I went to my local music stores looking for a pickup for my upright, and the only ones that they had were over $300 and required replacing the bridge. Please tell me there's something more affordable.

There are plenty of more affordable pickups out there, and most of them require little or no alterations to your bass. Lemur offers the two "old standards" for about one third of the price you mentioned: the Underwood ($99.95), and the Fishman ($111.95). The Realist has better sound for $175.00, but there are questions about its longevity (see older threads, this forum). Right now I'm using two K&K Bass Max wing pickups (about $90 ea.) and the Trinity mic upgrade. To see these products, check out www.gollihur.com. Bob himself might show up soon with more info. If you want an honest unpaid endorsement of the K&K stuff, feel free to email me or send a private message.

Good luck.

Thanks, Chris - I didn't want to jump in with a commercial, but with your entre I will suggest the Bass Max as a very affordable and good all-around solution:
Bass Max - http://www.gollihur.com/kkbass/bassmax.html

The whole line of K&K stuff is very affordable (with the discounts I offer) - see http://www.gollihur.com/kkbass and feel free to ask here and elsewhere for comments from users.

If you want to chat about pickups and stuff in general, feel free to call or email me privately; I'll be as unbiased as I can be.

And while you're on-line, do check out Double Bass Links Page - http://www.gollihur.com/kkbass/basslink.html for over 600 Double Bass LINKS

I have a K & K Bass Max on my double-bass, and just this past week, received the Golden Trinity mic upgrade from Mr Golihur. I was very impressed by the construction of the unit and the ease of installation. I used it for the first time last Sunday at a rehearsal, and my other band members commented on the great sound. The sound the mic adds is quite subtle, and complements the "close-miced-string-sound" of the K & K Bass Max. There is adjustment and I look forward to tweaking the settings to see what else it will do. Just my reactions, so far - hope it helps. BTW, nothing is permanently attached to the bridge*, so the whole thing can be taken off in 10 secs.

- Wil

* apart from the 2" of 3M "Dual-Lock"

I have to throw in my 2 cents on the K&K....
IT IS GREAT! I just have the single transducer model and it took less than 2 minutes to install. Nothing sticky on the bridge, just a minor bit of sanding and popped it in. It sounds great and is easy to remove if need-be. I would recommend it with no hesitation.
But that's just me.......

I recently received the K&K Bass Max Pro From Bob Gollihur. He was able to provide me with a five string version. It is quite simply an amazing sounding pickup. I highly recommend it. Bob is truly generous with his time and knowledge so take advavntage for his offer for help.

Here's another endorsement for the K&K Bass Max/Golden Trinity rig. I've had numerous compliments from fellow musicians on the sound and I recently recorded the bass for the first time on my home 4-track setup and am extremely pleased with the results.
The workmanship is excellent on the K&K stuff and Bob's customer service is top-rate.

Yet another K&K thumbs up. I've had the Fishman (don't even consider it), Underwood, and Gage (sounds good until it stops working alltogether). The K&K bass max puts them all to shame. As mentioned above, it's easy to install, transfer between different basses, and "upgradeable" with the Trinity mic which I plan on ordering from Bob soon.

Bought the K&K Bass Max from (All Hail) Bob Gollihur. Sounds great - you can't go wrong for the price.

I believe the consensus is forming.............

I believe it is. K&K has good stuff.

Neo Trotsky should be warned, however, that the term "Upright" is severely frowned upon - not to say "forbidden" - by certain members of the TBDB faction. I therefore move that the title of this thread be hereafter changed to, "Double Bass Pickups?".

All in favor, roll your eyes.

When I was growing up (back when dinosaurs roamed the earth), "String Bass" was the term on most the music (high school, non-orchestral) and was the most popular reference, it seemed. Of course, Bass Viol, Bass, and occasionally Double Bass. Now I hardly ever hear String Bass being used. Wha hoppened?!?!

Really, you want to check out a few pickups with your bass playing your music at your volume level (with your band if pos) before you buy something you don’t need.

At lower levels a mike can't be beat IMHO. Trouble is, if you are working with a drummer the volume levels go up and the potential for feed back, as well as amplifying the drums through your rig goes up. Audio Technica works for me here, they have this condenser mike called the AT-35. I think you can find these for about $140. Sounds great.

I like my Barkus Berry pickup system. It has a preamp allowing for some tone and volume control at the instrument and sounds pretty good. These go for about the same price as the mike above.

I think it is amazing what can be spent going after the holy grail of good sound at volume with an acoustic instrument. Various conditions can make for trouble with feedback or poor tone. Lots of money gets spent without a real assurance of reliable sound in a variety of circumstances.

If I had the money I would consider getting an electric upright and use it when ever somebody broke out a drum set or a Telecaster. But for now, my fender P-bass seems the best solution when things get louder. As with the electric bass, it is often most effective just to stay away from loud people and places.

That’s my take.
jc

Originally posted by Bob Gollihur
When I was growing up (back when dinosaurs roamed the earth), "String Bass" was the term on most the music (high school, non-orchestral) and was the most popular reference, it seemed. Of course, Bass Viol, Bass, and occasionally Double Bass. Now I hardly ever hear String Bass being used. Wha hoppened?!?!
A year or so ago, ISB (I threw that in to shut out the toy bass types) ran an article in Bass Line about how we didn't even know what to call our instrument. String Bass was one of the accepted names. "Fiddle" and "viol" seemed to provoke tortured, pedantic arguments (i.e., kvetching)among the cognescenti. Double bass seems to circumnavigate that. I'm cool with all the above.

