Hi from a slap bass player with some problems

[Dave Horton]

Hi, I'm new to this forum. I wonder if anyone can help? I'll start with my main problem. I play rock'n'roll slap bass in a 50s style band and have a conventional full size double bass made by Zeller (Romanian). I was using metal strings and (a) a Kent Armstrong magnetic pickup, and (b) an ordinary contact bug stuck behind the fingerboard for the slap, mixing the two signals up through a Yamaha mixer. All OK, except the metal strings are wrecking my fingers (mainly the left hand), and I notice that most of the slap bass players I've seen and chatted to use nylon strings and piezo systems. SO, I recently restrung with the new Innovation Rockabilly strings (nylon based) and fitted a B-Band piezo system, with a pre-amp. This has 3 piezo sensors on/under the bridege, but none on the fingerboard. The sound is horrible compared to what I used to get, and I get a loud hum if I turn the bass up at all, which isn't feedback from vibration of the strings, but rather the body of the bass vibrating near the bridge feet. By the way, I'm using a Peavey rig, not DI ing through the PA.
Can anyone help please? Many many thanks. Dave Horton, Reading, Berkshire, England, UK.

[BurningSkies]

Originally Posted by Dave Horton

Hi, I'm new to this forum. I wonder if anyone can help? I'll start with my main problem. I play rock'n'roll slap bass in a 50s style band and have a conventional full size double bass made by Zeller (Romanian). I was using metal strings and (a) a Kent Armstrong magnetic pickup, and (b) an ordinary contact bug stuck behind the fingerboard for the slap, mixing the two signals up through a Yamaha mixer. All OK, except the metal strings are wrecking my fingers (mainly the left hand), and I notice that most of the slap bass players I've seen and chatted to use nylon strings and piezo systems. SO, I recently restrung with the new Innovation Rockabilly strings (nylon based) and fitted a B-Band piezo system, with a pre-amp. This has 3 piezo sensors on/under the bridege, but none on the fingerboard. The sound is horrible compared to what I used to get, and I get a loud hum if I turn the bass up at all, which isn't feedback from vibration of the strings, but rather the body of the bass vibrating near the bridge feet. By the way, I'm using a Peavey rig, not DI ing through the PA.
Can anyone help please? Many many thanks. Dave Horton, Reading, Berkshire, England, UK.

Hey Dave, and welcome to TB. I don't think I have anything to help with technically, but I'd like to suggest that you head over to the Double Bass side of TB and ask around in those parts. The folks over there know their stuff and are serious about the DB!

Cheers!