Double Bass Adding Thump

[SamuelHarris]

Long story short:

Used a realist for a long time, got a Fishman BP-100 as a backup. Realist died, BP-100 went on as a temporary solution til I found something else. Come to find I really enjoy the clarity I get out of the BP-100. When things get loud and noisey like they often do on my corporate event/restaurant gigs, the BP-100 is a godsend.

It is a very sustain-y, fretless electric kinda sound and I would love to have a second pickup to add more "thump".

I'm using an Acoustic Image clarus so I have two channels for mixing.

My first thought is the LifeLine, if it has as much thump as a realist I'd be happy. I don't want to do another Realist as I just don't like how it interferes with the bridge and the top.

I'm still trying to sell/trade a Fishman Full Circle, should I just stop being lazy and get it professionally installed? Hows the thump on the FC?

I'm also intrigued by a Schertler Dyn B currently in the classifieds.

Thoughts?

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

The thump on the Full Circle is great if you get that tone naturally out of your instrument. To hear it in action in a variety of settings, go to the "Performance Videos" link on my site and scroll around the videos to hear what it sounds like in very different rooms.

For my money, it's a great pickup for thump.

 

[rickwolff]

I've found the lifeline to be appropriately named. I like it a lot. Right now I'm experimenting with mixing it with my AKG C411? contact mic which has great highs and presence. Moving away a bit from MBOL to get the best 'gig sound'. On my way to a piano duo gig now and have a rather loud jazz gig on Friday that can kind of bury the MBOL thing. I'll let you know how the blend works but I can say I really like rhe Lifeline as a good start for any blending I've tried.

 

[Jeff Bonny]

Two pickups have never worked well for me. Seems like a good idea in principle but in practice playing two separate EQ stages against each other and phasing issues have been a lot more trouble than they've been worth. May be better to find a pickup you like better for what it is.

Or a parametric EQ to zero in on and accentuate whatever your idea of "thump" is?

 

[neddyrow]

i can speak to the Schertler and AKG c411 side - the Schertler is much more sensitive and hi-fi compared to the AKG. this is actually a bad thing for what you may need. you will get way more volume before feedback with the AKG.

i get a good thump using - Evah E/A and Red-O-Ray D/G - bassmax - fdeck or broughton HPF/LPF - AI Ten2 head and 2x10 cabinet.

Dark gut strings, HPF, a clean head and a 2x10 cabinet has been my formula for a thump

i've always been interested in a lifeline and had a full circle that broke on me. have stayed with the bassmax because for the price, an many applications, its a great choice - no reason to leave. so cheap that i have 3 of them!

 

[bassmanbrent]

I like the Lifeline. To me it's halfway between a Realist and a Full Circle. I can definitely get enough thump from it to make me happy in most rooms. Keep in mind that this is only my highly subjective, non scientific opinion. Your results may, and will likely, vary

 

[Jason Sypher]

I think you need one good pick-up. Tony Garnier used to have a bunch of different pick-ups on his Gibson that he toured with Dylan with and he would choose the one that sounded best in each situation but he was still only using one at a time. For a road guy I like the idea of having a few options but for a hometown guy I'd just get one, probably a life-line. Lifelines sort of split the difference between Full Circles and the original DG under the bridge design. I think you'll dig it.

Also double check yourself that your set up hasn't slipped below into the sitar zone and gotten a little too low to get the proper thump. Sometimes half a turn on the bridge adjuster can bring you back up into thumpland.

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

Also double check yourself that your set up hasn't slipped below into the sitar zone and gotten a little too low to get the proper thump. Sometimes half a turn on the bridge adjuster can bring you back up into thumpland.

This is a great point that I deal with every winter and every spring: each winter my bass loses thump and I wonder why until I take a closer look and notice that my bass has entered the United Federation of Van Halen; then each spring, after making the winter adjustment, there comes a point where I accidentally find my entire forearm wedged between the strings and the board, so I know it's time to lower them again. It's makes a huge difference.

 

[SamuelHarris]

While I think my bp-100 doesn't put out the acoustic thump of my bass well I have to say that I just switched from spiro solos to pirastro jazzers due to feel reasons but I'm finding the increased tension from the jazzers is bringing back a lot of acoustic thump. And this is starting to come through with even the bp-100.

I almost feel like there's thump as a tonal feature (which the spiro solos have and many classical strings do when played pizz) and acoustic thump like when you hear spiro mitts jacked up. Thoughts?

 

[Reiska]

For me and with my setup ( plain guts on top of evah weichs, G at 9mm`s ) the Lifeline brings a huge percussive front end to the note. Not sure if that`s best described as " click " or " thump ", but all that sums up to my bass sounding very much like a double bass, thru any amp that comes on my way.

 

[Huy Nguyen]

Ischell.

 

[Povl Carstensen]

Turn down treble. Or if your speaker has a treble/tweeter attenuator, turn it down.