Double Bass Adding string sound/treble

[Tim de Martino]

Hi all,

I've tried searches, FAQs etc. but came up with not much.

Is there a transducer that is particularly trebly or over emphasises "string" sound?

My solid top bass is quite dark sounding already and with the original Realist I get very little definition. I like the warmth and body but would like to add another pickup to accentuate the highs. I've tried EQ but obviously you can't add frequencies that aren't already there.

FWIW, I play almost all pizz (Caribbean, jazz and rock), bass is a Chinese student/intermediate model solid top with D'addario Hybrid mediums, Realist copper foil into either AI and 2 x single 12 Hartke cabs or EV ZLX powered speaker with choice of HPF series 3, modded (1meg input) Bassbone, Sadowski preamp, Zoom Ms60B or etc. etc.

I've tried all combinations but gear was mostly bought for electric bass usage so it's lying around anyway.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Tim

 

[Jeff Bonny]

Different strings? Maybe what you want to hear just isn't being produced by the bass clearly enough that a different pickup would be the easiest solution?

Or have you considered trying a quality parametric EQ not to push the frequencies you want more of but rather to make cuts to expose them? That might turn out to be a loosing battle but if you could borrow something like an Empress ParaEQ even if it's not 100% satisfactory you might learn more about what's really there and not there there frequency-wise with the Realist. This thought occurs because EQing two sources has worked best for me in the rehearsal studio. Out in the world where often my "soundcheck" is a few notes to get an appropriate level then play it has for the most part turned out to be a giant pain in the ass.

 

[Steven Ayres]

I found the Fishman BP-100 pickup set to be annoyingly nasal and string-sensitive. Might work for you.

 

[Adam Booker]

I use the Upton Revolution Solo II and I find it to have a very articulate high end and a very solid low end. YMMV.

 

[Eric Hochberg]

Pretty much any bridge wing pickup will add full range, IME. I used and Underwood blended with Realist for a while and liked the sound a lot.

 

[Jeff Bonny]

Pretty much any bridge wing pickup will add full range, IME. I used and Underwood blended with Realist for a while and liked the sound a lot.

Despite my first post above my first thought went back to the late 70's and an Underwood straight into the amp....pretty hard sounding in the upper mids. Heck, I hadn't even heard of an impedance matching preamp.

 

[Eric Hochberg]

Despite my first post above my first thought went back to the late 70's and an Underwood straight into the amp....pretty hard sounding in the upper mids. Heck, I hadn't even heard of an impedance matching preamp.

Using one element is less middy and squashed and more full range sounding, IME.

 

[Jeff Bonny]

Using one element is less middy and squashed and more full range sounding, IME.

Agree.

 

[Pat Harris]

From the gear you've listed, specifically the HPF3, have you tried rolling off significant lows and boosting the overall volume of the amp instead of trying to add high end?

 

[Eric Hochberg]

The Realist is very dark sounding, IME. Not many mids and highs are in the basic sound to boost.

 

[Tim de Martino]

Thanks for the replies, very helpful.

I tried cutting and boosting volume with both the para eq and the hpf3 but there still wasn't really anything up top. I realise the realist (ha) is very dark and I really like that warmth, I just want to add to it. I find it ironic, and I'm certain it's not lost on you people, that we lug around this huge acoustic instrument and then artificially add frequencies that aren't there otherwise...

I suspected a bridge mounted piezo may be the answer. There are budget ones from the uk on ebay that have an okay reputation so I'll give one of them a go first. I'm guessing i could just run them independently into the k&k dual channel pre and level the volumes - I don't know if the regular k&k pres are suitable for bass, I guess I'll know soon enough. I'm very lucky to have so many options to try out.

Cheers,

Tim

 

[Eric Hochberg]

I find it ironic, and I'm certain it's not lost on you people, that we lug around this huge acoustic instrument and then artificially add frequencies that aren't there otherwise...

Tim

Each bass produces the sonic spectrum individually. It's not that we add frequencies that aren't there, but with pickup, amp and eq, we can shape those frequencies created by our playing, bass, and strings, to varying degrees.