Realist Confusion

silvertone · #1 03-16-2008, 01:23 PM

I play honky tonk and bluegrass bass in San Francisco.
(I also play mandolin).

Anyway - I have a German Upright Bass (Johan Kessler) fitted with a Realist pickup.

I recently purchased an Eden 260-wtx head and run it through an Eden 210 XLT cabinet. This combo gives me a great small room sound with my Fender Dlx Jazz bass.

On the flip side - I am getting next-to-no output running the Upright with the Realist straight into the Eden.

I then tried using an LR Baggs Para-acoustic DI and got zero output using a 1/4" guitar cable. I definitely tweaked and fiddled with all the output controls on both the head and DI.

When I used the XLR output of the DI and put an XLR to 1/4" converter on the cable I got some output - but my upright was louder than the amped signal.

Using the Realist and DI works great with a PA system (I gigged this way last night) - but not with this Eden Amp.

Clearly the solution is to go buy some other amp to use with the upright - but can anyone think of a reason why this Eden 260wtx sucks so bady with a Realist pup?

TS
SF, CA

Greg Clinkingbeard · #2 03-16-2008, 02:01 PM

It may be a combination of things. First, the Realist isn't one of the hightest output pickups out there. Also, the input impedance of the 260 isn't high enough to be ideal for piezo pickups. I owned the Eden for over six months, but never used it with a Realist so I can't say for sure, but I wouldn't think they would be great together. FWIW, I don't think the Eden is the best amp for DB. As you've found, it is good with a passive slab though.

wiro · #3 03-16-2008, 03:03 PM

Once I had the same issue. The problem you're dealing with is mainly the high impedance of the realist compared to the 'normal' impedance of a magnetic pu from a BG. Most PA-stuff is suited for this kind of impedance issues. Most bass amps aren't.

Any pre-amp with a 10 M-ohm input or higher is fine for the realist. One of the better solutions is to use the Fishman Pro-EQ Platinum pre-amp. There are a lot of controlls and they are all useable:

http://www.gollihurmusic.com/product...AMPLIFIER.html

rnilson · #4 03-17-2008, 08:36 AM

I have had the same problem with several different bass amps I have encountered with my realist. It is the impedance issue. If your gonna stick with that amp you'll have to switch pickups or get a pre-amp like the one posted above.

bolo · #5 03-17-2008, 11:52 AM

If the root cause of the problem is in fact simply an impedance mismatch, here's a more affordable way to get 10 Mohm input impedance for your Realist that you might want to consider. This unit does not have as many features as the Fishman pictured above, but it does include a high pass filter and phase reversal.

Will work equally well with any piezo pickup, even passive EBs. Provides about a 2dB boost if I recall.

speedster · #6 03-17-2008, 05:20 PM

Sounds like you might have a broken wire/solder joint on the realist pickup.

Regardless of the amp it should have lots of volume, some amps need to be matched using a pre-amp due to the high impedence issues.

Usually it just means a thin sound or a full bass low end sound. At least there is lots of sound and signal.

The realist is suseptable to broken wire/solder joints as are most piezo's....

Suggest you start there....... good luck

mattfong · #7 03-17-2008, 07:32 PM

Actually I'm having almost the same problem with my Realist/Eden setup. The Realist has a really hot signal, so the input gain on my Eden is at about 9 oclock (pretty low) so even with my master volume at full, its not that loud.

MacDaddyBass · #8 03-17-2008, 08:48 PM

I have the same setup (Realist into LR Baggs Para-DI) and I've never had any problems. I've used it with many different rigs and it's always been great. I highly doubt you need to get a different pre-amp as the LR Baggs is phenomenal. I would pursue the faulty Realist wiring, that's your best bet.

mattfong · #9 03-17-2008, 11:20 PM

Since I have an EQ, compression, etc on my amp would I be able to get away with a cheaper more basic preamp?

salcott · #10 03-17-2008, 11:43 PM

In my experience, the Realist is one of the least fussy pickups as far as amp compatibility is concerned. It sounds like the problem is with the pickup itself.

wiro · #11 03-18-2008, 05:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mattfong

Since I have an EQ, compression, etc on my amp would I be able to get away with a cheaper more basic preamp?

Sure, the pre-amp and therefore the impedance is the same.