Double Bass Ehrlund pickup with other brand's preamps

[Ric Vice]

Anyone tried anything like this?

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-audio/art-prochannel-ii-channel-strip

I had the earlier version of this with an American Audio power amp into an Acme B-2. The sound was unbelievably neutral and very flexible with the parametric mid EQ. I sold all but my GK combo when we moved into a tiny apartment a few years ago. Thought I wouldn't need anything louder (dumb).

I'm thinking of pairing this with a fEarless cab and power amp. That variable input impedance intrigues me. Thoughts?

Bad Dong,
Well, I'm not one to use that complicated of EQ device.
I prefer them to be much smaller, and less complicated. I like the compactness of the GK's. The Ehrlund Pre Amp into an MBS or the older 200MB sounds just fine IME, IMHO. Granted you'd have be going into the mains, but that also works nicely with the Ehrlund Pickup.


Ric

 

[lrhbass]

I took Ric's advice and ordered the EPU pre amp.Looking forward to putting it through the paces soon

 

[ParanoidJones]

i can add that i use the ehrlund directly into an empress paraeq with boost and LOVE the result through my walter woods or just about any pa or powered speaker I've put it through. even weird cabinets, I'm able to use that great eq to dial it in. with my rig i've learned to deal with almost any room, in situations where i remember being miserable with the sound of my pickup, and i loved the realist a lot of the time for years. its the best of both worlds. i've found the best sound to come from mounting the pickup on the back of the bass as close to the soundpost as i can surmise. requires almost no eq going direct into a board- certainly the only pickup i would ever consider being used to record my bass. however i've found that even without the empress i've been getting a bit of 60 cycle hum lately, and the thought of parting with it to ship to them for repairs is depressing. don't know if this is a common issue, something inside the pickup or the flimsy cable- anyone?

 

[drurb]

i can add that i use the ehrlund directly into an empress paraeq with boost and LOVE the result through my walter woods or just about any pa or powered speaker I've put it through. even weird cabinets, I'm able to use that great eq to dial it in. with my rig i've learned to deal with almost any room, in situations where i remember being miserable with the sound of my pickup, and i loved the realist a lot of the time for years. its the best of both worlds. i've found the best sound to come from mounting the pickup on the back of the bass as close to the soundpost as i can surmise. requires almost no eq going direct into a board- certainly the only pickup i would ever consider being used to record my bass. however i've found that even without the empress i've been getting a bit of 60 cycle hum lately, and the thought of parting with it to ship to them for repairs is depressing. don't know if this is a common issue, something inside the pickup or the flimsy cable- anyone?

I'll take a stab at helping you to diagnose/fix this from afar. If this is a problem that recently surfaced and you are sure that it occurs regardless of the amp you use, then, yes, it is likely that the cable from the Ehrlund is the problem. There could be an issue with the shield. Here's what I suggest. Plug it in and establish the hum. Now, flex the cable at positions leading all the way from the device to whatever plug you have attached. Any change? If so, then you might have found the weak spot and if you still have enough length on the cable, then the plug could be re-attached above that point. If not, then the connection at the the plug or the plug itself could be the problem. Open the cover of the plug and flex the connections near their solder points? Any change? If so, a reattachment of the plug after cutting out the bad section would be the fix. If none of these manipulations yields any useful information, then you're likely looking at sending back the pickup. I feel your pain.

 

[ParanoidJones]

I'll take a stab at helping you to diagnose/fix this from afar. If this is a problem that recently surfaced and you are sure that it occurs regardless of the amp you use, then, yes, it is likely that the cable from the Ehrlund is the problem. There could be an issue with the shield. Here's what I suggest. Plug it in and establish the hum. Now, flex the cable at positions leading all the way from the device to whatever plug you have attached. Any change? If so, then you might have found the weak spot and if you still have enough length on the cable, then the plug could be re-attached above that point. If not, then the connection at the the plug or the plug itself could be the problem. Open the cover of the plug and flex the connections near their solder points? Any change? If so, a reattachment of the plug after cutting out the bad section would be the fix. If none of these manipulations yields any useful information, then you're likely looking at sending back the pickup. I feel your pain.

Thanks for taking the time to try to help me out. Flexing the cable hasn't seen to produce any effect, but touching the quarter inch cable where it meets the eap jack silences the hum completely. haven't tried taking the jack apart, but should i just replace it?

 

[drurb]

Thanks for taking the time to try to help me out. Flexing the cable hasn't seen to produce any effect, but touching the quarter inch cable where it meets the eap jack silences the hum completely. haven't tried taking the jack apart, but should i just replace it?

If touching the metal jack silences the hum, then you are likely adding to the grounding. That would seem to suggest a weak connection somewhere. If the hum disappears when you touch only the cable in that spot, then you may have found the problem. It couldn't hurt to cut the cable above that point and reattach the jack. I've done a couple of those on EAPs. The conductors are thin and delicate. If you're not fairly skilled at soldering and/or don't have good tools to strip and stabilize the connections, then you may want to have someone do the work who is and does.