player had their own amps and there was a PA for the singer. But as time went on things kept getting louder and louder on stage and in the audience (think Led Zeppelin or the Beatles) and there was no way an SVT was going to fill Yankee Stadium with meaty bass tone. So eventually more and more stuff, including the bass signal and keyboards, started going into the mixing board and the house sound system.

You will not notice much of a change in your sound if you are running a passive bass and a short cable to the mixer (ala Mr. Tejano Grunge that I referenced earlier). But if you run a really long cable (50 to 300 foot snake) there will be signal loss (particularly at higher frequencies) and the opportunity for noise goes up, especially around power transformers, stage lights and dimmers. If you are using an instrument with active pickups, it will distort and sound terrible.

If you think about this, this is not too surprising. If you take your little magnetic pickup and try to force it output voltage through a couple hundred feet of wire, you are going to lose a lot of your output. This problem is compounded when you split the signal and send it both the PA and your amplifier.

So some smart people figured out that if the signal was converted from high impedance to low impedance (a microphone is low impedance), it would travel over long lengths of cable with less signal loss. Unfortunately, low impedance signals are more susceptible to noise created by magnetic fields – and just think of all of the magnetic field created on stage by the amplifiers and lights. Old-school landline telephones also send low impedance signals over ridiculous lengths of wire with virtually no added noise. How do they do it?

They use balanced lines, which I am sure you have heard of if you have ever messed around with sound equipment. Balanced line split the signal into two equal parts, with one part in phase and the other part purposely inverted (out-of-phase). There is also a magnetic shield, which makes up the third pin of your standard XLR cable. Outside noise that passes through the shield is picked up equally by both wires. When the two signals come back together, the out of phase signal is brought back into phase along with the noise it has collected. The original signal is now in phase and the noise goes out of phase with its counterpart and cancels itself out. Neat!

So, a direct box (or DI box) takes care of all of this in one little component: It converts the high output impedance of the pickup to a low impedance signal and convert the unbalanced connection to a balance the line. Then you can plug it straight into a microphone line input and put your sound into the hands of the by running the board.

There are untold variations in direct boxes – active, passive, ones with preamplifiers, and some effect and tuner pedals even function as DI boxes and have XLR jacks built into them. This blog post will get too huge if I try to explain all of the different types that are out there.

By the way, a lot of you already have DI boxes, and maybe do not even realize that is what they are. You know the XLR direct out on the back of your amplifier? That is connected to a direct box inside your amp, which will convert your pickup output to a low impedance signal and to convert your unbalanced connection. Go figure…

Mahalo!

Epiphone Inspired by John Lennon Casino Guitar Review

Sugoi!

The instruments played by the Beatles are iconic, and it is hard to picture Paul McCartney without a Hofner bass or George Harrison without a Rickenbacker 365, but what about John Lennon? Well you can make a strong argument for the 1965 Epiphone Casino that he used in the Beatles’ later years, and apparently the guys at Gibson agree, as they chose to build the Epiphone Inspired by John Lennon Casino Hollowbody Electric Guitar.

This double cutaway hollowbody guitar is built overseas, and is available in two colors schemes: Vintage Sunburst and Lennon Natural (also known as the Revolution model). Lennon’s guitar was stripped to natural after he painted it with a whacky psychedelic scheme. If you go to the trouble of buying one of these and do not get Lennon Natural, you just don’t get it. It is like buying a sunburst Geddy Lee Jazz Bass – it just isn’t done.

The IBJL Casino has a 5-ply maple and birch body, and a 5-ply maple top. Yes, that mean it is made out of plywood, and this helps account for the lower price of this guitar. True to the Gibson model 330 specifications (which the Casino follows), this is a true hollowbody, and it has no center block. This means that it will have less sustain than a 335, and will also be more prone to feedback. Then again, it does weigh a bit less…

The set neck is shaped from mahogany, and it is a bit rounder and fatter than other Casinos I have played, but it is not a big as a 1950s Les Paul neck. The nut on this model is 1 11/16” wide. There are 22 medium-jumbo frets that are reasonably well installed into the rosewood fretboard, which has a 14”radius. The parallelogram inlays fit flush, and they installed a tasteful single-ply binding on the neck and body.

