Acoustic to Electric

[danielsan00]

Howdy all
Hopefully I'm in the right area for this.
Was wondering if anyone could offer some technical advice ?
I have a monteray 4 string acoustic bass that has just never really sounded right, uneven string volumes through the piezo.
Want to try something radical and mount a basslines humbucker or a single jazz pickup into the sound hole.
I'm aware i will probably lose a lot of the distictive "acoustic" sound, but am willing to sacrifice this.
Any ideas on how to do this and how to be able to play it live without it taking off when standing in front of my 8x10 rig ??
Have considered trying to mount it into a "feedback buster" but am worried it may be too heavy and bounce around all over the place.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance

 

[96tbird]

Can't help you with a pickup but your piezo sounds like the saddle isn't making consistent contact along the length of the element. More of a problem with a flexible element I'm told, but piezos are 100% contact driven so it has to be consistent contact under all strings. Try removing the saddle and lifting the element out and setting it back in. Make sure that it is in there flat. Look at the bottom of the saddle, make sure it's perfecly flat. replace it and make sure that it doesn't slop around in the slot. Hold it securely in place and tension your A string then the D, E and G. That may help.

 

[anonymous122511]

After you check to see if the bridge saddle is true look a where the string comes out of the bridge and touches wood of the bridge. The next point the string touches is the bridge saddle. Yes? The angle of the string between these two point determines the pressure on the piezo under the saddle.If you remove wood from the bridge the angle of the string increases and applies more pressure to the bridge saddle and increases the volume of that string. It doesn't take much wood removed (ie 3-4 strokes with a file) to make a huge change. It's a finicky, time consuming process that only works one direction...you can't put the wood back on very easily once you've taken it off. The piezo can be evened up but it's a gig for an experienced tech.

Sticking a Jazz pickup in is something you can do yourself and it might sound surprisingly good.
Advice on how to play standing in front of an 8x10 cab? QUIETLY!
Seriously anything hollow will feed back past a certain point. I really think you have a great idea mounting it to a feedback buster though. A nice tight fit and it may work. A company called Tesa makes some outstanding double sided tape that would keep it from moving. might damage the finish though.

 

[danielsan00]

Thanks guys.
Have had professional work done on the bridge and saddle but still no luck.
Just got the bass back from my mate who is an engineering wizz . . . Holy Crap !
He's made an alloy feedback buster and fitted a basslines humbucker into it - fully height adjustable.
This thing sounds amazing, still has the hollowbody sound but real bite when played with a pick
Packed a little bit of foam under the bridge to stop a bit of the feedback. Seems to work well in front of a practice amp.
Will post pics if interested.

 

[anonymous122511]

Yes, pics please!

 

[prd004]

May I reccomend an undersaddle pickup upgrade?

Piezos are outdated, Highlander and LR Baggs both make incredible undersaddle acoustic pickups that go way beyond pressure sensitive piezo undersaddles that sound all clanky and uneven!

The Highlander and the LR Baggs pick up the vibrations of the top and bridge, not the pressure of the string on the saddle. They sound sensational, natural, and capture the nuances of your playing. I have the Highlander on my Larivee acoustic guitar and it outperforms my brothers $3,000 Taylor expression system. I also have the LR Baggs on my Carvin Acoustic/Electric bass and it's unbelievable!

I give both of them an A++++