problems with the Realist

[abaguer]

Originally Posted by Bob Branstetter

Since most of the folks here have been complaining about the lack of highs with the Realist. I'm here to say that it is entirely dependent on the bass.

Yes, I agree. I'm another person who gets highs out of the Realist and I'm often turning down the treble on my my Clarus. I've got a Kay with an ebony fingerboard put on by D. Gage. By the way I really enjoyed Mood Indigo on the TB sampler page.

[Pete Bainbridge]

To TWW001 - it's spelled Steve Meashey, based in Lebanon PA. He's a beautiful player,and a beautiful person.

[kwd]

Originally Posted by tww001

anyone have any suggestions on a relatively inexpensive (i'm a poor college student!) blenders? I want to see what the realist and the fishman sound like together. from what i get from them individually, i think i'll be pretty satisfied.

The K&K dual-preamp at $100 is worth considering. The Baggs Mixpro is a good choice too. If you're concerned about $$, ask around and see if you can borrow a blender before plunking down the cash.

[tony moore]

i too have a realist on my old king moretone, and it is indeed dark. but i notice a HUGE difference between my little gk combo (single 12) and my woods/flite combo (12, 5 and tweeter). the sound is very natural and much like the acoustic sound of my bass. i also notice this when i plug direct into our pa with no amp and listen to the full range pa speakers.

so maybe the problem is with the speaker cabinet that's trying to reproduce the signal from the pickup? double bass is very sonically complex and most amps seem to be geared towards ebg's that have a much stronger fundamental and less harmonically complex...

hope this helps!

tony

[kwd]

Originally Posted by tony moore

)..... so maybe the problem is with the speaker cabinet that's trying to reproduce the signal from the pickup? double bass is very sonically complex and most amps seem to be geared towards ebg's that have a much stronger fundamental and less harmonically complex...

hope this helps!

tony

Tony

Thanks. It does help. I was in a jazz workshop a few weeks ago where the amps were provided. I plugged into an amp with a 15" cab and got the best sound I've ever got out of the Realist. It was nice and woody with ample top end. I ended up mixing the BassMax completely out. The next day in a larger group setting I had to mix in the BassMax to hear myself so it's kind of a mixed bag. In a small room with the right cab, the Realist wins but not when you're trying compete with horns.

[tony moore]

that makes perfect sense! i would also go for more fundamental and more mids to cut thru in that situation...

tony

[LarryR]

Tony,

You do bring a great point that may be a universal point to be made about URB sound. That yes, there are so many, many factors involved in achieving a good live sound.
Sound of upright unamped.
Type of Pickup
Type of Amp
Type of Cabinet
Room acoustics.
Band configuration (trio, big band, Electric gtr?, etc.)
Style of music
Proficiency of the player
Stage setup (size of the stage, configuration, etc.).

Your point made me realize that I may have poo-poo'd (and scrapped) the Realist too quickly. My variables were: the Realist on a Christopher 403T with Spirocore Weichs with Acme Low B-2 / Clarus, playing fast bop on a tiny stage with a loud, swingin' quartet. I had all the low-end warmth and no little mids and no highs whatsoever. Bottom lilne: couldn't hear myself. I have enough power, I have decent technique. Maybe the Acme was wrong. Maybe a small monitor at ear-level would've helped. Again, lots of variables.

...my 2 cents

[tony moore]

yeah, it's definetly an interesting dilemna...

all the things we love about the sound/tone of a doublebass are the very things that keep it from cutting thru a dense mix. which, in addition to portability, is prolly why leo fender's concepts work so well in dense or just plain loud environments

to me, the mids are really important to being able to hear myself. the bad part is, the more mids present the more it sounds like an electric bass guitar! when swing remerged in the 90's and everyone had to have a zoot suit and an "upright" bass, the bass in those ensembles always sounded like fretless ebg's to me. BUT, they did cut thru the horns

if you've ever had the chance to spend time in a studio, it's really interesting to hear a recorded bass part solo'ed and then in the mix. it can be REALLY surprising to hear how awful a bass may sound unaccompanied and then how great it sounds in the context of a mix...

tony

[LarryR]

I've installed a Biesele pickup so I never have to worry about cutting through again. I'm getting a Full Circle to blend them in hopes of achieving what you mentioned: upright sound with volume.

So far, with just the Biesele, opinions from the crowd are very positive: "sounds like an upright". Adding Eurosonic Ultralights has helped I believe. Still, if I can find that magic spot to blend the pickups, I'll be done spending dough on my sound.

Only problem with the FC, I have to thread up as my bridge feet are too short to accommodate the threads. What I wanted with FC was it's "airy" string sound, instead I'll be getting more PHAT. Looks like I may have to recut a new bridge.

I love Bob Gollihur's msg: Life is too short for bad tone