picking brains regarding pickups!

[joe bass player]

Hi, i'm new to Talkbass.
i've been playing electric bass for about 6 years now, and since easter i've been learning the double bass on a Hungarian 3/4 sized with a slightly green hue.

Now, i've been extensively looking through this forum and www.urbbob.com for guidance and advice as to which pickups are favoured etc. I'll primarily be playing jazz on my upright, and my budget is around £250/$420.
I don't really want to go down the Full Circle/Realist route, as they reacquire special bridges in order to be fitted.

I've been leaning towards the K&K Max with the golden bullet Mic attachment, but weather the mic is a good idea or not i'm not so sure. The problem is that i haven't been able to find many sound clips of the K&K pickups/systems.

So my questions are -
*Does anyone have any samples of any K&K equipment?
*What pickups do you advise i look at getting if not from K&K?
*to Mic...or not to Mic?!


thanks in advance

[adbass]

i gotta say i really enjoy the realist.
1. you can def install it yourself by just raising to foot of the bridge on the Estring side.
2. the bow sounds decent thru it
3. its dark sounding and loud.
4. relatively cheap

i recently tried a mic -- the one chris mcbride uses-- and it feedsback before you get any of that nice acoustic sound thru it.

well, theres my 2 cents. best of luck!

[Bob Gollihur]

Whether a mic will be practical or not will depend on your environment and the volumes you need to produce.

I am able to use the K&K mic because most of my requirements are modest. However, I've always got the pickup there to supplement or supplant the mic when the going gets tough or loud, or stage size/placement means I've got the amp or the drummer too in my face. Blending some pickup into the mic signal also helps to sort of "firm up" the sound.

But if you are in a competitive environment, either volume or a dense mix, a mic quickly becomes impractical or at least a challenge to use effectively.

FYI, the Realist does not require anything special in terms of a bridge, you just slip it beneath the bridge foot.

[bolo]

Gonna quote myself from another thread.

Originally Posted by bolo

As they say "Welcome to the dark side."

Here is a good place to start your pickup, preamp, and amp quest. Scroll down the page to the section on pickups and microphones.

Browsing the profiles of people who post in this forum frequently will give you a good idea of what kind of gear people are using too.

And you can hear what some pickups sound like here. But be forewarned ... many of these pickups can sound VERY different from one DB to the next.

But this is certainly a great place to pose questions and gather information.

Enjoy.

And urbbob.com is a great resource too.