There are no surprises in the hardware department, which includes a nickel Tune-O-Matic bridge and a trapeze tailpiece. This one has Gold Grover tuners, which don’t match, but I guess that makes it more authentic. The electronics are very nice, with a pair of Gibson USA Tribute P-90 pickups: a P-90T at the bridge and a P-90R at the neck. The controls are volume/volume/tone/tone with a 3-way toggle pickup selector switch.

The finish on this one was very nice, and I could not find any flows on it. Overall the workmanship was good, with a few exceptions. It needed a set-up right out of the box, which is not too surprising (I guess), but the frets needed some work too. They were pretty close, but they were not all level. My tech leveled them for me at a reasonable price and did a complete set up, but I expected a bit more for a grand.

Once I got the guitar into shape it played marvelously. The neck was stout enough for my hands (which are kind of big), and the rounded shape was very comfortable. By the way, it has a standard scale length (24 ¾ inches), in case you were wondering. It was quite light, and balanced very well on the strap.

I have not played many guitars with P-90 pickups, which are great-big single coils. I was expecting more noise from them, but they were just about as quiet as Gibson’s humbuckers. They can have a very clean tone, and crunch up nicely when they are pushed harder. I was able to get the guitar to feedback when I cranked things all the way up, but it is not too hard to figure out what causes that, and reducing the volume brought things back under control. This guitar would be great for jazz, blues or classic rock, just as you would expect it to be -- you can get a lot of very pretty tones from it.

I like the Epiphone Inspired by John Lennon Epiphone Casino guitar in a lot of ways: the way it looks, the way it sounds, and the way it plays. Which is all of the important stuff, isn’t it? I also think that it is a reasonably-priced instrument with an MSRP of $1665 and a street price of $999, which includes a very nice Epiphone hardshell case. Check one out if you get the chance!

Mahalo!

Sennheiser HD 201 Headphones Review

Hiya!

I use my Sennheiser HD 280 Pro headphones on an almost daily basis, and I think they are probably one of the best headphone buys out there. Though their price is relatively low in the high-fidelity world (around a hundred bucks), you might be looking for something a bit cheaper. Well, I recently had the chance to try out Sennheiser’s HD 201 headphones, and depending on what your needs are they might be just the ticket for you.

The HD 201 cans are closed-back over the ear (circumaural) cans with a 3-meter cord and an 1/8-inch jack. A gold-plated ¼-inch adapter is included. They do not come with any sort of carry case of bag, but how many extras can you expect at this price point?

The ear cup have padded black naugahyde covers, and they are mounted to pivots that allow them to tilt back or forwards (about 20 degrees worth). This helps them fit differently-shaped melons, and lets you leave one cup in place in case you need to slip the other off the ear for a bit. The padded headband is adjustable and fits my head well. I think the top of my head is kind of flat, so take my observations for what they are worth.

A pair of the HD 201 headphones comes in at around 6 ounces, according to my digital scale. There is a fine line between making these things light enough so that they are comfortable, but not so light that they feel flimsy and cheap. Unfortunately these ones fall on the flimsy and cheap side of the line. But that is just my first impression. I have banged these things around quite a bit and nothing has broken off of them and they still sound the same. It appears that they will last for quite a while.

Of course the biggest deal is going to be how these things sound, and they work pretty well. I tried them out with my iPod Classic, my laptop and from my CD player, and got very similar results. They have a clean and natural sound, with limited bass and bit too much emphasis on the upper ranges. You are not going to $100 or $800 sound out of a pair of $30 headphones, so get realistic. They are a huge step up from the ear buds that came with your iPhone, and they are well-balanced for the price

Though the resistance is considerable less than my HD 280 Pro headphones (24 Ω), the HD 201s do not put out much volume. Perhaps the neodymium magnets in the HD280s give them more oompf. Anyway, these headphones benefit greatly from using a headphone amplifier (like a CMOS), so they are not going to be great for portable use. The cups seem to seal well, so your cubicle mates will not have to listen to your crummy music that leaks out around the edges.

