Might be a super silly question but a mate selling his cello soundclip for cheap and I wonder if I can use it for double bass. Thanks heaps.
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Double Bass David Gage Realist Cello pup for bass
- Thread starter timobee4
- Start date
Not a good idea.
A cello bridge foot is a lot smaller than a bass bridge foot. Since the cable is on one edge, that must be placed outside the foot, what means that more than half of the foot stays in the air with no contact to the top. The higher pressure is concentrated on a smaller area, so more pressure per area unit than on a DB Realist.
A cello bridge foot is a lot smaller than a bass bridge foot. Since the cable is on one edge, that must be placed outside the foot, what means that more than half of the foot stays in the air with no contact to the top. The higher pressure is concentrated on a smaller area, so more pressure per area unit than on a DB Realist.
- Dec 13, 1999
- 11,738
- 8,958
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- Disclosures
- Chuck Sher publishes my book, WALKING BASSICS:The Fundamentals of Jazz Bass Playing.
I think you missed the "soundclip" part, this doesn't go under the bridge foot, it attaches to the body of the bridge leg.
@timobee4 the issue does have to do with bridge size, the bridge leg of the cello is so much smaller than the leg of a bass bridge, it's likely the opening will be too small, even at its maximum extension, to fit on the bass bridge leg. I have a bass soundclip and it just fits the bridge leg...
Yes, I mostly read the thread title and assumed the copper Realist. The Soundclip made it clear but I missed that.
Sorry and thanks for correcting me.
The Soundclip should work. If it is smaller/lighter than the bass version, the output might be smaller, specially in the low frequencies due to lighter weights, but it should work.
Sorry and thanks for correcting me.
The Soundclip should work. If it is smaller/lighter than the bass version, the output might be smaller, specially in the low frequencies due to lighter weights, but it should work.
- Dec 13, 1999
- 11,738
- 8,958
- 70
- Disclosures
- Chuck Sher publishes my book, WALKING BASSICS:The Fundamentals of Jazz Bass Playing.
Well again, the opening is designed for a cello bridge, which is significantly smaller than a bass bridge. I reiterate, it will NOT work. It will be too small.
If he's your mate, why don't you just try it to see if you can make it work, and then see if you like it?
That's quick if it is just a bit more than 2 hours.
(I know, just a typo…)
But you can measure at both sides max. opening of the clamp and thickness of the bridge where it should be mounted.
Good idea to measure your bridge and how wide the sound clip can be opened.
Another thing to consider is IMHO the Realist sound clip is one of the worst sounding pickups I have ever tried. To be fair there are advocates for this pickup here on TB, but most of us seem to think it sounds awful.
Good luck!
Another thing to consider is IMHO the Realist sound clip is one of the worst sounding pickups I have ever tried. To be fair there are advocates for this pickup here on TB, but most of us seem to think it sounds awful.
Good luck!
My bass bridge foot is about twice as thick as my cello bridge. The bass foot is just under 1" at the thickest part and about 7/8" thick right above the adjuster. The cello bridge is just under 1/2" thick. I will be surprised if the cello sound clip opens wide enough to fit your bass bridge, but as others have said, just measure. It might be interesting to experiment with placing it higher up on the (thinner) part of the bridge or mounting it in an f-hole like the violin/viola Sound Clip, but that seems very unlikely to yield good results. Most bass players have found the bass specific Sound Clip to be very finicky, so using the cello version on another instrument mounted differently...idk, sounds like an expensive experiment, but more power to ya if you do try it.
I have a buddy that lives in Santa Cruz, CA, and I live in Daytona Beach, FL. That's about 3000 miles apart. He had a humbucking Strat pickup he wasn't using that I wanted to try. He mailed it to me. I tried it and didn't like it too much, so I mailed it back. If I liked it, I would have sent him the $ with PayPal or Zelle. Then again, my friend is like a brother from another mother. If your mate is like that, maybe you could try a similar arrangement.
All of the discussion here won't matter if you don't like the sound. That is a matter of personal taste.
