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Double Bass An Ehrlund blog, sort of
- Thread starter drurb
- Start date
These?
You attach the cable in anyway you can to your bass that doesn't make noise and you won't trip over.. ?
Use anything.. String, ties, foam ...
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I actually have that ART preamp. It's cool for adding a little warmth or gnarl to the sound but it obviously adds a lot of color to anything you run through it. You would get a cleaner signal with just about any other preamp out there.
I used the Ehrlund with the Headway EDB-2 for several years. That combination sounds great. The EDB-2 allows you to eliminate the Ehund Pre.
Ric
Hi all,
I wanted to jump in here and share my first experiences with the EAP and preamp. After reading (most of) this thread I made the plunge and ordered an Ehrlund from Gollihur, knowing they have a 7 day trial period.
Well, the first few days trying it out, I was especting to return it. Then I found a decent location, nice! I took it out to a medium/low volume jazz/improvised music concert this past weekend.
I was very very pleased, and the house recording from the concert confirms what I was experiencing on stage: MBOL. Much of the sound had to do with the blend of my acoustic instrument, and the stage, and the room, but nothing coming from my amp sounded unlike my bass.
I used the EAP into pickup into a Grace Alix, and sent that to a GK micro head power section into a SWR 2x10.
To help with some clarity on the G string and thumb position (the one lacking area with the EAP at my home trial session) I also ran my realist into my old Clarus head, lows rolled off, into a Wizzy 10. Essentially I was amplifying mostly all the EAP but with just a dash of the high end of the realist. As you can see I don't have a blending amp, but this shlep heavy (cable intensive!) set up did the trick!
I love, as has been mentioned here, how turning up the volume doesn't produce any coloration or bump.
I also agree with other satisfied TBers about the way it really changes the way you play. So much nuance, sensitivity.
Looking forward to taking it out to more gigs!
I wanted to jump in here and share my first experiences with the EAP and preamp. After reading (most of) this thread I made the plunge and ordered an Ehrlund from Gollihur, knowing they have a 7 day trial period.
Well, the first few days trying it out, I was especting to return it. Then I found a decent location, nice! I took it out to a medium/low volume jazz/improvised music concert this past weekend.
I was very very pleased, and the house recording from the concert confirms what I was experiencing on stage: MBOL. Much of the sound had to do with the blend of my acoustic instrument, and the stage, and the room, but nothing coming from my amp sounded unlike my bass.
I used the EAP into pickup into a Grace Alix, and sent that to a GK micro head power section into a SWR 2x10.
To help with some clarity on the G string and thumb position (the one lacking area with the EAP at my home trial session) I also ran my realist into my old Clarus head, lows rolled off, into a Wizzy 10. Essentially I was amplifying mostly all the EAP but with just a dash of the high end of the realist. As you can see I don't have a blending amp, but this shlep heavy (cable intensive!) set up did the trick!
I love, as has been mentioned here, how turning up the volume doesn't produce any coloration or bump.
I also agree with other satisfied TBers about the way it really changes the way you play. So much nuance, sensitivity.
Looking forward to taking it out to more gigs!
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Wow, I am loving this thing.
Thank you to all for your input on this thread that led me to try the EAP. Here's more of my take on it...
On my louder gig tonight I wanted to simplify and I tried out just the EAP/pre with no pickup support. Wow. Such bounce to every note. Kind of gives me the effect of when you stand out front and hear someone else play your acoustic bass- but instead that rich low end is coming out of the speaker.
On a side note- the Grace Alix is cool (not totally sold on the EQ pairing with my bass, but the features are great). And if anyone was wondering, it sounds loud/nice enough without the Ehrlund pre.
Thank you to all for your input on this thread that led me to try the EAP. Here's more of my take on it...
On my louder gig tonight I wanted to simplify and I tried out just the EAP/pre with no pickup support. Wow. Such bounce to every note. Kind of gives me the effect of when you stand out front and hear someone else play your acoustic bass- but instead that rich low end is coming out of the speaker.
On a side note- the Grace Alix is cool (not totally sold on the EQ pairing with my bass, but the features are great). And if anyone was wondering, it sounds loud/nice enough without the Ehrlund pre.
When the EAP is compatible with the instrument it's installed on, the pickup has many of the qualities that we attribute to studio microphones. I'd take some time to acclimate yourself with the Alex. Over time you may find that it will serve your needs.
Ric
By all appearances, completely potted. I'm betting the most likely cause of breakage is the wires at the point going into the pickup, probably the center conductor of the shielded cable. This is just a typical breakage point for those kinds of cables.
