Building an EUB that's good for arco

[Simon1]

I'm planning to build my own electric double bass and have a few concerns about it.
At the moment I have a normal acoustic double bass with a SD Systems piezzo/mic/pre-amp combo on it. It sounds really well, but I need something more portable. Now my main concern is - is the electric bass going to sound as good as this one? I don't worry about pizzicato - that's usually fine. But since I had a simple Fishman pickup on my bass before and I know how awful arco sounded on it, I wonder if it's not going to be the same with an electric bass. I know I could get a better pickup and I will, but most pickups that are good for arco are either piezzo/mic combos (as the one I use now) or are mounted on the bass' body, under the bridge. Now both these cases seem to make sense only if the bass has an empty, non-solid body - the mic is picking up the sound from the body and the pickups get the vibrations from the front board. Thus the main question is - is there any way to make a solid-body bass sound good arco? Or, if not, what's the best way to build a small hollow body that will give me a decent sound worth amplifying?
The second question is related - which pickups would you recommend for bowing? I am really interested in getting as good sound as possible.
Third is: I wanted to put the preamp and all the electronics in the body, simply build it in - does it matter for the sound where it exactly is located?

I'd be grateful for any answers!
S.

[ToneRanger]

I have Bill Paulin's protoype EUB with piezos that I made mounted under the bridge, seated on a shim of cork gasket material. The preamp is in a cavity adjacent to the bridge. On Bill's newer basses, the pickups are set into shallow recesses under the bridge and the leads feed straight into the preamp cavity. Apart from this cavity, it's a solid body bass.
I'm not a serious arco player, but I've been pleasantly surprised at how good it sounds with a bow. I feel the under-bridge pickup avoids a lot of the edginess that 'clipped onto the bridge' designs are prone to. The latest Paulin basses have large body cavities and lighter woods, giving them a fuller, fatter sound which would perhaps be even better for arco, although I actually prefer the punchier sound of mine for my pizz playing.
My bass: www.fittell.id.au/eub
My pickups: www.fittell.id.au/piezo
Bill Paulin's basses: http://billpaulineubs.com
It's the excess mids & highs of many piezos that can make the arco sound so edgy. A solution is to add a simple passive 'hi cut' filter that you can switch in when you play arco. Just a capacitor shorted to ground from the output can work, or add a basic Fender style tone control with a slightly higher capacitor value.

[Simon1]

Thanks! It looks interesting indeed. I also think under-the-bridge pickups will be best, maybe together with a magnetic one for a good pizz.
I just wondered - if you have the electronics just under the bridge, how do you hide the spike? Do you think a 50cm longer cable that would take the pre-amp higher (where it's also easier to access) will change the sound significantly?
Did you try the 'passive hi cut filter' you mention? Because it seems to me it will cut what sounds poor, but that doesn't mean it will give you what sounds good?
Do you have any sound samples you could share? If yes, drop me an e-mail!

[ToneRanger]

The spike on mine is external - I made up a clamp with a block of wood and a bicycle quick-release mechanism.
I don't think there's be a problem with slightly longer cable as long as it's good quality. I bought some very lightweight Mogami cable from a repairshop that uses it on lapel mics.
The high cut is in the new preamps Bill Paulin has had designd for his EUBs - it's adjustable and quite extreme in max position if you just want a phat bass sound, but just a little cut can deal with the piezo edginess.
I assumed I'd need a mag pickup to add low end to the piezo for my bass, but the bottom end I'm getting is huge and I've never installed the Moses p/u I bought. My only low end problem is getting my BG to sound as big when I switch to it for a few songs I can't yet play on EUB.