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Double Bass Anyone better secured a Krivo pickup?

Whit Townsend

Whit Townsend

Jan 24, 2006
435
68
Hartselle Alabama
#1
I love this pickup for loud blues and rockabilly, but I sometimes get overly rambunctious and knock it loose.
The super dupery stick lock stuff. is tough, but it ain't tough enough to keep this idiot from jarring it loose or accidentally knocking it off.

I think first I'm gonna get some more of the sticky lock and try going underneath the pickup and to the sides of the fingerboard. If that don't work, I may have to engineer some kind of cradle from sheet metal or wood and actually screw that to the fingerboard, sorta like a Shaller mounts.

Has anyone else had this problem?
Any better ideas?
 
#3
I've talked to my luthier about gluing in a block and that seems to be a good idea. Don't overthink a bracket and make a bunch of holes in your board attaching it though. If the extra purchase and stability the block will give (or you want to try something that probably won't require a block at all) mount it with 3M automotive attachment tape. That **** will keep the pickup secure through a nuclear blast. You do need to find the exact placement though as adjustments are doable but not easy. When you want to get it off warm it with a hair dryer and pry it slowly with a large flathead screwdriver using just enough pressure that it just starts to come away. It'll take a couple of minutes to separate it. Do it too fast and you can break things....it's that strong.
 
#5
Jeff Bonny said:
I've talked to my luthier about gluing in a block and that seems to be a good idea. Don't overthink a bracket and make a bunch of holes in your board attaching it though. If the extra purchase and stability the block will give (or you want to try something that probably won't require a block at all) mount it with 3M automotive attachment tape. That **** will keep the pickup secure through a nuclear blast. You do need to find the exact placement though as adjustments are doable but not easy. When you want to get it off warm it with a hair dryer and pry it slowly with a large flathead screwdriver using just enough pressure that it just starts to come away. It'll take a couple of minutes to separate it. Do it too fast and you can break things....it's that strong.
Click to expand...

Kinda like this idea. Couple of questions-
1. Can you get the stuff at Autozone or similar parts place?
2. Where would you put the tape? Just replace the existing stuff, or keep the Krivo supplied super Velcro in place and add tape to the sides, bottom, and or back to the fingerboard?
 
#6
Whit Townsend said:
Kinda like this idea. Couple of questions-
1. Can you get the stuff at Autozone or similar parts place?
2. Where would you put the tape? Just replace the existing stuff, or keep the Krivo supplied super Velcro in place and add tape to the sides, bottom, and or back to the fingerboard?
Click to expand...

I'd blow off the velcro stuff and just use the autobody tape. It's super gummy double sided and I can't see how you'd get any benefit out of trying to use both. I did that with this pickup and it worked like a hot damn. Loading the full surface area of the mounting tab was waaaaay too much....took me 15-20 min to get it off. Takes some experimenting to get it right but once you do you can forget about it.
Deco body.jpg
Deco_Armstrong Magnetic.jpg
 
#8
Hm, I may make a block and attach the block to the back of the fingerboard with the 3M auto instead of glue.
Then I could use the Krivo stuff to attach the pickup to the block, that way I wouldn't have to take a hair dryer and screwdriver to the pickup itself and risk damaging it to get the 3M auto off it. That would also make the pickup easier to position.
 
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#10
Whit Townsend said:
Hm, I may make a block and attach the block to the back of the fingerboard with the 3M auto instead of glue.
Then I could use the Krivo stuff to attach the pickup to the block, that way I wouldn't have to take a hair dryer and screwdriver to the pickup itself and risk damaging it to get the 3M auto off it. That would also make the pickup easier to position.
Click to expand...

Hell yeah! I'm stealing that idea!

The tape isn't that hard to get off the pickup...warm it and roll it off with your thumb. The pickup is a lot stronger than the bass so the real risk is damaging wood/glue joints not going slow enough during removal.
 
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#11
Jeff Bonny said:
Hell yeah! I'm stealing that idea!

The tape isn't that hard to get off the pickup...warm it and roll it off with your thumb. The pickup is a lot stronger than the bass so the real risk is damaging wood/glue joints not going slow enough during removal.
Click to expand...

Good to know I wouldn't damage the pickup, but still the ease of positioning seems to me a good reason to leave the Krivo stuff as is and just rest/snug the pickup on the block. Maybe line the block with some felt to ward off any potential adverse vibrations or rattles.
 
