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Double Bass ehrlund contact pu-mike
- Thread starter igor kondur
- Start date
Jonas,
Yeah that would be a lot simpler indeed, and at some point I might just get one. I have a Pecanic Compensated Tailpiece that makes using things on it a little more complicated due to the design.
Ric
This is how I mount all my pickups. Works great.
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=585814&highlight=mounting+trick
Couple comments about the Ehrlund so far. Still working out great. Have been playing it in classes at the Jazzschool only (crappy sound rooms) and even then it works decently. I get a nice woody sound and it certainly replicates the bass as is - accurate. If your bass sounds nasal, it will come out nasal. Pro Plat EQ Pre works just fine - no fuss and dials in pretty easily. It doesn't cut through and color the sound so if you're looking for a strong sound - this may not be it for you. Even arco is pretty good through the amp. Makes the carved Cleve sound like the carved Cleve - not some other altered sound.
I regularly play through a SWR Workingmans in class (belongs to the Jazzschool), and tonight I turned off the amp for moment. Same thing as before - when the amp is on I have a hard time telling if that's my acoustic sound or that's the amp. Yeah it's louder but it seems hard to notice it replicates the bass so well. I'm pretty much sold and not going back to the FC. It's either this or the BP100 to get a more cutting RC/Buster type sound. The sound is even, consistent across strings and up/down the fingerboard.
Is it mic-like... yes but doesn't have the same amount of puff. It wins over the piezos for me... no weird pingyness and pretty much doesn't color the sound at all.
DURRL, you need to get one.
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=585814&highlight=mounting+trick
Couple comments about the Ehrlund so far. Still working out great. Have been playing it in classes at the Jazzschool only (crappy sound rooms) and even then it works decently. I get a nice woody sound and it certainly replicates the bass as is - accurate. If your bass sounds nasal, it will come out nasal. Pro Plat EQ Pre works just fine - no fuss and dials in pretty easily. It doesn't cut through and color the sound so if you're looking for a strong sound - this may not be it for you. Even arco is pretty good through the amp. Makes the carved Cleve sound like the carved Cleve - not some other altered sound.
I regularly play through a SWR Workingmans in class (belongs to the Jazzschool), and tonight I turned off the amp for moment. Same thing as before - when the amp is on I have a hard time telling if that's my acoustic sound or that's the amp. Yeah it's louder but it seems hard to notice it replicates the bass so well. I'm pretty much sold and not going back to the FC. It's either this or the BP100 to get a more cutting RC/Buster type sound. The sound is even, consistent across strings and up/down the fingerboard.
Is it mic-like... yes but doesn't have the same amount of puff. It wins over the piezos for me... no weird pingyness and pretty much doesn't color the sound at all.
DURRL, you need to get one.
Hdiddy, thanks for sharing your mounting method... it really made a difference. I've been checking our Troy's Ehrlund and was a little bit undecided, but after following your method I think I'm a believer. It really seems to be essential to immobilize the jack to get the pickup to sound good. I'll post more of my thoughts later, but I like where this is going.
Cheers,
John
Cheers,
John
Glad it was of use. Yeah you can get funny buzzing if something barely rattles around the cable.
Okay, I'm in! I placed my order with Frond End today... should have mine in about a week. Troy, thanks again for letting me check yours out.
John
John
I'm pretty sure I'll get one of those soon. I'm very pleased with the soundclips, and I'm growing increasingly annoyed with the dyn-b I use, not necessarily for the sound's sake (I have found ways to make it work quite well), but I can not, on a ranting sidenote, understand AT ALL how one can build a pickup, sell it for really big bucks, and then use screws on it that after years of use (got my pu used) are bound to loosen and rattle. I mean, it's quite obvious there are some "moving parts" on a bass, and when you attach a jack right there (string afterlength), screws WILL loosen sooner or later. And then, eventually, they can't be fastened any more and you end up using TAPE on a ridiculously expensive supposed-studio-standard piece of equipment to prevent it from rattling.
End of rant.
Best
Sidecar
End of rant.
Best
Sidecar
Hi William,
asking Schertler for warranty on this is nothing I'd consider, since the pickup is easily 4-6 years old.
I'll just whine me a little through the next gigs until I have the chips for the Ehrlund...
Best
Sidecar
asking Schertler for warranty on this is nothing I'd consider, since the pickup is easily 4-6 years old.
I'll just whine me a little through the next gigs until I have the chips for the Ehrlund...
