New pickup or amp?

Manticore Guy · #1 03-25-2007, 08:33 PM

I play upright bass for the jazz band at my school. There is a Fishman BP- 100 that I use for my bass, and the school has a Fender Bassman 200 Amp. The combination of those two plus my upright frankly sounds pretty bad. My teacher claims that the sound is bad because "the Bassman is an electric amp. With an acoustic bass amp, the sound would be much better". However, I've read a lot here on TB about how the BP 100 is a less than superior device, and that a full circle or another pickup would solve this problem.
So my question is, is it the BP 100 causing the bad sound or the combination of the upright going through the Bassman 200?

**Chris Fitzgerald** · #2 03-25-2007, 08:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Manticore Guy

So my question is, is it the BP 100 causing the bad sound or the combination of the upright going through the Bassman 200?

Probably a bit of both, but a good bit of advice is to start at the beginning of youyr signal chain and work forward from there. Your sound will almost certainly improve with a Full Circle. I've used a couple of the Fender Bassman amps with my FC equipped basses. While they don't sound as good as they would through the AI/EA gear I normally use, I bet they sound better than they would with a BP-100 though the more expensive rig. YMMV.

uptonbass · #3 03-25-2007, 08:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris Fitzgerald

but a good bit of advice is to start at the beginning of youyr signal chain and work forward from there..

I vote pickup first then amp....plus one is cheaper than the other

Eli_Upright12 · #4 03-25-2007, 08:51 PM

yeah i Play in a (probably) similar jazz band at my high school and i play my upright with the full circles and we played a gig where i played through a Peavey TNT whixh is probably a pretty similar amp, And it sounded pretty good a bit woofy cuz of the 15 inch speaker but not too bad.

mje · #5 03-25-2007, 09:24 PM

I'd say before you buy anything, experiment with the tone settings, rolling the bass of a bit and the mids a lot. This should give you more defintion.

T-Bal · #6 03-25-2007, 10:04 PM

You could also try the BP100 on the other side of the bridge (the underside, so you can't see it from where you stand when you're playing). You can also mount it with hot glue instead of the clips, and try different distances from the strings for more or less string sound.

If that still isn't working, I would try another pickup as opposed to another amp.

Michael Case · #7 03-25-2007, 10:20 PM

A good (and less permanent) alternative to the hot glue is two sided tape on the BP-100 elements. Then when you find a spot that works you can move on to the hot glue. I've used my bass with a newly acquired Full Circle through a SWR working-mans 15 and liked the sound. The Realist is also a good choice, but not as good at higher volumes.

tornadobass · #8 03-26-2007, 07:05 AM

No mention here of using an outboard preamp? That pickup definitely benefits from one. That'd also be the least expensive, least work solution to improving the sound. Try the basic Fishman or K&K models, for example.

Michael Case · #9 03-26-2007, 08:58 AM

I have the Fishman Pro Platinum EQ, bought when I was using BP_100 works wonders.

Manticore Guy · #10 03-26-2007, 07:57 PM

Alright thanks people, I will tell my teacher about your suggestions tomorrow. If anyone else has something to add, feel free.

peterpalmieri · #11 03-26-2007, 08:37 PM

For what it's worth I saw Stanley Clarke on Saturdayy night and he still uses a BP 100 with a EBS micro bass pre pedal and it sounds great!

I still own a BP100 and don't find it to be terrible....