#12
Kris needs to get this **** together. Ridiculous that you pay upwards of 200 bucks and the mounting is so flimsy. My 2016 Krivo mounted with the provided velcro just is flimsy, floppy, just slips a bit when the bass is moved from the house to a gig. Very frustrating. Even couple of mm of movement and the string balance goes to hell. The new Krivo is improved in terms of the buzzing issues of the previous models..but the mounting system is amateur. A lot of users are going to dump it the first time that sucker falls down and/or sounds weird. Not everyone has the desire or ability to come up with solutions for Krivo's design flaws. This should be a set and forget installation. Otherwise it's worthless as a professional piece of gear, IMO.
 
#13
MR PC said:
Kris needs to get this **** together. Ridiculous that you pay upwards of 200 bucks and the mounting is so flimsy. My 2016 Krivo mounted with the provided velcro just is flimsy, floppy, just slips a bit when the bass is moved from the house to a gig. Very frustrating. Even couple of mm of movement and the string balance goes to hell. The new Krivo is improved in terms of the buzzing issues of the previous models..but the mounting system is amateur. A lot of users are going to dump it the first time that sucker falls down and/or sounds weird. Not everyone has the desire or ability to come up with solutions for Krivo's design flaws. This should be a set and forget installation. Otherwise it's worthless as a professional piece of gear, IMO.
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That's more than a little harsh given all the good things about the Krivo. The provided system would probably work for me if my board hadn't been planed to the thickness of a freakin' potato chip. Like I said he's a one man show and I'm impressed that every version is significantly better than the last. Have you used the latest smaller one? The lower mass makes it considerably less prone to moving around. All in all I like the 3M Dual Lock. It provides a much more even more secure attachment than velcro. I think Whit's idea to autobody tape a block to the back of the board is a perfect solution. It wouldn't surprise me if something similar became part of the stock Krivo system but in the meantime do you really need him to do something that dead simple for you? It's not much different from the ****ing around we all had to do for many years shimming Underwoods to get them to work well on any given bass.
 
#14
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Well, I dispensed with the Dual Lock altogether and went 3M Auto all the way. I made a small block of wood and padded it with the fuzzy side of some plain ol Velcro. I got a small roll of the 3M adhesive, about 1/2" wide stuff. I attached the block with about an inch of it, after sanding the block for a good fit to the underside of the board. I then put 3 small 1/2" long pieces of the 3M tape on the end of the board and carefully eased the pickup into position. Added some light pressure w a C clamp and a big rubber band. It's been about an hr and it seems to have set up very solid. I'm gonna let it cure overnight and then try it out.
 
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#15
Yes, I have the 2016 model, the smaller one. I don't think I'm being harsh, just blunt about the fact that the mounting system is less than ideal, and not professional at all. It's a jerry rigged situation, cheapest possible solution...anything more would raise the retail price and require a recommendation that a luthier do the installation. Obviously, it is less than ideal, or you guys wouldn't be discussing ways to be sure the pickup doesn't fall off the bass. And the Krivo, with it's stock mounting system will fail in this regard for somebody somewhere, sooner than later.
 
#18
...and the Krivo sounds like a 70's Fender P bass pickup more than anything else (heavy potting and internal tone sucking passive filters aside :-) ), anyway. So your mounting scenario would work quite well with a plethora of P pickups. I think an EMG or the like could perform better, being a active, low impedance system, with a wider freq response and zero ground noise. The new Krivo is greatly improved, but it still makes some annoying buzzing sounds sometimes. For FOH this is unacceptable. It's always going to be the most high profile situation, with a concerned sound person that busts your chops in front of the Boss for being the guy with the noisy pickup.
 
#19
MR PC said:
...and the Krivo sounds like a 70's Fender P bass pickup more than anything else (heavy potting and internal tone sucking passive filters aside :) ), anyway. So your mounting scenario would work quite well with a plethora of P pickups. I think an EMG or the like could perform better, being a active, low impedance system, with a wider freq response and zero ground noise. The new Krivo is greatly improved, but it still makes some annoying buzzing sounds sometimes. For FOH this is unacceptable. It's always going to be the most high profile situation, with a concerned sound person that busts your chops in front of the Boss for being the guy with the noisy pickup.
Click to expand...

Well if it sucks for you in all those ways it's not really even close to suiting your needs. So why not just move on to something that's less challenging for you to attach and more what you want to hear? Or better still why don't you get yer peanut gallery ass up outta the armchair and build the perfect pickup that's all things to all people? You'll make millions.
 

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