De Armond pickup

[andymseed1961]

Does anyone out there know where I can get a bracket for my 50s De Armond bass pickup ?
In live gigs I use a Barbera but I think the De Armond could sound good for recording - if I can get a mounting bracket !
Andy

[Martin Beer]

I don't know where you'd get a new bracket - I'd guess you'd have to track down someone who could make you one, or come up with some DIY arrangement. I got one of these pickups from ebay a couple of years ago (without a bracket), and I've had some success wedging it under the top end of the tailpiece with a piece of sponge (I used a big car washing sponge cut in half). From the pictures I've seen, the bracket held the pickup against the top just next to the tailpiece, so I'd guess that using the piece of sponge would work about as well as the original arrangement did. If yours sounds like mine, you may not like it for recording though. Mine has a very uneven frequency response with very little low end, so it needs lots of EQ just to get a tolerable sound. Surely your Barbera sounds better than that?

[andymseed1961]

Yeah , you're probably right I only bought originally out of curiosity but the trouble is now I have to know just how good I can get it to sound ! I use an AI Contra so I'm going to try your sponge trick and see what comes out !
The trouble with me is I collect old blues 78s , now we all know that CDs are far clearer than the original 78s but I still can't help but paying out for the original ! Same thing with the De Armond - we all know that the thing's out of the stone age but , even though I've got the Barbera , I've still got to waste my money on it .
Thanks for the sponge tip - Andy.

[anonymous0726]

The ones that I've seen have the bracket coming mounted on or near the string holes in the tailpiece, with the pickup near the top of the tailpiece and against the body. This might offer more low end?

[T-Bal]

Originally Posted by andymseed1961

Does anyone out there know where I can get a bracket for my 50s De Armond bass pickup ?
In live gigs I use a Barbera but I think the De Armond could sound good for recording - if I can get a mounting bracket !
Andy

I have a student who has the bracket, but no pickup. Maybe he'd be willing to part with it. If you PM me with your contact info I'd be glad to give it to him.

[andymseed1961]

If he is willing to part with it I'm more than willing to pay ! Thanks for taking the time to respond to my thread , I do appreciate it.
Thanks again - Andy.