Double Bass Descent Low-Budget Dynamic Microphone for Upright Bass

[MountainMikeCS]

Hi All!

I recently played a gig at a local theater where my bass was mic'd through a nice house PA and it sounded amazing. I had no idea my old, beat-up bass could sound that good. I've been using different pickups through a Fishman preamp into 100watt amp up until now and it always sounds sub par. Bad enough that I never amp myself during practice in small rooms - it just sounds much better.

I'm semi-pro - playing maybe 1 gig a month with only a few years on this thing. I don't want to splurge for a $700+ DPA mic - I've heard you can simply fasten a Shure 57 to the bridge and get a good sound - that's a $100 investment new. Before I go that route, can anyone recommend a cheap mountable microphone I can use on my double bass, not as good as the DPA but better than the sound of a pizzicato pickup? Something that can almost as closely capture my bass sound as a Shure 57?

BTW - This has to be dynamic and not a condenser due to PA limitations we currently have.

Thanks for any and all help
Mike

 

[AGCurry]

Sennheiser e604.

Although an often-used method is simply to wrap a SM57 in a towel and stuff it under the tailpiece.

 

[MountainMikeCS]

Oh just to add - I mostly play pizzicato but am learning and slowly integrating bow into my playing.

 

[Martin Beer]

The side-address dynamics like the Sennheiser e609 and Superlux PRA628 are nice for convenience - you can just wrap them in foam (or cut a block to shape) and place them under your bridge or tailpiece pointed at the top. They're functionally similarly to the SM57, but the pattern is a little tighter and you can get them in closer to the bass top easily.
I have the Superlux, but haven't played out with it yet, it's waiting on a drummerless, Django style project that a friend is getting together.

 

[Eric Hochberg]

The sound guy at one of our local jazz clubs would wedge an SM58 between the string afterlengths. It's been a while but I think he used tape to secure it to the tailpiece. I didn't love it when he did it on my bass, but there was never any damage and it sounded good in the house.

Eric Revis, at the same club, had two 58's on low stands around the f hole area. Massive sound. The finish of his bass was worn off in that area, too.

More common to wrap it in a towel or foam between the legs of the bridge. Old school. I've had smaller mics suspended with rubber bands around the mic and bridge feet by an iconic Chicago engineer. A 58 may be too heavy for this.

 

[Ryan in PDX]

I have mounted the 57/58 with rubber bands. Audix D4 is small and light, and I have mounted that to my tailpiece with a little arm. Heil PR40 is great on bass, but neither inconspicuous, nor particularly high output.

If you are not 100% confident in your sound crew, I would recommend sticking to a pickup - it's way less stressful!

 

[Don Hergert]

I'd definitely agree on the Sennheiser e604...

I've been using one, semi-permanently mounted on my tailpiece and pointing at the treble bridge foot, for a few years now. I also have a wing./slap piezo/pre-amp system, but in sensitive volume situations I vastly prefer all the sound characteristics of the e604. Like any mic, feedback is a concern at higher volume levels, so that's when I use the piezo system instead. I keep a foam wind muff on mine all the time to help protect it from weather and bumps.

The e604 is a dynamic mic, so there's no worry about phantom power or anything like that. I use wireless dongles so I just hand a receiver dongle to the FOH guy and we're set.

I also use my e604 connected to my combo amp when necessary. The e604 is a low impedance mic, so for a standard amp input either a pre-amp or an inline impedance balancing transformer may be needed to match up the impedance. I just use the inline transformer with my amp and do all the EQ and voicing there.

The e604 is widely considered a tom/snare mic, but it's also frequently used for low horns -- bone and tuba -- and for double bass. It comes with rim mount for drums and horn bells, but for double bass that rim mount can be left off and the mounting bolt instead used to attach the mic through one of the string eyes on a double bass tailpiece, and when done that way the e604 still has an adjuster for pointing it in the desired direction, so there's plenty of adjustment available.. BTW, that bolt and the integral mic mount hole are the same thread as a standard small mic stand mount, so there's that too. I have a custom tailpiece which had an unused mount hole that I'm using for mine. The e604 is extremely light -- 60g.

As mentioned, easy alternatives are the Shure SM58 or similar dynamic mics, wrapped in a hand towel and gently placed under the tailpiece.

I might add, it is nice to have both a piezo system and the mounted mic ready to use. It's nice having choices based on the volume level and the tone desired. I've used both the piezo and mic together a few times just experimenting, but really if the volume is sensitive enough for a mic at all, the e604 sounds much better by itself.

Best of luck with this!

 

[Francois Blais]

Is it for FOH or to plug into your amp besides you, in place of the pickup?
For the latter, there is only a handful of mics that won't feedback before useful level, and I'm afraid they'd be out of your budget.

 

[Martin Beer]

The only caution I have with the e604 is that, similar to the SM57, it's one of the models that counterfeiters have picked up on, so getting one you can be sure of on the used market seems to be a dicey business.

 

[Ross Kratter]

If you’re willing to have a mic on a stand instead, the EV RE20 or RE320 on the treble side F-hole are great choices as well.

 

[AGCurry]

If you’re willing to have a mic on a stand instead, the EV RE20 or RE320 on the treble side F-hole are great choices as well.

$450 and $290 respectively. "Low-budget?"

 

[Ross Kratter]

$450 and $290 respectively. "Low-budget?"

Honestly, it’s been so long since I looked at the prices of those, but they are more economical than something like an AMT or Remic.

 

[Don Hergert]

Oh just to add - I mostly play pizzicato but am learning and slowly integrating bow into my playing.

Probably worth mentioning, when you are amp'ed using a piezo pickup and during a session transition between pizz and arco, arco comes through deafeningly loud compared to pizz. It's just the way piezos register the material vibration differences between pizz and arco.

That's one of the situations where a mic shines. With a mic, pizz and arco come out balanced because it's the actual sound impluse, not the material vibration, that is translated into tone.

On the piezo side, at higher volume they are much more resistant to feedback than mics are.

Some of us have both mounted, using the mic for sensitive volume levels, or the piezo at higher volume levels.

 

[John Chambliss]

I'm with the Sennheiser e604 in the afterlengths, or the e609 in foam between the bridge feet. I use the later at times.