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Double Bass Alternate mounting of a BP-100

Mr.Bassie720

Mr.Bassie720

Feb 5, 2005
1,702
1,294
53
Washington DC,Silver Spring,MD
#1
Hello all. I did a search on this but came up empty. I did get a lot of information though, and for that, I thank you all. My son has recently begun his URB studies. We are of modest means and can not afford some things. A very nice fellow at our local music store gave him a Fishman BP-100 with the warning that it was not the best sounding pickup but that if you had it mounted under the bridge feet, like the Realist, then you would get a good useable tone. Have any of you ever tried or heard of this? I did read of some alternate ways to mount the BP100 but not this. Thoughts and comments would be much appreciated.
 
#2
I cant answer your question directly, but I can give you some other hints for using that pickup.

You will need a preamp for that pickup such as this one courtesy of Francis Deck

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You can get the parts from an electronics hobby store for maybe ~$20.

Alternately, I recently experimented mounting a $30 microphone (similar to what public speakers clip onto their shirts) on the endpin inside the bass with good results.

If your son is not playing loud music you can amplify a bass for very little money (minus the cost of the amp), but loud amplification requires some good quality and unfortunately expensive gear.
 
#3
If your son is a beginner and you say you are of modest means, like many of us, the BP-100 isn't completely bad. When I returned to DB I used such a pickup for a year and did reasonably well with it. There are still some players who use it as their preferred pickup. I never tried putting the elements under the bridge foot. Seems to me that you wouldn't get proper contact bridge to table. There are those who superglue the elements to the side of the bridge instead of the potentially vibration damping metal clips. And a preamp to buffer the impedance down to 1K Ohm would do wonders.

My advice, concentrate on bass studies with the BP, then in a year's time condsider another pickup.
 
#9
When I played steel string, the BP-100 was my preferred pickup as it worked great on my '28 Juzek. I tried it on a number of other basses without any success at all. So like all pickups, how well it works depends greatly on the bass, strings, set up and player. You absolutely need a high impedance input so a preamp is a must or, if you have a series II Acoustic Image amp, they had high Z inputs built in. I mounted mine in the traditional way with both piezos on top of the bridge. Finding right pressure with the clamps is very important as well. Too tight and the sound is choked. Too loose and all of the bottom end is lost. Use a pair of needle nose pliers to widen or close the clamps. Note: for the basses it didn't work on, it didn't matter where I put the piezos or how much or little pressure I tried with the clamps, it sounded like fingernails on a blackboard).

To hear what the BP-100 sounded like on my '28 Juzek go to my Myspace page and listen to the track entitled "Voodoo Butter." It is the rough mix from the session (it was the mix sent to the drummer's headphones and we found that straight pickup to the drummer's phones worked better for him). It is a little piezo-y but it sounds way better than any other pickup I tried on that bass. Unfortunately, I don't solo on this tune but you can hear the bass pretty well during the guitar solo.

mark
 
#11
That'd be great. Let me know ahead of time. If you have time, I'd be happy to show you my set up.

I used the Fdeck preamp. It is the best preamp that I've tried and it only costs $55. You can order directly from him. Find his profile on TB and contact him directly through it. I liked it so much and I was so dependent on it that I bought 2 spares in the event anything happened to mine.

I've been playing on gut strings for the past 2 and 1/2 months and have been using a microphone and a Schertler Stat-B pickup that comes with it's own pre-amp so the Fdeck Pre has been on the shelf. I'll use it again if I ever go back to steel strings.

mark
 
#12
I've been getting very good results from the BP100 I use. I used to hold them on to the top of the bridge with small bulldog clips, the ones with removable handles, which worked well, but prevented me from using my practice mute. So I would remove them when using the practice mute.

Of course, I turned up at a gig once with the practice mute still on and the pickup not. A quick fix with a folded up train ticket allowed me to pack the pickups between the bridge wings, and I've found that this position also works well. In fact I keep them there at the moment, I'm getting a really good sound and so am loathe to remove them...

The amp I use (Eden cxc110) has an input designed for piezos so I don't need a preamp with that, but as others have pointed out, it may be necessary for amps that do not.

Jennifer
 

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