An end pin jack seems like a good idea, but that's a big hole, no? Did you have to drill out the tailpiece?
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Double Bass An Ehrlund blog, sort of
- Thread starter drurb
- Start date
No drilling, the jack fits on the tailpiece perfectly and I use the supplied screws to tighten it, so I don't get unwanted buzzes. All tailpieces are made different though...
The jack in the pics I posted is the Gollihur jack. I'm now using the Switchcraft 121 TS mounted in the same fashion as was the Gollihur jack. I use the nylon strap, screw, and nut that came from Gollihur.
I'm assuming that when you say "through the tailpiece" with no drilling, you mean through the string holes. Yes?
A word about the Gollihur-supplied jack. Many might find it surprising that the specific dimensions of 1/4" jacks are not completely standardized. With the Gollihur jack, there are some cables that just don't seat into it well. I commend the Gollihurs for supplying the conversion kit that they do and with some cables it'll do just fine. The Switchcraft is definitely of higher quality but it's more costly (~$8.00).
most enpin jacks that i've seen need a 1/2 inch hole. I need to check mine and see the diameter.
I'm using a barrel adapter I got at guitar center, and the nylon nut, washer and sleeve that Bob provided
I'm using a barrel adapter I got at guitar center, and the nylon nut, washer and sleeve that Bob provided
Since I have a Mike Pecanic compensated tailpiece, the Switchcraft fit perfectly into the Realists, little, plastic pipe clamp. My jack has to aim sideways, in order to clear the curvature of the tailpiece.
Ric
I bought the Ehrlund with Goran's preamp, and I A/B'ed the preamp against my K&K goldent trinity dual channel preamp, which is a very transparent preamp. To my ears there was absolutely no tonality difference whatsoever between the two. So I sold the Ehrlund preamp, and continue to use the K&K. It's a great option on a gig to be able to use the K&K preamp to mix between the Ehrlund signal and my Full Circle right there on the bass (the preamp is velcro-mounted behind the tailpiece).
The Full Circle is nice sometimes to be able to add a bit of piezo-ish electric sound to the signal and cut through a loud mix, but IMHO nothing out there can beat the Ehrlund for true URB tone without feedback on a gig.
The Full Circle is nice sometimes to be able to add a bit of piezo-ish electric sound to the signal and cut through a loud mix, but IMHO nothing out there can beat the Ehrlund for true URB tone without feedback on a gig.
In my experience, the Ehrlund cuts through better than does a piezo. I suspect, as I've posted before, that this is because of how well it reproduces the temporal attack/decay profile of the DB.
I finally got to play with my new EAP today. Very happy with my purchase. I still have a lot of experimenting to do with placement and I have a big band gig tomorrow night.
My initial impression is the the Ehrlund pre simply has more gain than the fDeck series 1 and 2. Can't speak for the series 3 since I don't own one but I believe it is only offering unity gain so that explains why it wouldn't do well with the EAP. I got the best results with the series 1 since it has the most gain of the three fDeck devices. I actually liked it better than the Ehrlund pre. Also, I like having the natural HPF roll-off of the fDeck in one convenient package.
Well, more experimenting tomorrow . . .
My initial impression is the the Ehrlund pre simply has more gain than the fDeck series 1 and 2. Can't speak for the series 3 since I don't own one but I believe it is only offering unity gain so that explains why it wouldn't do well with the EAP. I got the best results with the series 1 since it has the most gain of the three fDeck devices. I actually liked it better than the Ehrlund pre. Also, I like having the natural HPF roll-off of the fDeck in one convenient package.
Well, more experimenting tomorrow . . .
After more experimentation I now find myself leaning toward the Ehlund pre. I fell victim to the old maxim "What sounds good in the bedroom may not sound good on the band-stand". Next time I'm taking the Ehrlund to the gig.
A lot of people here cut it and mount a 1/4" jack on their tailpiece.
I love being able to remove all electronics from my bass after the gig so I just plug mine into the pre amp and clip it to my music stand. That usually keeps it off my bass.
