I have attached a photo of the test i did with finger placement on the unusual placement of this pick up on my bass belly. This worked a few months back as mentioned but I give up on the idea as wood or aluminum clamping did not replicate the sound. I would not want to ask someone that has there solo already working, to remove from bridge and try this but if some one else is perhaps in the instal process please give this a quick test to confirm I am not crazy. The volume in this shown position is double from the in bridge position and all the string noise is pretty much removed, it sounds good enough for me , trouble is it only works with human finger pressure. Is it at all possible this is a grounding issue? I dont know enough about electronics etc but my feet are on the ground and my fingers touching the pick up make me wonder about the grounding being the difference? Sorry if this is a distraction from real issues but I feel I want to press on with getting to the bottom of this mystery.
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Double Bass Buffer for my Upton Solo Piezo
- Thread starter Wayne Bergman
- Start date
The Japanese MSP (magnetic sandwich pickup) works like your pickup pressing on the top. There is a strong magnet in the pickup and up to three for the inside of the top to hold the pickup in place. Works best with 5 MegOhms, even though they say no buffer needed.
If the pickup is lifted the same ner mss add gents fall down. They add a double side adhesive for the inner magnets to keep them where they are, but that permanently adds mass to the top.
That’s a contact mic. Better ones than the MSP exist, Ischell, AKG C411, Ehrlubd EAP. Good for up to medium amplification, tricky to find a good place.
If you play a lot with the bow amplified, a contact mic or bridge foot pickup (but not the Realists, the Shadow SH-965 NFX is good) works well. You loose a bit of bite but get a nice sound with the bow and not too loud.
If you don’t use the bow amplified a bridge wing pickup should work. I had my Shadow SH-950 wog too much pressure in the wing and it sounded somehow compressed. A single light fine file stroke was enough so that the pickup sits rather loose. Just stays in place if I do not touch the cable. Did that decades after I got that pickup and tried a lot of others. Sounds very open and free now. Not bad for a replacement pickup or if I need a bit more punch than the Shadow NFX or even my Yamahiko (more robust than the Full Circle).
If the pickup is lifted the same ner mss add gents fall down. They add a double side adhesive for the inner magnets to keep them where they are, but that permanently adds mass to the top.
That’s a contact mic. Better ones than the MSP exist, Ischell, AKG C411, Ehrlubd EAP. Good for up to medium amplification, tricky to find a good place.
If you play a lot with the bow amplified, a contact mic or bridge foot pickup (but not the Realists, the Shadow SH-965 NFX is good) works well. You loose a bit of bite but get a nice sound with the bow and not too loud.
If you don’t use the bow amplified a bridge wing pickup should work. I had my Shadow SH-950 wog too much pressure in the wing and it sounded somehow compressed. A single light fine file stroke was enough so that the pickup sits rather loose. Just stays in place if I do not touch the cable. Did that decades after I got that pickup and tried a lot of others. Sounds very open and free now. Not bad for a replacement pickup or if I need a bit more punch than the Shadow NFX or even my Yamahiko (more robust than the Full Circle).
The brass case is connected to the cable shield.
Piezos can be bending sensitive (piezo disk) or pressure sensitive (ceramic in Underwood and Shadow bridge wing pickups, maybe some more). Mostly, one direction works better than the other, depending how the ceramic is cut.
AFAIK the MSP has a piezo disk in it.
Piezos can be bending sensitive (piezo disk) or pressure sensitive (ceramic in Underwood and Shadow bridge wing pickups, maybe some more). Mostly, one direction works better than the other, depending how the ceramic is cut.
AFAIK the MSP has a piezo disk in it.
I had a rev solo pickup and it *could* sound very good but it was extremely sensitive to placement/tightness etc. At the end of the day. a pickup is supposed to be easier to use than microphones etc so it needs to be a lot more "plug and play".
i had alot of trouble getting a good tone out of the Upton pickup and sadly no preamp or EQ settings could really solve it. i moved to a Realist.