Originally posted by Bob Gollihur
When I was growing up (back when dinosaurs roamed the earth), "String Bass" was the term on most the music (high school, non-orchestral) and was the most popular reference, it seemed. Of course, Bass Viol, Bass, and occasionally Double Bass. Now I hardly ever hear String Bass being used. Wha hoppened?!?!

Well the best theory is that an asteroid hit the earth causing global climactic change and...

oh wait, you mean about the terminology?

The reason you saw "String bass" was the context: non-orchestral. In much concert band music, "bass" refers to the tuba part, so "string bass" is used to distinguish. Outside the concert band world, tubas are exclusively referred to as such.

Much really depends on the background of the person labelling the parts.

Then again, I'm not terribly consistent about what term I use to describe mine. Most of the time, I just say bass which I use indeterminately to describe my DB and my BGs (and my voice, although strictly speaking I'm Baritone verging on tenor II on a good day).

-dh

pardon me, chris. I'm new here, and i'm kinda new to DOUBLE BASS. I'm primarily an electric player, but i just joined a jazz group (be-bop mostly) and the DOUBLE BASS makes more sense musically. And the DOUBLE BASS alone wasn't loud enough. If we had a PA, i would just mike it, but all i've got is my Peavey Amp. So that's why i was looking at pickups.

You can mike your bass and use the peavey amp, BTW.

jc

And to toss in .02 from the K&K Peanut Gallery, the K&K Sound Golden Mic systems that employ the two channel preamp have two outputs, a mix of the mic and pickup system, plus a single 1/4" that has the mic system only, designed to be sent to the PA or other alternative amplification system.

http://www.gollihur.com/kkbass/bassmic.html

if it had a mic input, then yes, i could. however, it doesn't.

If you have a mic with an XLR low impedance output, you can pick up an adaptor/transformer that takes an XLR plug, converting it to high impedance and a 1/4" plug that you can plug into a standard amp input such as your Peavey. They usually go for around $15

Even if you do have a mic, unless you are always playing at low volumes, you should have a pickup, too, for situations when the stage/room settings make using a mic impractical.

http://www.delanet.com/~gollihur/trinbassmic4.gif

I have condensor mics and systems designed for double bass, by themselves, with 2 channel preamps, and mic/pickup combos. And pickups as well, as so many folks have kindly mentioned above. Info and photos are at http://www.gollihur.com/kkbass

greetings, i'm new on this list and been reading about the acoustic bass pick-ups. wish i found this site a few months earlier coz i just bought a david gage REaLIST pick-up on february when i was in NYC. now i find out that it isn't durable? i had to buy one because my 20-yr old underwood finally expired. i tried the fishman but found it too edgy and nobody told me about k&K.

colby.

Several members of the board - Ed and Don for sure, and probably a few others - still have Realists that are working fine. I wouldn't worry too much as long as it's working. It's when it STOPS working that you have a problem, since Gage apparently doesn't care (4 emails in 4 months and no response at all). How do you like the Realist sound?

Welcome to the board.

It should be kept in mind that a pickup that sounds good on one bass won't on another and that there is no end-all/be-all.

i figured the term "upright pickups" meant more along the lines of "upstanding, excellently performing" pickups. you know, sorta like an "upright citizen".

nevermind. :D

i got a little concerned because i live all the way in the philippines, (the other side of the world) it's a long ways to get something replaced or repaired in tribeca. as i mentioned my underwood lasted me a good 17 plus years.

i like the sound of the realist. it's more natural, i get a good round tone and i can crank up the volume a little when needed (depending on the drummer) without inciting all those low frequency overtones.

what also helped was changing my strings to spyrocores. i've been using the same thomastic "orchestral" set for about 15 years and changing strings was like being set free from carryin a "ball and chain". i'm not sure if it affected my sound but it sure helped my playing.

thanks
colby

Gentlemen pls. excuse me but some student named JD emailed me after reading my post here but i can't reply because somehow his address didn't turn up. i think he's unregistered. So JD please email me your email addess.

I switched over to Double Bass a year and a half ago, after playing electric bass since 1965.
It was an expensive and time consuming process.
I tried a Fishman and it SUCKED! Then I found Bob Gollihur's website and bingo!
(This is not a paid advertisement).
I ordered a K&K rockabilly pick-up and pre-amp and it was better, but I sill needed more volume and tone.
I ordered a K&K Bass Master Pro as a last resort and it was a definite improvement.
I get all the volume I need, and the tone is incredible!
I play 3-5 night a week doing Blues festivals, concerts, clubs, parties, etc. I have NEVER had a problem with my K&K pick-up, after using it for the last 14 months!
A lot of factors are involved, such as pick-ups, speakers, placement, EQ adjustment, YOUR BASS, etc.
I would recommend calling or writing Bob Gollihur,
he is very well respect by me and countless others.
Bob can recommend the right pick-up for your playing situation, and he is a great guy to do business with!
Good luck!

(blush)

thanks!