An Ehrlund blog, sort of

[Ric Vice]

Originally Posted by al808

I think there is actually a number of live classic jazz recordings that would have benefited big time with an EPA on the bass, let's say Bill Evans last recordings at the village for example.But hey, my opinion ,...

Al 808,
Interesting, but personally, I love the bass sound on the Live At The Village Vanguard recordings of Bill, with Scott, and Paul Motion. If you compare them to the studio albums the bass sounds much better, to my ears. Just my opinion.

Ric

[al808]

Oh God, yes Bill Evans recordings with Scott, that's sacred in every aspect, I meant the later ones with Marc Johnson, Turn Out the Stars: The Final Village Vanguard Recordings for example, the bass could sound better if I may say such a thing..

[Ric Vice]

Originally Posted by al808

Oh God, yes Bill Evans recordings with Scott, that's sacred in every aspect, I meant the later ones with Marc Johnson, Turn Out the Stars: The Final Village Vanguard Recordings for example, the bass could sound better if I may say such a thing..

Al 808,
That's a fact, they were evidently going directly from the pickup on those recordings, as they often did with Marc. Not the prettiest sound. I also felt that Bill's playing on those recordings is rather frantic. Not my cup of tea.

Ric

[drurb]

Originally Posted by VegasGutPlucker

The power of this pickup isn't how well it works recording straight to tape, mics are much better for that. It's about how this device works with an amp, in a room, with a band.

Precisely! Thanks for reinforcing this point.

Originally Posted by Badong

Now I'm curious. Those of you that have had great success with the EAP, what amplification setup are you using including the venue, and genre of music . . .

iamp200 and Wizzy 12. Restaurant/pubs, larger halls (500+ people), medium-size spaces with big-band, etc. Mostly straight-ahead jazz with five- or six-piece combos.

[Vunz]

I will use the same rig I used with my dpa:



A Glockenklang Bass Art Classic with a Glockenklang Acoustic Art cab

Cheers,
Vincent

[JeffKissell]

Can anyone comment on using this straight into an LR Baggs ParaDI or a Venue? On paper is seems pretty close to having redundant gain stages with the Ehrlund Pre into these Pre/DIs. I often run straight to the house with no amp (currently with a ParaDI/Realist) and I really like the idea of the LR Baggs Venue for muted tuning, useful eq, etc.
Thanks,
-Jeff

[drurb]

LR Baggs seem to be "voiced" devices. For that reason alone, I don't use them.

[JeffKissell]

So would you suggest running the Ehrlund pre straight into a PA without any other preamp?
Most of the gigs I play are either completely acoustic (no support) or PA supported without an amp, sometimes pretty loud. The Realist sounds pretty good through the Baggs so the voicing seems to work in this context. I'm thinking of using the Venue instead of the Paracoustic because of the tuner mute but I'm on the lookout for a better input (pickup) as well. A couple of people have used the Erhlund directly into a Headway (also voiced) but the mute isn't as easy to manipulate in a performance setting and would require a separate tuner.

[Ric Vice]

Originally Posted by JeffKissell

So would you suggest running the Ehrlund pre straight into a PA without any other preamp?
Most of the gigs I play are either completely acoustic (no support) or PA supported without an amp, sometimes pretty loud. The Realist sounds pretty good through the Baggs so the voicing seems to work in this context. I'm thinking of using the Venue instead of the Paracoustic because of the tuner mute but I'm on the lookout for a better input (pickup) as well. A couple of people have used the Erhlund directly into a Headway (also voiced) but the mute isn't as easy to manipulate in a performance setting and would require a separate tuner.

Jeff,
The Ehrlund EAP and Ehrlund Pre Amp are a system. Using the Pickup requires the Pre amp. Running it directly into an amp won't yield the volume and tone quality
that makes it such a exceptional pickup. The Pre Amp will work with other pickups.

Ric

[JeffKissell]

I get the need for a preamp, my question was whether the Ehrlund Pre is redundant if one is already using another preamp, in my case an LR Baggs. Others have stated forgoing the Ehrlund Pre with good results when using a Headway EDB-1.
It looks like I need to research a comparison of the Baggs Pre/DIs and the Headway EDB-1 specs...
-Jeff

[Ric Vice]

Originally Posted by JeffKissell

I get the need for a preamp, my question was whether the Ehrlund Pre is redundant if one is already using another preamp, in my case an LR Baggs. Others have stated forgoing the Ehrlund Pre with good results when using a Headway EDB-1.
It looks like I need to research a comparison of the Baggs Pre/DIs and the Headway EDB-1 specs...
-Jeff

Jeff,
I've used the Headway EDB-1 with the Ehrlund EAP. It works quite well, but doesn't get the full tonal spectrum as well as the Ehrlund Pre Amp. Obviously, the Headway EDB-1 has more bells and whistles, so you get better tone shaping and feedback control. It kind of depends on what you need to go FOH. If your amp has a DI, then IMHO, it's just simpler and less expensive to go with the Ehrlund Pre. Just my take. I've never used a Baggs DI/Pre. I have run the Ehrlund without the Pre Amp or the Headway and even with my Walter Woods amps tone shaping, the EAP didn't have the volume or tone quality that comes from the pre amp.

