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Double Bass Did NHOP use magnetic pickups?
- Thread starter mildavw
- Start date
Growing up in the '80s, NHOP and Ron Carter were the first 2 upright bassists to catch my ear. Maybe I'm in the minority but I love this kind of bass sound as much as the more "acoustically correct" tones.
I remember seeing Bob Hurst playing with Branford Marsalis in a theater without a pickup, only a mic. Key word here is "seeing"
...Literally the only time I could hear the bass was when all the other instruments dropped out or played really softly, the cliche "bring it down to just the hi-hat for the bass solo" routine. On the other end of the spectrum, a lot of people hate Gary Peacock's pickup tone, but I never had a problem hearing what he was playing in a large auditorium. Of course, there are is a "continuum" of many tones in between.
I remember seeing Bob Hurst playing with Branford Marsalis in a theater without a pickup, only a mic. Key word here is "seeing"
...Literally the only time I could hear the bass was when all the other instruments dropped out or played really softly, the cliche "bring it down to just the hi-hat for the bass solo" routine. On the other end of the spectrum, a lot of people hate Gary Peacock's pickup tone, but I never had a problem hearing what he was playing in a large auditorium. Of course, there are is a "continuum" of many tones in between.
Did/do players like NHOP use lower action as a regular setup? And how does this affect the amplified sound? I use to play an Azola EUB; the neck was adjustable -- I have to admit I miss that!
Here you can read a bit about a current variation/development of the system where magnet induce current in the strings. As the system that NHØP used for some years, with magnets build into the end of the fingerboard.
I am not sure if it is related to NHØP's system or how the development/timeline is, but it is danish.
Double Bass – MusikLab Denmark
More here: The StringAmp™ way – MusikLab Denmark
I am not sure if it is related to NHØP's system or how the development/timeline is, but it is danish.
Double Bass – MusikLab Denmark
More here: The StringAmp™ way – MusikLab Denmark
Growing up in the '80s, NHOP and Ron Carter were the first 2 upright bassists to catch my ear. Maybe I'm in the minority but I love this kind of bass sound as much as the more "acoustically correct" tones.
I remember seeing Bob Hurst playing with Branford Marsalis in a theater without a pickup, only a mic. Key word here is "seeing"
How true, Winton Marsalis was pretty influential on players like Bob Hurst and Christian McBride in convincing them to askew the pickup and use the Electrovoice RE20. When the eventually got their own careers, most of those players, went back to a combination of microphones
and pickups. As a result, many players mostly younger ones moved over to the microphone. When the bands they were in started bashing, you couldn't hear the bass. John Clayton along with Larry Grenadier were the two players (among a few others) who embraced microphones and really excelled in using them.
It did start a bit of a renaissance in the development of microphones for Double Bass. So as a result, we got the AMT SB25, DPA 4099 Dvote Core, Nadine (which Christian McBride endorses) Xlson "Chuck Israels"and the Remic Green (5400LB) and Remic Red (5400 )
Gary Peacock and Dave Holland use pickups and they sound wonderful, because they are Gary Peacock and Dave Holland.
I remember reading an interview with Christian McBride where he mentioned that he'd hurt himself and had to permanently alter his setup as a result of trying to follow Wynton's advice to go without an amp. My point is that there's a negative side to Wyntons influence too. That said, there is much more positive stuff to say about him than negative IMHO.
When non bass players try to tell bass players how to approach their instrument, that should be taken about as seriously as non jugglers telling jugglers how to juggle knives and hatchets. I am always prepared at any moment to respond to "advice" on how to play the bass by non bassists by standing up and silently offering them the bass. That pretty much ends the discussion every time.
Yes Yes Yes. Thanks. The same goes for drummers. Everyone thinks they know how to play the drums. I've been on jingle dates and heard ad business types making suggestions to world class drummers. Grrr..
I agree 100% and have had to tell a few people to mind their own business myself. Fortunately, I haven't had to try and say that to Wynton Marsalis yet
. Especially Wynton Marsalis circa 1986, when he could do no wrong . No offence intended, Chris!
What Wynton didn’t take into account was many players pre Ray Brown played on gut strings and drums circa 1960 were less than 5 ply’s thick.
Love NHOP's playing. I, too, remember those "String Charger" ads in BP years ago.
Not sure if the "String Chargers" are still around, but a good alternative is the Krivo PU, handmade in Oregon. I use it on my URB and love it. I even get an "acceptable" bow sound out of it.
Krivo Magnetic Upright Bass Pickup (2020 model, includes bonus Jack Mount) at Gollihur Music - Double Bass, Upright Bass, String Bass Specialists
Not sure if the "String Chargers" are still around, but a good alternative is the Krivo PU, handmade in Oregon. I use it on my URB and love it. I even get an "acceptable" bow sound out of it.
Krivo Magnetic Upright Bass Pickup (2020 model, includes bonus Jack Mount) at Gollihur Music - Double Bass, Upright Bass, String Bass Specialists
Once, I had a Paul Tonnenges 4 element magnetic pickup. This was before the Underwood, so piezoelectric pickups were terrible. Barcus Berry and Frap had the only viable systems with their own preamps. The Underwood, Realist, Full Circle, Ehrlund, And Yamahiko all solved that problem with varying degrees of success.
I bought a "Pierre Josephs String Charger" in the late 90's. I've used it ever since. It's a great pickup.
I don't think they're available anymore. I also own a Krivo and prefer the String Charger hands down.
I can't remember which came first the Pierre Josephs String Charger or the Wilson. If memory serves me correctly, NHOP, moved from the Pierre Josephs to the Wilson once it became available.
What I do remember is, that when he came to Jazz at the Bistro in it's old location he was using a little four channel mixer with a separate channel for each of the four elements on the Wilson. So,
either someone had rewired the pickup or he did it himself.
What I do remember is, that when he came to Jazz at the Bistro in it's old location he was using a little four channel mixer with a separate channel for each of the four elements on the Wilson. So,
either someone had rewired the pickup or he did it himself.
When i met awesome NHOP in the early 90s as a student he used to use just a wilson k4. During the lessons, we all played acoustically, fo sure, and i remember that i´ve been a little bit disappointed about the somewhat poor acoustic sound of one of my heroes. He played a very low action on his upright and the amplification has been very important for his sound, it has been the opposite of MBOL, but lots of high level players did it like that these days. But: it was NHOP!!! Watching him using all 10 Fingers in a way only he could do it has been amazing. And he has been a very nice guy, too!! RIP
Good observation, Eddie Gomes, George Mraz and Miroslav Vitous were also in that camp. All of them are astounding players, but the actual amplified sound was an acquired taste. Then the pendulum shifted in the exact opposite direction with Bob Hurst, Christian McBride and others under the guise of Wynton Marsalias and his influence. Neither approaches were particularly good to emulate, although I did experiment with them. Eddie Gomez is a interesting anomaly in that he plays with a normal action, I know this because he used my bass a couple of years ago and once he raised it, I found that I liked it better as well.
This may just be a myth, but I've been told that you usually only hear EG's pickup on recordings because he sings so loudly while playing that using a mic is not possible. I'm certainly not knocking him - astoundingly great player!
It should be mentioned his action got lower over the years. Even with metal strings, he had a massive acoustic sound in the 70's and perhaps also later. Ofcourse he actually started out with guts.
Also a great clip from 1968 (seems he had changed to metal strings by then) :
