K & K w/ Underwood?

fingers · #1 01-30-2005, 08:40 PM

Currently I am using a Golden Trinty mic with a Realist and I am fairly happy. I find the tone of the mic and the Realist to be similar. I already own an Underwood. I've always found the tone to not be acoustic enough for my taste. The mic might help that. Has anyone tried this combo.

fingers · #2 01-31-2005, 08:32 PM

I wonder because Dave Holland uses an Underwood with a mic and has the best live tone out there.

Bassmickeyd · #3 02-01-2005, 01:12 AM

I'd be interested to hear what you plug your mic into, an amp or the board. .... I use my realist for most med. Vol. gigs. But I also have a Wilson for when I need to be louder. I use the GK single 12" combo, and they all seem to work very well together. .......
Now if I could just do something about the other body parts.

fingers · #4 02-01-2005, 09:03 AM

Well that is exactly the problem I have. I loved the Realist for quieter gigs but have found that it doesn't work well for loud gigs or even medium gigs where the quarters are very tight. Most of the gigs I do are fairly quiet but I do play in an orginal jazz group that tends to get a bit louder. I have also done some festivals with the Realist with limited success.

The K&K upgrade kit has a mic included and you plug in your current pickup. All of it then goes into its own preamp/blender.

I borrowed a bass that had a Wilson and was very impressed with the feedback resistance. I thought the tone was decent but a little electric for my taste. I heard another guy using a Wilson with a AMT25 and it sounded great. I just don't have that kind of bread.

I have a gig tomorrow with a jump blues band where I have to be a bit louder. I'll try the underwood/mic combo. I'll let you know how it goes.

fingers · #5 02-04-2005, 09:03 AM

Well the results were ok. The one thing that the Underwood lacks is attack. I really like that about the Realist. 2 questions...

1 My Underwood seems quieter on my G string than the others. Any thoughts?

2 I know some folks blend the two. What blender is good?

**Chris Fitzgerald** · #6 02-04-2005, 11:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fingers

Well that is exactly the problem I have. I loved the Realist for quieter gigs but have found that it doesn't work well for loud gigs or even medium gigs where the quarters are very tight.

The problem with the Realist at high volumes is that it puts out tons of low frequencies, and these are the first things to turn to complete mush at higher volumes. The best you can probably do with the realist in these settings is to cut bass as you add volume. I just got back from a big band rehearsal where one of our grad sudents asked me to check his sound. Turns out he had a Realist/Underwood blend going through the two channels of his WW red. It sounded pretty decent, but he had to cut lows on the Realist channel when it got loud.

kwd · #7 02-04-2005, 03:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fingers

Well the results were ok. The one thing that the Underwood lacks is attack. I really like that about the Realist. 2 questions...

1 My Underwood seems quieter on my G string than the others. Any thoughts?

2 I know some folks blend the two. What blender is good?

Bob G. fixed me up with a K&K dual channel preamp and a BassMax(similar to U'wood) to blend with my Realist. Mixing in the Realist will pull in some of the thump that you lose with the bridge wing mounted piezo. I need to cut back on the lows to the extent that the Realist is in the mix (nothing new). I'm finding that unless I want to play arco, I prefer 100% BassMax. For arco the Realist is the undisputed winner. The Realist gets closer the 'your bass only louder' ideal but it's fraught other problems that are well chronicled in these forums.

fingers · #8 02-05-2005, 10:35 AM

That's really the issue for me. In certain settings I play a fair amount of arco and I am giddy about the sound of the Realist for that. In most straight ahead settings I'm pretty happy too. I play in an original jazz bordering on acoustic fusion group (sax,guitar,piano,bass,drums) and find that I can't cut through when I need to with just the Realist.

I heard a guy with a Bassmax/Trinity combo through a AI. It was ok but I wasn't blown away. What I really start to miss at higher volumes are all the beautiful overtones in the uprights sound.

Any thought about my quiet g string when I use the Underwood?

AMJBASS · #9 02-05-2005, 11:36 AM

The Trinity system is great for adding clarity to your sound, and eveness. I love the sound of the Trinity with Realist/Underwood. The AMT still blows that system away, but it is also $600.

jazzbassnerd · #10 02-05-2005, 03:16 PM

Does anyone have experience with the AMT and a piezo (for me the Full Circle) through the acousitc Image Combo? I'm wondering if it is worth testing and saving for?

(Sorry if this is considered a thread highjacking)

anonymous0726 · #11 02-05-2005, 04:18 PM

My experience has been that a mic through the amp is really problematic, but very good at low volumes where you can get far enough away from the amp. The mic invariably starts mic'ing the amplified sound as soon as it 'hears' it, and this takes an exponential path into mush as the volume increases (until you finally hit feedback).

AMJBASS · #12 02-05-2005, 10:12 PM

It really depends on the amp. I am using my AMT through a Euphonic Audio iAMP350 combo. It is accurate, and crystal clear. The AMT is great at rejecting "noise", and has a very tight pattern. Adding a piezo pickup to it works well at higher volume where you can use the piezo to add low end, and the AMT for clarity in the mids and highs. The Acoustic Image combos are nice, but I just find the down firing woofer to get muddy at higher volumes.