Reply To: Miking and EQing a double upright bass on live stage

[DoctorG]

It seems to me that using a good RTA to be sure you know exactly what frequencies the bass is generating and at which frequencies the feedback is occurring would help you know what measures to take. You’re probably already doing this, but just wanted to be sure. FYI – I use TrueRTA with at least 1/6th octave bandwidth for this kind of thing.

It seems that the approach suggested by Dick is used in many places. However, with a dynamic mic such as the SM58 you’re going to be getting a “curved” response, coloring the sound of the instrument. That may not be that big of an issue here, but it can lead to feedback issues.

A condenser mic will have a flatter bass response in the bass region, but you’ll need to cut some very low bass and be sure most of the treble is rolled out. I have used a Shure PG81 just this past week for this purpose. It isn’t a highly sensitive condenser, but it works well and is inexpensive.

These are just some suggestions — my experience here is very limited.