Double Bass Filing Bridge Wing for Pickup Installation

[Jaygetsreal]

This is a left field idea but sharing for what it's worth.
After much experimenting with this kind of piezo (not Vics but similar) I have found an alternative. Instead of wedging it in the bridge wing I am now using a custom spring-loaded post. This has two advantages:
Firstly it allows very quick fitting or removal.
Second it gives you the choice of bass-rich sound if you mount the pickup at the lower end in contact with the bass's top, or a more harmonics-rich sound pressed against the underside of the bridge. This can be fune-tuned by choosing either plastic or rubber 'feet' on the lower and upper ends of the post or a combination of both. The harder the contact material the more HF transfer to the pickup.
I made the spring post using bits and pieces in the workshop and only had to buy the little feet, which are designed to fit snugly on a 10mm diameter rod.
Simple.

 

[Keith Rawlings]

This is a left field idea but sharing for what it's worth.
After much experimenting with this kind of piezo (not Vics but similar) I have found an alternative. Instead of wedging it in the bridge wing I am now using a custom spring-loaded post. This has two advantages:
Firstly it allows very quick fitting or removal.
Second it gives you the choice of bass-rich sound if you mount the pickup at the lower end in contact with the bass's top, or a more harmonics-rich sound pressed against the underside of the bridge. This can be fune-tuned by choosing either plastic or rubber 'feet' on the lower and upper ends of the post or a combination of both. The harder the contact material the more HF transfer to the pickup.
I made the spring post using bits and pieces in the workshop and only had to buy the little feet, which are designed to fit snugly on a 10mm diameter rod.
Simple.
View attachment 4655632 View attachment 4655633

That’s a pretty cool little invention you made. I bet it makes for many interesting tones you can get out of your pickup.

 

[jdh3000]

I y

This is a left field idea but sharing for what it's worth.
After much experimenting with this kind of piezo (not Vics but similar) I have found an alternative. Instead of wedging it in the bridge wing I am now using a custom spring-loaded post. This has two advantages:
Firstly it allows very quick fitting or removal.
Second it gives you the choice of bass-rich sound if you mount the pickup at the lower end in contact with the bass's top, or a more harmonics-rich sound pressed against the underside of the bridge. This can be fune-tuned by choosing either plastic or rubber 'feet' on the lower and upper ends of the post or a combination of both. The harder the contact material the more HF transfer to the pickup.
I made the spring post using bits and pieces in the workshop and only had to buy the little feet, which are designed to fit snugly on a 10mm diameter rod.
Simple.
View attachment 4655632 View attachment 4655633

I really like this idea, and I like rigging and diy suff. I also like the idea of not tamporing with the bridge. I'm going to borrow this idea and see what I can come up with.

Thank you!

 

[lurk]

Fwiw Kolstein made a pickup years ago - late 70s ? - that went there. Reggie Workman and Milt Hinton used it for a while as I recall. It gave a different sound depending on which end was up. I couldn't get a decent sound out of it. The brass Polytone that went between the bridge feet was my favorite. Things have improved.

 

[gogogergie1]

I found sandpaper and slow going worked best. Also- woodwind reeds make great shims if you sand off too much

 

[DoubleMIDI]

That is a nice idea, but I would check if it works well with the bow. With the bow the bridge movement is more sideways than up and down.
The rubber/plastic feet can kill a lot of high frequency content, making the sound dark. I have heard cork might be better.
I also think about a needle-like spike at the bridge if the pickup is at the top for keeping position and less damping and a thin cork layer towards the pickup.
It might also depend on the spring force if lower frequency content is damped, the force is too high getting compressed sound etc.
But worth trying and developing.
Depending on the size/diameter of the pickup, a layer of cork, maybe shaped to fit the curvature of the top, might be useful for that way of mounting.

 

[jdh3000]

Filing is slow going. I borrowed some fine files from my brother because all I had or could locate at the store were too big to slip in there. That and emory boards got me thus far.

I have it almost to the point to where it might start to slip up in there. As I near this I will start checking more often and switch to easier filing.

 

[Don Hergert]

Keep in mind that Vic's Zac Victors goes out of his way mention on his "Installing..." website that it's ok and possibly even preferable to intentionally make the slot too big, then use wood shims (or various gauges of guitar picks) to find the "perfect" fit.

P.S. Sorry to be late on the draw on this:

On your k&k, did you roll off the bass on the click side? The way I'm running it in my experimental stage, I found it do be generating some bass ovrrtones, so I bumped it through an eq pedal to dual that back... I was hoping the k&k could remedy that.

With my K&K's internal EQ and gain pots and my amp setup the way they are, I usually initially set my bridge wing at about 6:00 and my fingerboard at about 4:00. As we've discussed previously, no matter what the final settings, I set my bridge wing first, and then I set my fingerboard as a smaller fraction of the bridge wing settings, and that's a starting point. Then I'll often make changes based on the venue, the audience size, what other people on stage are playing, and what a spy in the audience tells me. This easy, quick adjustment ability is the value of an on-board blending 2-channel pre-amp like the K&K.

 

[jdh3000]

Keep in mind that Vic's Zac Victors goes out of his way mention on his "Installing..." website that it's ok and possibly even preferable to intentionally make the slot too big, then use wood shims (or various gauges of guitar picks) to find the "perfect" fit.

P.S. Sorry to be late on the draw on this:


With my K&K's internal EQ and gain pots and my amp setup the way they are, I usually initially set my bridge wing at about 6:00 and my fingerboard at about 4:00. As we've discussed previously, no matter what the final settings, I set my bridge wing first, and then I set my fingerboard as a smaller fraction of the bridge wing settings, and that's a starting point. Then I'll often make changes based on the venue, the audience size, what other people on stage are playing, and what a spy in the audience tells me. This easy, quick adjustment ability is the value of an on-board blending 2-channel pre-amp like the K&K.

Thanks Don! I was sure how exactly how the k&k functioned internally. I know you had mentioned it before but I couldn't quite visualize it. Now I see what you're talking about.

 

[Don Hergert]

So this question may be too late to help, but which side of the bridge did you mount the bridge wing pickup in?

 

[jdh3000]

So this question may be too late to help, but which side of the bridge did you mount the bridge wing pickup in?

Well I went with Zac's recommendation of the G side, but Ive seen several here saying they use the A side.

I guess if I can't get a good sound I can file on the other one.

 

[Don Hergert]

I tried on the E side first... On my DB with my strings it was too bassy and ohm-y. Overpowering. Switching to the D side solved that completely, providing as great a balance as I get acoustically. Happy camper.

 

[jdh3000]

I tried on the E side first... On my DB with my strings it was too bassy and ohm-y. Overpowering. Switching to the D side solved that completely, providing as great a balance as I get acoustically. Happy camper.

I was afraid mine would be too bassy and boomy, so I thought I'd try it D side.

I finally got it filed enough today to wedge it in there good. I wasn't making as a great deal of headway so I found some 60 grit sandpaper I had lying around... Moved it along a little better without being too much.

Where I was able to put it, it is it sounds fairly decent....may not have to move it anymore, but if I do, I'll only have to file in just a hair more, but I think this will work.

I A/B compared the bridge with the realist pup, seems strong, full and well rounded on that side. I'm keeping the realist on there as a backup.

I'll be better able to tell omce I get the preamp I'm going to be using.

Oh, here are some pics. The first one was the while I was filing; my granddaughter thought I needed something more than my hand to brace the bridge, so she went and got her little tool kit, so we had to put the vise on the other side until I finished...lol!

 

[Michael Eisenman]

Shoulda just used the vise—no sanding and infinite adjustability.