Double Bass Gage Docking Station

[Max George]

This question is for those that have used the Docking Station. Does the metal plate connected to the back of the tailpiece by the E and A strings affect the tone or overall sound and playability of the bass? And does the volume control affect the sound of the pickup?? I don’t want to change either. Thanks!!

 

[DoubleMIDI]

As long as you don't use it for a lower impedance magnetic pickup I find the Gage Docking Station a good idea that cannot work well directly behind any piezo pickup.
The reason: the pot needs to have a lower resistance than the MegOhm load needed for a passive piezo pickup and effectively lowers he input impedance "seen" by the piezo pickup drastically. This makes the sound bad. The only exceptions: silence (no output at all) or maximum volume because then the pot gets disconnected by a switch.

Much better is getting an FDeck HPFpre with volume control. The volume control is behind the impedance buffer and you also get a high pass filter to get rid of lower frequency mud if needed.

 

[Jim Dedrick]

Th docking station has to settings. One is a volume control and it does effect the sound. The other is a just on mode and does not seem to add anything that the pickup has not already added.