If it's a goner anyway, then it might be possible to find the breakage and splice a new cable on. But with an emphasis on if it's a goner anyway, because failure would turn it into a goner for sure. It depends on how much of the remaining good wire can be exposed.
I suspect the cable attachment is a weak link of any pickup, except maybe the Yamahiko. Stress from tugging on the cable will eventually kill it.
My EAP has been transferred to cello duty, where it performs quite well. To minimize the hassle of managing that long cable, I modified mine as suggested by the picture. The plug is a tiny 2.5 mm Switchcraft, and the rest of the parts are what you'd guess from the picture. I attach the little box to the tail gut of my cello, so it's not too conspicuous, and lets me use a standard instrument cable (and unplug when not in use). The kill switch is optional but convenient.
If this is of interest to anybody, I'll share a parts list and picture of the innards.
If it's a goner anyway, then it might be possible to find the breakage and splice a new cable on. But with an emphasis on if it's a goner anyway, because failure would turn it into a goner for sure. It depends on how much of the remaining good wire can be exposed.
I suspect the cable attachment is a weak link of any pickup, except maybe the Yamahiko. Stress from tugging on the cable will eventually kill it.
My EAP has been transferred to cello duty, where it performs quite well. To minimize the hassle of managing that long cable, I modified mine as suggested by the picture. The plug is a tiny 2.5 mm Switchcraft, and the rest of the parts are what you'd guess from the picture. I attach the little box to the tail gut of my cello, so it's not too conspicuous, and lets me use a standard instrument cable (and unplug when not in use). The kill switch is optional but convenient.
If this is of interest to anybody, I'll share a parts list and picture of the innards.
Same here,
The Ehrlund Pre is either to little or to much of a good thing depending on where you set the range switch (Hi/Lo). I've also had two fail. The Headway, Grace, Red Eye, all have worked exceedingly well.
Just my take of course.
Funny, just checking in here after a long time away... I've also had two Ehrlund pre's go bad and have stopped using it in favor of the Revolution solo. Never thought to run it directly into an fdeck HPF pre, really liked having volume/phase on my hip or music stand.
Actually, the F-Deck increases the gain by 2 DB so it only boosts the signal just enough to compensate for it’s placement into the signal path. It can’t boost the Ehrlund signal to useable levels. I tried it.
10 minutes test of Ehrlund EAP vs Ischell C3.
So I have been using the Ehrlund into my Grace Alix into QSC CP8 powered speaker. The pickup placed perhaps 7 cms below the E side bridge foot, at the inside of the bassbar. For a quick comparison, I took out my unused Ischell C3 (have previously been using C2), and placed it just above the Ehrlund (closer to the bridge foot), powered by a Rolls 48V supply. Put it into the Alix, with same, minimal EQ, a bit of lows rolled of, and maybe 40Hz HPF. To compensate for higher output, I had to lower the gain on the Alix when using the Ischell. 10 M ohm input resistance. I changed the two back and forth a couple of times.
The verdict: Ehrlund is more clear, transparent. The Ischell has more low end thump and push, but is less transparent. I also detect a slight "raspiness" that I think you sometimes get from condenser mics in the Ischell, but that might be partly prejudice. The Ehrlund seems more smooth.
So I am sticking with the Ehrlund for now.
Ofcourse the "test" has many flaws. The pickups not in exactly the same spot. No attempt to EQ specificly for the Ischell. But using the Ehrlund is still pretty new for me, so it stays on at least for the time being.
So I have been using the Ehrlund into my Grace Alix into QSC CP8 powered speaker. The pickup placed perhaps 7 cms below the E side bridge foot, at the inside of the bassbar. For a quick comparison, I took out my unused Ischell C3 (have previously been using C2), and placed it just above the Ehrlund (closer to the bridge foot), powered by a Rolls 48V supply. Put it into the Alix, with same, minimal EQ, a bit of lows rolled of, and maybe 40Hz HPF. To compensate for higher output, I had to lower the gain on the Alix when using the Ischell. 10 M ohm input resistance. I changed the two back and forth a couple of times.
The verdict: Ehrlund is more clear, transparent. The Ischell has more low end thump and push, but is less transparent. I also detect a slight "raspiness" that I think you sometimes get from condenser mics in the Ischell, but that might be partly prejudice. The Ehrlund seems more smooth.
So I am sticking with the Ehrlund for now.
Ofcourse the "test" has many flaws. The pickups not in exactly the same spot. No attempt to EQ specificly for the Ischell. But using the Ehrlund is still pretty new for me, so it stays on at least for the time being.
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