Full Circle sounds weak

jannejava · #1 02-08-2013, 07:40 AM

I have used a Full Circle on my first bass for many years. Always happy with it, not problems and all sound enginers where happy.

Recently is bought a Christoper and mounted a Full Circle. The bass it self sound great and the sound from the AMT is really good. But the sound coming from the amp and the Full Circle is terrible. No lo-mid and just a lot of treble, a nasty kind of "mwaah". Adding bass on the eq seems just to add boominess.

At first I thought the strings just needed to break in (since the FC worked so well on my other bass), but the strings are not new anymore and the problem still persist.

Is Full Circle nothing for my bass? Is there a installation issue? Could the pickup be faulty? I have tried different preamps with no success.

Regards, Janne

Anonymatt · #2 02-08-2013, 07:56 AM

I just went reading around and shopping for a pickup. My impression is that it's pretty hit and miss which pickup will work for your bass. I think if you stay with the classifieds, you can try a few different pickups w/o much financial penalty. I just try to think about how bad certain 70s pickup bass recordings sound and compare my results to those. A double bass in person is one of the world's most loveliest sonic experiences, so I base my expectations of silly pickups thus.

**Chris Fitzgerald** · #3 02-08-2013, 08:37 AM

Some possible solutions discussed in this thread, which includes pictures of an install gap which was causing the problem.

misterbadger · #4 02-08-2013, 08:41 AM

Check the installation documentation. It makes a difference whether the adjuster is installed "threads-up" or "threads-down", and I think the relationship of the feed wire to the bridge foot is important too. Looking at the adjuster straight on, my wire comes off at the 3:00 position (E string side, facing the center of the instrument), threads facing downward. Sounds fine on my Upton ply.

Please keep us posted.

jannejava · #5 02-08-2013, 01:10 PM

Thank you all for your input!

I cannot see any gap, it seems to be tight at least from the outside. I will remove the bridge and make sure it's completly flat.

Right now I have "threads up". I will make a try a reverse to "threads down".

On my other bass, where the FC works nice, I have brass inserts in the bridge. Could the inserts make a difference?

This bass has a removable neck and the bridge will come off every now and then, so it has to be easy to find the sweet-spot.

To be continued...

jannejava · #6 02-11-2013, 09:03 AM

I disassembled the bridge today. Seems like, as pointed out in other threads, the contact surface between the FC and bridge-foot is not 100%. I will try to ajust this. To be continued...