As you have probably figured out, there are a few downsides to these headphones. If you want them for listening in the office or at home, you are in luck. But if you are in a noisier environment and you will have to crank the volume on your iPod to make them loud enough to hear. Plus you are not going to want to take these to the gym as that 10-foot cord gets hung up on fricking everything.

The MSRP for a pair of Sennheiser HD 201 headphones is $29.95, and I usually see them for around $25. Doing an online search I found a pair of new ones on Amazon for $21.95, which is way cheaper than the price of a pair of nice ear buds, and you will surely get a lot better sound out of them. By the way, make sure you get these from an authorized dealer, as they come with a 2-year warranty.

Mahalo!

Gruhn's Guide to Vintage Guitars 3rd Edition Review

Como estas?

Any serious collector of vintage guitars has to be familiar with George Gruhn, the owner of Gruhhn Guitars in Nashville, Tennesee. I have done business with him, having purchased guitars from him, and had him authenticate some pre-CBS Fenders over the years. He is the most popular authority on the history of vintage guitars, as well as how to identify and verify the originality of these instruments.

He has shared his knowledge with us though “Gruhn’s Guide to Vintage Guitars,” which was originally published in 1992 in collaboration with Walter Carter, who has is also a fabulous guitar historian. It includes acoustic and electric guitars, amplifiers, basses, banjos as well as ukuleles and mandolins. There are specifications for each instrument form the major manufactures such as Fender, Gibson, Martin, Gretsch, Rickenbacker, and even Mosrite.

His book went through an extensive rewrite in 1999, adding a boatload of new information and correcting mis-steps from the first edition. This book was well laid out, and it was easy to find out exactly what I needed to know. After 10 years, he issued a 500-page 3rd edition in 2010 (which I bought), and it appears that the wheels have fallen off the cart.

All of the good information is there, but the way it has been re-categorized is abysmal. The earlier editions were sorted by type (such as bass, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, archtops, etc.), but now it is now sorted by model and manufacturer in alphabetical order, and this makes for some interesting bedfellows. This might be ok if you know exactly what you are looking for, but what if you are trying to IDENTIFY a guitar? Let’s say you have a lonely and unidentified Gibson acoustic, and you are a die-hard Fender guy so you have no clue about what it could be. You whip out your 3rd edition and sift through the entire Gibson section to try and find it. Every limited edition SG, every Flying V, those awful faded guitars, and every one of the half-million variants of the Les Paul. What a pain the butt.

This is not going to cut the mustard, and it pains me to say this, as I really like George Gruhn, but I cannot recommend “Gruhn's Guide to Vintage Guitars 3rd Edition.” Your best bet is to forgo the new information and purchase a new copy of the 2nd edition, which is still available on amazon.com

Mahalo!

Technical Pro DVB80 Professional CD / DVD / Karaoke Player Review

Greetings!

In the digital world, audio equipment keeps progressing so quickly that formats drop by the wayside pretty frequently. If you had told me 10 years ago that I would never use any of my CDs anymore I would have thought you were a nutjob. Well, it has happened, and nowadays my entire music library is on my computer, and shared with my phone, iPad and iPods.

Despite these advances, I still need to bring a CD player to my shows as people always seem to bring along a CD that they want to play a track from, or if somebody requests karaoke (shudder). I am still stuck in the dinosaur days of CD+G for my karaoke library, BTW.

Well, my Numark dual disk player recently pooped the bed and I was loathe to spend much on a replacement, and decided to try the Technical Pro DVB80. It met my format requirements, came with rack mount tabs (1U) and was dirt cheap.

The DVB80 will play back a dizzying array of formats, including DVD, DVD-R, DVD-RW, VCD, CD-R, CD-RW, MP3, Kodak CD and CD+G. So you can watch movies, play music, view photos, or do karaoke with onscreen playback. By the way, this is a region-free DVD player (PAL/ NTSC), so it will play discs from other countries too. It is not Blueray compatible, though, but what do you expect for 90 bucks? As an added bonus you will find an SD card slot and a USB port on the front, so you can use these as music or photo sources too.