Ric

[drurb]

There is nothing really special about the Ehrlund pre except that it provides sufficient gain and a ruler-flat response. One can also be confident that it loads the pickup properly. In theory, other pre-amps should do just fine but many of them, apparently, do not provide sufficient gain. While the rule is usually to minimize the number of devices in the signal chain, in this case it may be wise to do as Ric suggests and consider the EAP and pre-amp as a unit and go from there.

[Barcza]

What do you think, the Ehrlund pu would works well with Radial ToneBone PZ-pre and Aguilar ÁG 500 sc?

[Ric Vice]

Originally Posted by Barcza

What do you think, the Ehrlund pu would works well with Radial ToneBone PZ-pre and Aguilar ÁG 500 sc?

Barcza,
In My experience, the Ehrlund Pre Amp works fine into any amp I've used it with.

Ric

[Vunz]

Oh boy... I was prepared for a minor disappointment. After all, the DPA is a wonderful mic that faithfully reproduces the sound of my bass, especially through my Glockenklang rig, which is designed to amplify an incoming signal as accurately as possible. So, after having received the Ehrlund yesterday I attached it to my bass, roughly at the same spot as drurb did on his bass (I assumed this would be a good position to begin my sonic exploration for the perfect spot), connected it to an Atelier der Tonkunst DI and my Centrance MicPort Pro mic preamp/AD converter, launched Logic, adjusted the input level and pressed Record to record me playing the bass. Then I listened back to the recording.

Oh my...

Oh my...

I almost couldn't believe what I was hearing! It sounded almost like a recording done with my DPA, minus the airiness that mics typically deliver. I only needed to cut a few db at about 110 Hz to get rid of a dominant frequency (which I needed to do when using the DPA, too, btw) and I could listen to the sound of my bass, recorded through a PICKUP! (ok, contact microphone...) This morning I set up my Glockenklang rig, connected the Ehrlund and started playing. Loud. Really loud. Really really loud. No.Feedback.Whatsoever. It almost sounds like a cliché, but once I dialed out the 110 Hz frequency with the parametric eq of my amp, I heard my bass, but only louder. I put the bass in front of the speaker: no feedback. I turned the amp up so loud that I almost did not dare to play a note: no feedback. Just the sound of my bass, only louder. No noise, no artifacts, no nothing. Just the sound of my bass. I was prepared to be disappointed, but I have to admit that this pickup, for my bass and my playing, indeed is the holy grail. Provided it will hold up at a gig, of course. That I still need to check, but the prospects are good indeed.

BTW: I got the pickup and preamp. Like most other Ehrlund users, I am convinced that this the only way to get the most out of the pickup. I tried it without, and both volume and tone (fulness in particular) were lacking.

Cheers,
Vincent

[Roger Davis]

I agree with everything Vincent has posted. My Ehrlund arrived yesterday and played through the PJ Superflight that lives in my study. Amazing sound and I'm looking forward to going out on a gig next Sunday when I'll take my Clarus and 10" Wizzy. Ehrlund pre, of course.

Just one point, I feel that while the placement yields differing tones according to where the pu is on the bass, you don't have to be accurate to the millimeter to find the sweet spot. And this is a practical help when on a gig.

drub's placement seems good for my bass, so thanks for that, Les.

[engedi1]

Vincent, this has been my experience with the Ehrlund with over a years of gigs under my belt, and a few recordings made using it only. Really amazing how loud I can get with it and not get feedback. Through a nice amp, it is just so clear. I also use a placement similar to DRURB, which is the recommend starting point by Gollihur. Still loving my Ehrlund after 12 months and more. Roger, interesting that you liked it through the PJ as others couldn't get it to work with the PJ. I'll bet it is even better through the Clarus and Wizzy.

[drurb]

I'm really happy to hear how well the Ehrlund is also working out for others. So no one has to hunt it down, here's a re-post, from post #49, of the current placement I use:

[Barcza]

Originally Posted by Ric Vice

Barcza,
In My experience, the Ehrlund Pre Amp works fine into any amp I've used it with.

Ric

Allright, I just intrested, works Ehrlund pickup without the ehrlund pre amp, with the radial pz ( 10Mohms ) preamp.

[drurb]

Originally Posted by Barcza

Allright, I just intrested, works Ehrlund pickup without the ehrlund pre amp, with the radial pz ( 10Mohms ) preamp.

No doubt it works, but does it work well? The comparison would be with the Ehrlund pre.