I'm gong to lend my Ehrlund to one of the guitar players in my band Monday night. He just had a new instrument made and he was so impressed with the Ehrlund for bass that he want sto try it as an alternative to clip on mics
Badong said:
I have the cable attached to a 1/4" jack but I am having a hard time isolating the cable coming out of the jack from my tailpiece. Even the jack seems to be very sensitive though. The little plastic jack clip seems to not attach to my Pecanic tailpiece very well. Perhaps if I drilled a hole through the tailpiece and then mounted the jack through it? Thoughts?
Ehrlund rewind! If you read this thread from the start you may recall that I returned an Ehrlund pickup a few months back it was because it just didn't work on my old ziilion-times-repaired 19th Century German flatback. I noticed at the time that it worked well on my Kolstein travel bass without much regard for where I sited the transducer element but that was not my main gigging bass.
Well ... I have decided that I've had enough schlepping the big bass around London gigs and will be using the Kolstein for all my gigging in future. That being the case - and to my embarrassment - I ordered an Ehrlund plus preamp AGAIN from the same UK supplier (Daf Lewis, who represents Innovation strings) to fit to my Kolstein bass (with BassMax as gig-bag backup; I decided the Realist wasn't working out, too dark). I've had a day to experiment with it and placed just south of the bridge on the E side sounds very good indeed (through an Acoustic Image head and Crazy 8 cab). I think this is going to work out well.
Well ... I have decided that I've had enough schlepping the big bass around London gigs and will be using the Kolstein for all my gigging in future. That being the case - and to my embarrassment - I ordered an Ehrlund plus preamp AGAIN from the same UK supplier (Daf Lewis, who represents Innovation strings) to fit to my Kolstein bass (with BassMax as gig-bag backup; I decided the Realist wasn't working out, too dark). I've had a day to experiment with it and placed just south of the bridge on the E side sounds very good indeed (through an Acoustic Image head and Crazy 8 cab). I think this is going to work out well.
I am this close to buying an Ehrlund pickup and preamp, but before I do I have a question to all you Ehrlund users: How long does the battery of the preamp typically last? Since the battery can only be replaced by removing a couple of screws etc, I rather don't want to do this during the middle of a gig. Also, doescthe preamp indicate in some way or another (led, or mild distortion of the signal) that the battery is about to die?
Many thanks in advance for your replies!
Cheers,
Vincent
Many thanks in advance for your replies!
Cheers,
Vincent
Hi Vunz,
I'd say I changed my battery after maybe 6 or 9 months of heavy near daily usage. I think towards the end of the battery life, the preamp would go a little quieter after the first set, and I'd turn up on the amp if I'm not deluding myself, maybe the crowd just gets noisier.
Cheers Al.
I'd say I changed my battery after maybe 6 or 9 months of heavy near daily usage. I think towards the end of the battery life, the preamp would go a little quieter after the first set, and I'd turn up on the amp if I'm not deluding myself, maybe the crowd just gets noisier.
Cheers Al.
If you loop the cable it becomes much less sensitive at/after the loop.
What I've done is mount a female:female jack coupler on my tailpiece with the Ehrlund male jack plugged into one side, so I can run a regular instrument cable out to the preamp. I've also got a Realist on the bass so I suspended the looped Ehrlund wire from the Realist's wire using double-sided velcro and this keeps it isolated from both the body and tailpiece and works very well.
Obviously if you don't have a wire running from bridge to tailpiece already then you have nothing to suspend the Ehrlund wire from, but it might be worth rigging something like that up because it does work well - something forming a Y-shape between the bridge feet and one of the tailpiece string holes perhaps, it doesn't have to be heavy-duty since it's only going to have carry the thin Ehrlund wire, so it should have little effect on the sound of your bass. Certainly less effect than attaching a jack to the tailpiece. If you use something thin and black it won't be too ugly either.
Vunz said:
Vincent,
The battery lasted for close to a year, the first time out on mine. You are right about not being able to quickly replace the battery. In my experience, when the battery
fails to produce the required voltage, you start to lose volume.
Ric
