looking at a real growly pickup

BassGreaser · #1 03-24-2007, 11:29 AM

I'm looking for a real growly pickup to blend with my Bassmax...I'm interested in the Wilson, and possible dare I say Fishman BP100...

Ric Vice · #2 03-24-2007, 02:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BassGreaser

I'm looking for a real growly pickup to blend with my Bassmax...I'm interested in the Wilson, and possible dare I say Fishman BP100...

BassGreaser,
The growl on my bass comes from using Tomastick Weich Gage Spirocores. The problem there is they are a very bad choice if you want to play arco, at least until they break in for several months. The Fishmann will definitely growl for you, but you will get a very midrange sound that lacks, dare I say, booty. Check out Viktor Krauss on Lyle Lovett's "Live In Texas". If that's the sound you are going for then it's coming from a BP-100 on Viktor's bass.

Ric Vice

BassGreaser · #3 03-24-2007, 02:52 PM

Ric thanks for the info..I'll have to check that out! right now I'm using Spirocore Solos I will be blending this pickup with my Bassmax to get more booty using a EBS MicroBass II pedal

uptonbass · #4 03-24-2007, 03:37 PM

Is your bass growly???

**Francois Blais** · #5 03-24-2007, 06:54 PM

I also don't think the growl comes from the pickup, but from the hands!
If you don't sound growly acoustic, you won't more with a pickup.

uptonbass · #6 03-24-2007, 07:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by francois

I also don't think the growl comes from the pickup, but from the hands!

AMEN....and it will come from the pickup AFTER it comes from the hands

Quote:

If you don't sound growly acoustic, you won't more with a pickup.

Amen again

on a serious note though it IS the player BUT one can work a setup very much so in that direction. Certain pickups will accentuate the sound of the growl, or more so the TRUE sound of the bass!

Don C · #7 03-24-2007, 07:42 PM

Gary, as the designer (?) of the Revolution Solo II, could you give me a comparison between the Revolution and the Underwood pickups.
I've had an Underwood for years but don't use it much because on the five Basses I've tried it on , this pickup just has so much midrange that I don't have enough EQ on my amp to bring it down to acceptable levels without dragging along an outboard EQ.
I've had much more success with Wilson pickups, as long as you keep the volume under control they sound great on my number 1 bass.
I'm looking for a pickup that is portable, that I can move between my two other Basses as the need arises.
Your pickup looks to be a similar idea to the Underwood and looks very portable.
I was wondering how the sound differs from the Underwoods.

bolo · #8 03-25-2007, 08:20 PM

FWIW, I would agree that the growl comes from the hands and from the bass. My fingers are a little tender from growling at a gig from 11:00 to 2:30 this afternoon. The amp volume was set super low, and was just there for a little bit of support in a fairly large room. I was pullin' pretty hard.

IME and IMO, the Rev Solo will convey that growl in your amplified sound very nicely. I have not used an Underwood on my bass, but as a very gross generalization (YMMV, etc.), I think on many basses the RS gets a "woodier" sound. Plus growl.

Oh yeah, like Ric said. Spiros should do the trick all right. The Weichs were a little too ... light for me. Got a set of Mittels on my bass these days which are workin' pretty well.

clink · #9 03-25-2007, 08:54 PM

I never tried the Underwood on this bass because the bridge wing on the treble side needed to be filed and I didn't want to do it. The RSII does sound (I think) somewhat similar, but I get a woody sound that I never got on the other bass/Underwood. Also, the attack is pretty natural. I think someone would have to try both on the same bass to know for sure.