Best
Sidecar
I have to say, I'm not completely happy with my Ehrlund yet. When it sounds good, it sounds great, but it is very twitchy and I'm not sure yet if I can live it with it's impracticability. I'll update you all as I use it more. I've got 6 gigs over 2 weeks, so I'll give it a thorough test.
I will say that if your only issue with the Dyn-B is a loose screw on the jack, the Ehrlund may not be the solution for you. It's up to us to figure out how to mount this thing and very tiny variations on it (in my case, the kind that can occur from the bass vibrating on a gig) make it a huge liability.
Sorry to be so negative, maybe I'll change my tune.
I will say that if your only issue with the Dyn-B is a loose screw on the jack, the Ehrlund may not be the solution for you. It's up to us to figure out how to mount this thing and very tiny variations on it (in my case, the kind that can occur from the bass vibrating on a gig) make it a huge liability.
Sorry to be so negative, maybe I'll change my tune.
Hi TroyK,
Not sure if I understand right- the tiny variations refer to the placement? That's the same with the dyn-b, although I found that the "Take any one position and enjoy"-approach does it, since it sounds different, but good most of the places (if you don't do anything radically strange). And mounting- if you refer to the cable length and where to mount the jack, check out Jonas Lohse's version on Invalid Link Removed , he serves his version with a jack clip.
Or of course, I understand your post wrong, then I need enlightenment.
Oh, and it's not just that- the dyn-b can be pretty honky, and it is not as airy as the Ehrlund (judging the clips on the ehrlund page), even the best eq-ing can't do that.
Best
Sidecar
Troy, is your issue with "figuring out how to mount" it, meaning the finding the sweet spot? Or are you having trouble with the "bass vibrating on a gig" meaning the bass has contact with the cable? If your problem is the latter, then it is imo easily solvable. If the former, then you might want to experiment with it a bit more... good luck
I've found some good placement for the mic and have really liked the sound and I could say a lot of great (or maybe promising would be more accurate) things about this and mean it and maybe I will at some point, but let me stick to explaining my pain:
Even in my perfect mic placement spot, how well it is stuck to the table and how much space is between it and the wood makes a radical difference. The tack-it that came with it, I noticed changed consistency suddenly one day, probably due to heat and it's not working well. Okay, easy to fix, you say, sure I went to a few stores today and bought some for my gig tonight, but that wasn't helpful last night on the stage. I'll let you know if new putty solves that problem.
Now, the cable and mounting. When it's bad, it's horrendous. Right now I've got it velcro'ed and electrical taped to my hand carved tail piece trying to keep it still. Not only can the cable not be touching anything, but it needs to be still. It's hard for me to say if some of the problem is the Front End Audio install of the 1/4" jack, but it's twitchy. Maybe I need to replace the jack with something else, don't know.
I could change to an afterlengths slip install. Is that working for everyone? I don't like things in my afterlengths, but maybe that's the way. I may also try they clip from the ball end of the E-String, but my tailpiece doesn't have all the extra space in the string holes that most have, so I'm not sure if that's going to work. I'm also not sure that it would hold it still enough to be quiet.
A personal frustration is that some of the appeal of this pickup to me is that I wanted something that I could put on when I was using it and take off when I'm not and it's seeming more and more like I need to bolt it on somewhere and leave it, which changes the value proposition to me a bit. I'll also say that if i were going to deisgn a pickup that was supposed to stay on the instrument, I wouldn't have part of it require putty to stick. It's just not meant to be permanent that way.
Maybe I'll figure it out and/or get over it, but I hate having technical problems on a gig. It was bad enough Friday night that it detracted from the show and it wasn't the kind of situation where I could fool with my gear as we were playing. Take the time at home? Sure, but that doesn't mean that it doesn't get bumped in transit just enough to throw it off.
"Optimal tone" is fine to chase, but I would have rather had bridge wing un-naturalness than the crackling that was coming through the house on Friday night. I couldn't even turn off my amp and go acoustic, I was out to the house.
Last night went better. Let's home for better still tonight.
By the way, followed that German link, but don't see anything on there about mounting this pickup.
Even in my perfect mic placement spot, how well it is stuck to the table and how much space is between it and the wood makes a radical difference. The tack-it that came with it, I noticed changed consistency suddenly one day, probably due to heat and it's not working well. Okay, easy to fix, you say, sure I went to a few stores today and bought some for my gig tonight, but that wasn't helpful last night on the stage. I'll let you know if new putty solves that problem.
Now, the cable and mounting. When it's bad, it's horrendous. Right now I've got it velcro'ed and electrical taped to my hand carved tail piece trying to keep it still. Not only can the cable not be touching anything, but it needs to be still. It's hard for me to say if some of the problem is the Front End Audio install of the 1/4" jack, but it's twitchy. Maybe I need to replace the jack with something else, don't know.
