Double Bass 1/4" jack holder

[joenoone]

Hi,
I am happy with my Upright pickup, but it came with a plastic clip that went through an E-string to hold the 1/4" connector in place which quickly broke. Does anyone know where I can purchase just the mounting plate for a 1/4" connector that clips between two strings below the bridge like this?

 

[Don Kasper]

Hi joenoone,
Unfortunately, the mounting system in your pic above is custom-made by Fishman - they machine (and modify) an existing jack and fabricate the mounting plate. As far as I know, these are not available for sale without buying the complete Pickup.
I've Mac-Guyvered a similar mounting system (see below), but it requires a bit of Tinkering Skills and Tools.
I really prefer this type of mounting system over the "plastic clip" nonsense that many pickup makers use.
Good Luck.

The ongoing Underwood "1 element or 2 element" discussion prompted me to see if I could adapt my unused "second element" that I removed to make my "1 element" Underwood Pickup. (For that, I simply cut off the G side element and adapted it using an old Fishman BP-100 afterlength mounting system, which I really like.)
I only have 1 of the Fishman mounting systems, so I needed to fabricate some way to mount this leftover Underwood element.
First, I had to remove the Underwood plastic tie-wrap connecting gizmo, and chop off the 1/4in. jack.

Then make the afterlength piece out of 1/32in. brass sheet.
BTFW- This took me a LONG time, and I eff'ed up the first one.
(Measure THRICE, and Cut ONCE!)

This is a Switchcraft Deep Panel Jack, commonly used in the BG world for side-mounting the output signal on solid body basses.
I used 3 layers (total) of shrink-wrap tubing to protect the connection and to cover the jack.

Difficult to see in the pics, but I added some felt-like material to cushion the afterlength bracket and reduce the chance of any rattles.
I will install it on my bass tomorrow for a test run, just to be sure it's working normally.
I did confirm that it is producing some sort of signal, uninstalled, FYI.
I need a drink...
Thanks.

Last edited: Nov 11, 2017

 

[Roger Davis]

Great stuff, Don. Neat.

 

[Ric Vice]

Hi,
I am happy with my Upright pickup, but it came with a plastic clip that went through an E-string to hold the 1/4" connector in place which quickly broke. Does anyone know where I can purchase just the mounting plate for a 1/4" connector that clips between two strings below the bridge like this?


View attachment 3081960

Actually,
If you email Fishman and tell them you need a replacement jack for the BP-100 you can buy one directly from them. At least you used to be able to. Just don't purchase the jack for the Fishman Full Circle as it's a different design. Doing it this way you'll have to un-solder and resolder the 1/4" jack.

 

[Don Kasper]

Actually,
If you email Fishman and tell them you need a replacement jack for the BP-100 you can buy one directly from them.
At least you used to be able to. Just don't purchase the jack for the Fishman Full Circle as it's a different design. Doing it
this way you'll have to un-solder and resolder the 1/4" jack.

Just DON'T order the BP-100 pickup!!!!!
jk - IMFO.
Thanks.

 

[Ric Vice]

Just DON'T order the BP-100 pickup!!!!!
jk - IMFO.
Thanks.

 

[The Boy]

I asked a friend to 3D print one for my dpa mic. Doesn’t work as well as the metal one on the k&k i had, but works well enough.

 

[Dr. Love]

Another alternative is the screw on jack clip from gollihur, it works well.

 

[joenoone]

So looking some more I saw Schatten made a jack that mounted on a banjo that might work for between strings:

Talking with a vendor on Reverb (Blue Star Music), he also pointed me to an even better solution - a Schatten mount specific for Upright basses looks very promising:

The banjo one sells for $35 but the bass bracket is only $14. Not sure about screwing a mount into the tail piece, but then again those aren't that expensive to replace if I mess it up. The question in my mind, though, is would a cable plugged into this move the tail piece too much as opposed to a K&K one between the strings (or maybe I'm over-thinking it)...

 

[Povl Carstensen]

I think you are overthinking it. At least, not mounting it between the strings, you avoid messing with the afterlengths resonance..

 

[james condino]

Drop the &^%$#@! lame metal "claw" clip that pulls out every set and just go direct to the tailpiece. You don't need to buy anything, just enlarge the string hole ever so slightly and attach. On a side note, why is it that the majority of the bass tailpieces string holes are too small to put the ball end in through the top?????

 

[Povl Carstensen]

Drop the &^%$#@! lame metal "claw" clip that pulls out every set and just go direct to the tailpiece. You don't need to buy anything, just enlarge the string hole ever so slightly and attach. On a side note, why is it that the majority of the bass tailpieces string holes are too small to put the ball end in through the top?????

View attachment 3086622

Simplicity at its finest.