Piezo crystals respond to vibration under tension by producing electrical voltage, and I suspect that the finger pressing the Rev Solo produces uneven tension and absorbs a lot of the necessary vibration, to some unknown extent even causing the hand and possibly other parts of the body to act as a mute for certain frequencies. Unfortunately that's going to be "iffy" to precisely duplicate with anything other than just the right finger, just the right hand and just the right body.
More likely to be successful would be to just attach the piezo with a clamp or some other adjustable tension mechanism that would hold the piezo in place and add some mass, and then work out the EQ for that, perhaps adjusting the tension or even the location on the top one way or another. Location might actually be more important than tension.
Note that it is very possible to crack a piezo crystal and in doing so to significantly diminish its output
More likely to be successful would be to just attach the piezo with a clamp or some other adjustable tension mechanism that would hold the piezo in place and add some mass, and then work out the EQ for that, perhaps adjusting the tension or even the location on the top one way or another. Location might actually be more important than tension.
Note that it is very possible to crack a piezo crystal and in doing so to significantly diminish its output
Thanks so much for this Don. The issue with clamping and believe me i tried several items ranging from wood clamps to small alluminum clamps and the clamps made things worse almost like hanging an antena off of the proplem. I think Tinyd has brought me to my senses when he said "I had a rev solo pickup and it *could* sound very good but it was extremely sensitive to placement/tightness etc. At the end of the day. a pickup is supposed to be easier to use than microphones etc so it needs to be a lot more "plug and play"." .........I Couldn't agree more, tired of fiddle (bass fidldle) farting around with this. I just called L&M Music to upgrade and swap the order from the DI box to the full circle pick ups instead as I am sure as many have pointed out going from 5m ohm to 10m ohms may not be that much different. For the extra 100 bucks I should have the right pick ups for the job and I am sure my stage bug DI will be plenty fine. I should get the full circles by end of the week. I will post results after switching out to the Fishman FC...thanks again for the help........wayne
I abandoned the Revolution Solo after having it installed by a professional luthier. It had too much low end and no middle on my bass.
Very good Wayne... I hope and suspect you'll really like the Full Circle once it is properly installed. Keep in mind there are lots of people here who have used or are using the Full Circle if you have any questions or problems.
For a proper install the area of the bridge foot making contact with the FC disk needs to be plan and perpendicular to the hole axis. Otherwise you risk a shorter pickup life (< 5 years) and a bad sound.
Also depending on the disk angle the sound can vary a lot. The best sound does not come from the loudest output but rather from a quieter one.
The full spectrum of sound is inside an eighth turn (mirrored by the next eighth).
I switched from a FC to a single sensor Yamahiko reading about a lot of FCs dying after about five years. More expensive but more reliable and cheaper in the long run.
Also depending on the disk angle the sound can vary a lot. The best sound does not come from the loudest output but rather from a quieter one.
The full spectrum of sound is inside an eighth turn (mirrored by the next eighth).
I switched from a FC to a single sensor Yamahiko reading about a lot of FCs dying after about five years. More expensive but more reliable and cheaper in the long run.
Thanks muchly for all the tips everyone. The Fishmn Full Circle has arrived, its installed and all is well. I did mount the hot spot down as this is an option and I feel it sounds really nice. No feed back issues and no string or finger board noise that cant easily be EQ'd out at the amp. High pass filter and the buffer helps a lot for sure. All good, ....... looks like I will have to find something else to complain about now 
Thanks muchly for all the tips everyone. The Fishmn Full Circle has arrived, its installed and all is well. I did mount the hot spot down as this is an option and I feel it sounds really nice. No feed back issues and no string or finger board noise that cant easily be EQ'd out at the amp. High pass filter and the buffer helps a lot for sure. All good, ....... looks like I will have to find something else to complain about now
glad you could sort it out. honestly i am unsure why Upton even continues to sell the Rev Solo pickup.