On the back you will find two microphone inputs (1/4-inch TRS) that can be used for karaoke or if the DJ is too cheap to buy a mixer. There are two RCA audio outs and a 5.1 RCA set-up that goes along with a Dolby AC-3 decoder so you can use your surround sound system. Oodles of video output jacks are also available, including YCbCr/YUV, RF DIN, Coax, CVBS, VGA, digital signal fiber optic.

All of these features are crammed into a normal-sized package and the DVB80 player measures (19" w/brackets) x 2.5" x 10" and comes in at around 6 pounds. It is capable of running on 110 or 220V systems, so it will work in pretty much any civilized country as long as you have the correct power cable (this player uses a removable IEC cord). A full-function remote control is included, which makes cuing up tracks a lot easier.

Prior to getting this player I had no experience with Technical Pro’s products, but they have not disappointed me. The players works well and cues up tracks nicely. There is no added noise to the audio output, and the picture quality is as good as non-Blueray players get. Overall it is a nice piece of equipment, and I hope it holds up better than my Numark player did.

My only gripe is that I do not think this player was originally designed to be a rack-mounted unit. The tabs are flimsy, and the metal that makes up the chassis is thin, so the whole thing sags quite a bit when it is bolted into place. I put shims between mine and rack units above and below it so it cannot flop around.

I think the Technical Pro DVB80 is a good deal, with a list price of $159.00 and a smoking hot street price of $88.95. This includes the remote, rack mount tabs and a 1-year warranty. It is a lot of player for the money!

Mahalo!

The Difference Between Condenser and Dynamic Microphones

Howdy!

I used microphones for quite awhile before I figured out there are two different popular types of microphones available, plus I never knew why I would want to have phantom power on my mixing board. Now I know, and I thought I would try to summarize the differences between condenser and dynamic microphones for you all. Of course, a lot of my friends are smarter about these things than I am, so if I get something wrong here be sure to let me know.

The fundamental difference between condenser and dynamic microphones is the method in which they receive and pass on sounds:

∙A dynamic microphone operates via induction. This means that it uses a coil and a magnet to produce an electrical signal (inducing a voltage). The microphone has a diaphragm inside that is attached to a coil. When sound pressure waves hit the diaphragm it vibrates, and the coil moves back and forth across the magnet, producing an electrical signal which is sent through the microphone cable to the mixing board. This means that they do not require a battery or external power to operate. Dynamic microphones are the more popular option as they are generally not very expensive (many are under $100) and they are well-suited for most every task. They are not complicated and do not have many moving parts, making them durable and thus ideal for live sound applications. Also, due to their design they can cope with high volume levels, such as from brass instruments or when miking speaker cabinets.

∙A condenser microphone operates via conduction. This means that there are two plates (or diaphragms) inside the microphone, with a small space between them that acts as a capacitor (or condenser) that stores electrical energy. When sound pressure waves hit the front plate it moves, changing the distance between it and the back plate. This will allow the electrical current to charge or discharge the capacitor, sending an electrical signal to the mixing board. This process requires an electrical power source to be used, either in the form of a battery, or more commonly from phantom power that is supplied from the mixing board. Condenser microphones are very sensitive, making them ideal for the studio environment. Of course they are more complicated than dynamic microphones, which makes them more expensive ($300 and up) and fragile. If you combine this with their inability to handle high volume without distorting, makes them ill-suited for most live sound work.

This might be a good time to talk about phantom power. This is 48 volts of direct current (at 2 to 10 mA) that is applied through the two signal lines of a balanced XLR connector and referenced to pin 1, which is ground. This power is usually supplied the mixer, PA system or other recording equipment. Dynamic microphones do not use phantom power but are not damaged if phantom power is put through them (it may cause a hum, though). And always keep in mind that you should never ever turn phantom power ON before plugging a microphone in.

Anyway, I hope this explanation helps. Writing about things like this certainly helps me to collect my thoughts better!

Mahalo!

Cameo Blues 10,000 Hours CD Review

Good day!

