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Double Bass Best Jazz Pickup

Best Pickup

  • Total voters
    41
P

paperbag1213

Feb 12, 2010
111
1
Los Angeles
#1
I'm looking for a pickup to replace my
BP-100. I need to get a great jazz sound
out of this pickup and hopefully a semi-decent arco sound.

Please be aware that my amp is usually less than 5 feet
away from me so feed back is an issue. Thank you
-Kyle

*edit

You can also suggest other pickups and mics as long as they
are under $230
 
#4
Francois Blais said:
The same PU won't sound the same on different basses, so that kind of poll is pretty useless, IMO, and with all due respect.
You may want to add the Full-Circle though.

Regards,
François
Click to expand...

Agreed. I figured maybe this could serve as a poll of what people use. That might be more useful, if only a little. :) I voted for the Rev. Solo because it's what I use, not because I think a "best jazz pickup" can be identified.
 
#5
Rev Solo is a terrible pickup. Get a Realist, that's what I use.;)
I predict your thread will go pretty much like this.

Seriously, check the newbie link for pickups/microphones. What type of sound are you looking for? Generally, a Realist will be the darkest pickup and your BP100 one of the brightest. However, the odds of predicting how a particular bass will work with a type of pickup are only slightly better than a trip to Vegas. Educate yourself, then try.
 
#6
Gotta agree. I have a couple of basses and what works on one doesn't on the others and that's with the same player, strings, basic setup and amp. There really isn't any easy way other than buying and trying. Hopefully, you'll get something that works well before you buy everything out there.

mark
 
#7
Well I have EPs on my bass and my pup sounding
somewhat ok with my eurosonic but now it sounds
like crap and really tinny and bright. I want to really
get a dark warm sound. So I'm gonna try out the underwood
and would someone mind putting up a small clip of of
a realist pickup just walking something simple and maybe a
short arco thing.

Thank you
 
#8
The realist never could make me happy. A Fishman pre-amp made it some better but still too dark and boomy on two totally different basses. But when I installed the Clevinger Natural Presence a whole new spectrum opened up. Now years later I still haven't heard anything better and everything they say about it is true to my ears:

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Clevinger Natural Presence double bass pickup

* Installs in seconds without tools
* No alteration to your instrument
* Complete freedom from batteries
* Closest sound to a miked sound as possible
* Best arco and pizzicato at balanced levels

Natural woody tone because the pickup itself is made of wood, the most pleasing conductor of sound. Each pickup is made of genuine Sitka violin-top spruce in a proprietary laminar structure with a transducer element intimately coupled to the wood.
The Clevinger Natural Presence pickup produces warm, sweet lows, complex mids and natural highs, with full expressive dynamic range bowed and plucked. There is no need to change any setting when going between arco or pizz. EQ, pickup switch settings, volume changes and phase gimmicks are someone else's problem. You just play the music and bask in the rich warm tone. Want tonal versatility? You've got it in your fingers. The Clevinger Natural Presence system is so sensitive to player nuance, and you won't need to twiddle dials, stomp pedals, flip switches, or change batteries in the middle of a tune.

*The Natural Presence and tone are optimized by it's composition, no pre-amp is required!

clevinger.jpg
 
#11
I now remember your situation. You are borrowing a bass and have limited funds.
I really think your best bet is to use an Underwood and pick up one of Fdeck's fabulous preamps. That is exactly what I would do in your situation.
Then practice until you get the sound you hear in your head to come out of your amp.
 
#12
Francois Blais said:
The same PU won't sound the same on different basses, so that kind of poll is pretty useless, IMO, and with all due respect. You may want to add the Full-Circle though.

Regards,
François
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, there isn't a "one size fits all" bass pickup, because there are way to many variables. The closest one might be the Full Circle, but until it's on your bass there's no way to tell. The BP-100 didn't work well on my bass at all. Both the Realist and Underwood did . I prefer the Realist, but again it's a matter of personal choice.

Ric
 
#14
In my experience trying pickups on five basses, the Realist didn't work at all on three and sound(ed) great on two. The ones that it didn't work on were plywood or hybrid basses. So, my shadetree mechanic (luthier) theory is that it works best on nice sounding carved basses.
Although the Underwood isn't my cup of tea, it does seem to work on a variety of basses.
 
#16
Well I have been using a Hartke amp
but i think it might of finally died...(its the schools amp)
its 25 years old...

But i played through a SWR combo and that didn't sound much better.
I like the sound of my bass non amped so that leads me to pickup.

how much of a difference does the preamp make. like not the preamp
in a combo but from the pickup to preamp to the amp input.

ahhh confusing
 
#17
The amps you describe are likely to have a very low input impedance.
Try to get a preamp from a friend, teacher or the like and put it between the pickup and the amp.
(that preamp should have an input impedance of at least 1 megohms; more is better)
You may be surprised of the difference.

BTW, in reference to your signature, Stradivarius never built a single bass.
 

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