I could change to an afterlengths slip install. Is that working for everyone? I don't like things in my afterlengths, but maybe that's the way. I may also try they clip from the ball end of the E-String, but my tailpiece doesn't have all the extra space in the string holes that most have, so I'm not sure if that's going to work. I'm also not sure that it would hold it still enough to be quiet.
A personal frustration is that some of the appeal of this pickup to me is that I wanted something that I could put on when I was using it and take off when I'm not and it's seeming more and more like I need to bolt it on somewhere and leave it, which changes the value proposition to me a bit. I'll also say that if i were going to deisgn a pickup that was supposed to stay on the instrument, I wouldn't have part of it require putty to stick. It's just not meant to be permanent that way.
Maybe I'll figure it out and/or get over it, but I hate having technical problems on a gig. It was bad enough Friday night that it detracted from the show and it wasn't the kind of situation where I could fool with my gear as we were playing. Take the time at home? Sure, but that doesn't mean that it doesn't get bumped in transit just enough to throw it off.
"Optimal tone" is fine to chase, but I would have rather had bridge wing un-naturalness than the crackling that was coming through the house on Friday night. I couldn't even turn off my amp and go acoustic, I was out to the house.
Last night went better. Let's home for better still tonight.
By the way, followed that German link, but don't see anything on there about mounting this pickup.
- Dec 9, 2003
- 369
- 45
- Disclosures
- Kontrabass-Atelier, Lando Music (Germany), "The Double Bass Book"/"Das Kontrabass-Buch"
Thanks, that does look like it might help. It may or may not fit in my tailpiece, but it would be worth a try. Any place in the US to get one? I hate to go intercontinental for a $6 part, but I suppose I should.
It behaved better tonight. The new Elmer's tacky stuff was much better than the stuff that came with it. I want to clarify that it wasn't that the stuff I was using got old. Even the unused pieces just got watery for some reason, likely weather related.
3 gigs next week. We'll see how it goes.
3 gigs next week. We'll see how it goes.
Troy,
I see- more than 4 feet of microphonic cable is bound for trouble. Now you have the pickup already, so it's probably not that much use, but have you seen that at the link jonas posted, if you scroll slightly up, they offer the Ehrlund with shortened cable, switchcraft jack and jackmount?
As for the putty, that seems to be an issue- on Göran's site it looks like he's using some green schertler-like gum, whereas I saw a box once where it shipped with white striplike bits... I don't know. I have some schertler goo and I am going to use that, once I have my Ehrlund...
And I didn't know it's really that sensitive to spacing, although I could have figured. I guess it comes with the territory of how it's working. The dyn-b, which shares some of its working principles with the Ehrlund, has quite a few variables (one being spacing)as well, but I just practiced those away to the point where I can put it on when needed and take it off when not. And it's consistent soundwise. That can be achieved with the Ehrlund as well, I believe, but of course the way you mount the jack and cable plays into this- if you have to futz with tape to fasten and quieten the cable, I can see that takes big parts of the advantage away.
Thanks for detailing your gripes
Best
Sidecar
I see- more than 4 feet of microphonic cable is bound for trouble. Now you have the pickup already, so it's probably not that much use, but have you seen that at the link jonas posted, if you scroll slightly up, they offer the Ehrlund with shortened cable, switchcraft jack and jackmount?
As for the putty, that seems to be an issue- on Göran's site it looks like he's using some green schertler-like gum, whereas I saw a box once where it shipped with white striplike bits... I don't know. I have some schertler goo and I am going to use that, once I have my Ehrlund...
And I didn't know it's really that sensitive to spacing, although I could have figured. I guess it comes with the territory of how it's working. The dyn-b, which shares some of its working principles with the Ehrlund, has quite a few variables (one being spacing)as well, but I just practiced those away to the point where I can put it on when needed and take it off when not. And it's consistent soundwise. That can be achieved with the Ehrlund as well, I believe, but of course the way you mount the jack and cable plays into this- if you have to futz with tape to fasten and quieten the cable, I can see that takes big parts of the advantage away.
Thanks for detailing your gripes
Best
Sidecar
¨
Jonas, it looks like you have the best solution I've seen so far to the cable noise problem. Part of the problem isn't just how to clamp it to the tailpiece, but also how long the cable is and what kind of jack is used. The main thing is to get the cable down to the minimum.
Does the switchcraft jack work with the Ehrlund's battery-powered preamp? Is that the Fishman switchjack or is it from Switchcraft?