This CD review was originally published in the July 19, 2012 edition of Blues Blast Magazine. Be sure to check out the rest of the magazine at thebluesblast.com

Cameo Blues – 10,000 Hours

Make it Real Records www.livinblues.com/cameoblues.htm

www.makeitrealrecords.com

11 tracks / 44:49

The 10,000 hour rule is the theory that one must put in 10,000 hours of practice to master most complicated skills. I have seen the rule applied to soccer, golf, hockey, and of course music – all you have to do is practice 20 hours a week for 10 years, and you are set. The Beatles got their 10,000 hours in by performing over 1200 eight-hour sets in Hamburg between 1960 and 1964, and came back as seasoned performers. They were not an overnight sensation.

Well, 10,000 Hours also happens to be the title of Cameo Blues’ new album. This is their second album, but don’t let the size of their catalog trick you into thinking these are a bunch of newcomers, because this Toronto-based band has been around in one form or another since 1978. If these guys haven’t gotten their 10,000 hours in yet, they must be pretty close because they sure do sound tight.

Cameo Blues is made up of John Dickie on lead vocals and harmonica, Mike Sloski on drums, Ray Harrison on the keys, John Bride on guitars, and Tom Griffiths holding down the bottom on bass. They collected 11 tunes for this album: seven originals by Mr. Dickie and his buddies in the band, and four well-known covers. They arranged the album so that all of the originals are up front, and the covers are the last four tracks.

Cameo Blues wisely chose to kick the album off with “Penguin Walk,” a rock and roll boogie that showcases Texas guitar tone, some nice organ work and a driving bass line. The lyrics are smart and the music is well-suited to the band, setting a high bar for the listeners’ expectations. The title track comes up next, and the pace does not let up as Dickie’s distorted voice tears into “10,000 Hours.” Sloski does some very tasteful and appropriate drum work on this tune, and its message should make this song required listening for every new band that hopes for overnight fame and fortune.

The mood lightens up a little with the clever lyrics of “21st Century Rockit 88,” which is a piano-driven bluesy rock number with plenty of slide guitar. Harrison does a fabulous job on the keyboards in addition to receiving writing credit for this track.

“Plowing Our Row” is a thoughtful look at our dependence on fossil fuels, without going overboard on political commentary. This is a more straight-up blues song with strong vocal harmonies over a foundation of organ. But the serious tone of this tune is offset by the next track “Gasoline,” which rocks out with a great guitar intro and a thumping bass line. At a little over three minutes, this song ended too soon for me…

10,000 Hours gets some gospel-inspired Hammond B3 courtesy of Lance Anderson on “Hold Your Love,” a sweet ballad that also has some nice piano work by Harrison. Bride provides a super-smooth guitar solo in the middle too, showing he has soul as well as chops.

The last original track is “Talk Radio,” which bemoans what has become of our airwaves. I miss the days when you could actually find decent music on the radio too, guys. Griffiths’ bass is plenty growly on this tune, which is a nice counterpoint to the complicated (and upfront) keyboard parts.

The covers are popular tunes, but all of them are done differently than I have heard before. The first is Willie Dixon’s “Howlin’ for My Darlin’”, which has been shortened to “Howlin’.” Dickie has the perfectly seasoned voice for this straight-up Chicago blues track. Going with a theme, next up is a masterful version of Howlin’ Wolf’s “Sittin’ On Top of the World.” This song has nice interplay between Bride and Dickie, the latter on both vocals and harmonica.

Perhaps the most unexpected track is the cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Rock and Roll” which has enough organ to lend a circus/horror show vibe to the proceedings, without veering too far off into Emerson Lake and Palmer territory. It is a complete departure from the original, but rocks just as hard. I will have to sneak this one into my next DJ gig.

The last track on 10,000 Hours is Jimmy McGriff’s “All About My Girl,” and this hard-rocking instrumental gives everybody in the band a chance to shine one last time. This was a great choice to finish up with, and is a capper to a uniformly solid album.

It is nice to find an album with 11 tracks that are all well done, with the added bonus that each of them is unique and steps out in a different direction. I highly recommend that you give Cameo Blues a try and add 10,000 Hours to your play list.

Mahalo!