Double Bass full circle died

[notabene]

RIP. After many years of good service, and a sound I liked, my full circle died (after a rough period of my inept (but effective) repair of my bridge), and other issues with my A-team bass). I am way past any reasonable "warranty" possibilities. On my other bass I have a realist which I don't dislike, but it highs are not as present as the full circle gave me (and my ears have highs gone too). As a happy fullcircle/realist user, I've ignored all the informed recomendations on talk bass for years. Any recomendations? A new Full Circle would be a possiblity for me. But now's the time to change if it improves things.

Also... I'm playing through a Walter Woods "Green Light?" and a Barefaced 10.

Plenty loud for the gigs I play, sounds as good as my rock destroyed ears need.

Thanks for tolerating whining,

Nota Bene

 

[bassmanbrent]

You can still send your FC to Fishman. They will either repair it or replace it for a bench test fee ($50?). There are lots of posts about it around here somewhere.

 

[TroyK]

a) a new full circle. If you were happy with it, honestly it doesn't get much better.

There are contact mics and a newer Realist that wedges under the adjusters, and bridge wing pickups, but the FC is better at what it does than any of them.

b) Check JPN exchange rate and if it's favorable, order a single element Yamahiko. It does it better. It's not quite as agreeable, but you learn to work with it and it's better.

You can also get two elements and stereo lines into a pre amp where you can blend them with a mic, but you have to remember to reverse the phase and then I'm sure it's better still. If it's worth it, probably depends on the rooms you play in.

For me, and it sounds like for you, a single element version would take everything that you like about your last pickup up a notch and it will be more reliable.

 

[DoubleMIDI]

The Yamahiko is also not as delicate as the Full Circle. Less sensitive to impact and a user replaceable cable.
If the single sensor doesn’t represent your high string(s) as well as the lower ones a soundpost repositioning should solve that.

 

[Matt Power]

Yup. My FC crapped the bed after 8 months. They replaced it with a new one, and I sold it brand new still in thr package and got a Yamahiko. The Yamahiko was 7 bucks cheaper than the FC delivered in 4 days from Japan.

A total no-brainer, IMO.

a) a new full circle. If you were happy with it, honestly it doesn't get much better.

There are contact mics and a newer Realist that wedges under the adjusters, and bridge wing pickups, but the FC is better at what it does than any of them.

b) Check JPN exchange rate and if it's favorable, order a single element Yamahiko. It does it better. It's not quite as agreeable, but you learn to work with it and it's better.

You can also get two elements and stereo lines into a pre amp where you can blend them with a mic, but you have to remember to reverse the phase and then I'm sure it's better still. If it's worth it, probably depends on the rooms you play in.

For me, and it sounds like for you, a single element version would take everything that you like about your last pickup up a notch and it will be more reliable.