Double Bass Full Circle Distortion

[61pollmann]

I've been using the Full Circle on my Pollmann for several years now, and have been very happy with it. Lately, I've been hearing some distortion. I thought it might be my amp(Acoustic Image), but I plugged my Modulus into the amp and heard no distortion. Do piezo elements change with age? If this is the case, maybe it's time for a new one. Thanks in advance for any info.

George

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

It could be the FC, but it could also be the cable. I once had one seeming to distort and it turned out to be the cable rattling in the connection in the after length of the strings on certain pitches only. I swapped out the cable for one that fit better, and the sound went away.

 

[DoubleMIDI]

There has been a report lately that the Full Circle has a limited life like the Realist due to the heavy pressure load. Search in the archives.

But I would first check any other thing because you cannot repair the Full Circle yourself if a crystal is damaged. (You may be able to fix the cable if it is broken.)

 

[jmlee]

When mine failed the symptoms were loss of signal level and timbre--plus an increased tendency to feed back. If your Full Circle has a set screw locking the top and bottom of the adjuster together, then it might be fixable by Fishman. If it's the older version that's glued together, then a broken one needs to be replaced.