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Double Bass Full Circle up or down?

bruiser1964

bruiser1964

Nov 19, 2009
151
1
Inverness Scotland
#1
Got a call from the luthier today who is installing my new adjustable bridge and Full Circle pickup. He asked do I want it face up or down?, confused I had a look at the instructions and it can be mounted iether way...
I got this setup from Bob so figured he would know best, the threaded end is in the top part so the pickup would be face down.
Has anyone had experience of this?
Is it just Fishman mumbo jumbo?
If I were to reverse it it would require to be retapped...
 
#2
With the threads up (pickup toward the body) my amplified bass sound had almost a muddy, thumpy-ness to it.

Had a new bridge installed with the threads down (pickup toward the strings) and the sound is clearer, more articulate and does it with less feed back. It's easier to hear myself to play more in tune!:) All of my basses now have a Full Circle with the threads down.
 
#3
Threads down for me too. Here's a link to the Full Circle on Fishman's site:

Link Removed

You'll find a scroll bar to the right of the description box. Scroll it down and you'll find a link to download a PDF of the manual. In the manual, you'll find their take on threads up verses threads down starting at the bottom of page one and continuing to page 2.

Good choice of pickup ;)
 
#6
From the Fishman Product description:

"Now available in three formats, the Full Circle is a quick retro-fit on instruments with 1/4-20, 5/16-18, or 6x1mm thread height adjustment wheels."

So, it depends on the adjuster you're replacing.
 
#7
johnz said:
From the Fishman Product description:

"Now available in three formats, the Full Circle is a quick retro-fit on instruments with 1/4-20, 5/16-18, or 6x1mm thread height adjustment wheels."

So, it depends on the adjuster you're replacing.
Click to expand...

None of those specs have anything to do with thread orientation. They're simply thread and shaft sizes.
 
#10
I have the threads up. Theres no muddiness or thumpiness.

I suspect the strings and the bridge itself is contributing far, far more to the tone then the direction of the threads.

I have had my FC on 2 seperate basses, both with spiros but of different gauges, and the tone is much more pleasant and usable - almost microphonic on my current bass.
 
#12
On my bass, it sounded way better with the threads going UP (pickup facing the body) and not the other way around. I had the pickup on the bass over a year that way until I had my fingerboard replaced. Long story short, I had a new bridge cut and the threads were going DOWN instead. I've lost a lot of what I heard to be 'body' sound and more midrange and treble frequencies in the process. Rather than have a new bridge cut, I'm seriously considering going back to the Realist.

I must also preface this by saying that the FC is not a 'mount-and-go' pickup, and if you don't have a luthier that's aware of its logistics, you'll never get it to sound good. After my new bridge, the guy who worked on my bass had no idea that a) the pickup had to be FLUSH against the element and taking the entire weight of the bridge and 2) had to be dead-center in the middle of the bridge foot so that the elements could have contact with the wood. Perhaps this 'user error' has contributed to my opinion, but I was a big fan of the 'threads up/element towards body' sound. My bass and my ears seemed to like it mounted that way more.

YMMV...
 

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