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Double Bass Gage Soundclip

#25
As is the Gollihur way, I've just been notified that it has shipped (about 65 minutes after putting in the order!). I'll have it for Wednesday evening's gig so I should have some preliminary thoughts by late Wednesday EST. I've got gigs on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday this week so, assuming it doesn't sound like donkey poop out of the box, I should have a decent idea of what it can do by Sunday night.

mark
 
#26
calivox said:
As is the Gollihur way, I've just been notified that it has shipped (about 65 minutes after putting in the order!). I'll have it for Wednesday evening's gig so I should have some preliminary thoughts by late Wednesday EST. I've got gigs on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday this week so, assuming it doesn't sound like donkey poop out of the box, I should have a decent idea of what it can do by Sunday night.

mark
Click to expand...

Does mean you will have a sound clip of the soundclip? :D
 
#32
Got the SoundClip. Initial observations:

1. you can't leave it on the bass. You have to plug the cable in before you put it on the bass (or you run the risk of moving the bridge). However, installation takes, literally 10 seconds and you can do it while you are standing with the bass. The pickup has a very small padded case that comes with it. It would easily fit in a gig bag or in the pocket of your bass case.

2. I was worried about the weight but that didn't seem to noticeably affect the acoustic tone of the bass. Perhaps it's because it is mounted so close to the table.

3. It sounds pretty much exactly like the Realist. It has the same kind of big, puffy tone and is prone to the same level of feedback. The biggest difference is you can move it around a bit and get some subtle variations in the tone. Also, you can change the amount of weight of the pickup (it has detachable weights) which also affects the tone. The more weight, the more focused the sound although that effect is also subtle. In my mind the tonal variations are more for the player to feel comfortable than anything anyone listening would discern. It still sounds pretty much exactly like a Realist though.

4. Also, like the Realist, it doesn't sound very good on my main bass. I had always attributed this to the Realist's position under the bridge foot affecting the transmission but, obviously, that must not be the case. This is something I need to look into (not a crisis though as the BP-100, of all pickups, that I have on it sounds amazing)

5. It sounds great on the backup bass and on the Kolstein travel bass.

(for those of you that don't know me, the main bass is a '28 Juzek, the back up is a '74 Juzek, the Kolstein is an '06; all 3 basses are fully carved basses).

6. I'm going to take the Realist off the back up bass and use the SoundClip. I'll probably use it with the Kolstein as well.

7. Like the Realist, it probably isn't the pickup for crazy loud gigs for feed back reasons.

8. I'm not going to bother with sound clips. It sounds like a Realist. If you like the Realist, this is a great pickup. If you don't, it isn't. It has the major advantage over the Realist or any other pickup in that it isn't permanently mounted on the bass so if you want to play pure acoustic, just don't put it on and you have a bass as nature intended. Also, if you have more than one bass, you only need one pickup and no trips to the luthier for installation.

My initial impressions is favorable. I probably won't use it with the main bass but it will probably be the pickup of choice for the other basses.

I was supposed to have a gig tonight and I was going to give it try but because I live in Pittsburgh and our hockey team with the fear-inducing, very masculine sounding name of the Penguins is in the playoffs and we were bumped for the game. I'll mess around with it some more tomorrow and Friday and try it out on Saturday's gig.

mark
 
#33
calivox said:
Got the SoundClip. Initial observations:

1. you can't leave it on the bass. You have to plug the cable in before you put it on the bass (or you run the risk of moving the bridge). However, installation takes, literally 10 seconds and you can do it while you are standing with the bass. The pickup has a very small padded case that comes with it. It would easily fit in a gig bag or in the pocket of your bass case.

- snip -

3. It sounds pretty much exactly like the Realist. It has the same kind of big, puffy tone and is prone to the same level of feedback. The biggest difference is you can move it around a bit and get some subtle variations in the tone. Also, you can change the amount of weight of the pickup (it has detachable weights) which also affects the tone. The more weight, the more focused the sound although that effect is also subtle. In my mind the tonal variations are more for the player to feel comfortable than anything anyone listening would discern. It still sounds pretty much exactly like a Realist though.

- snip -

mark
Click to expand...

1. While they recommend putting the plug in first to avoid moving the bridge, I found that I could plug the cable into the pickup while it was mounted on the bass. I just took care to apply pressure on the other side of the pickup frame to compensate for the push from the cable insertion at the bottom.

3. I will be very interested in hearing other player evaluations of the SoundClip as we found a much bigger difference in response compared to the original Realist.
 
#35
Mark Carlsen said:
3. And that difference is......:confused:
Click to expand...

I'd be interested in hearing this as well. I'm not a Realist fan, but am curious. The things I dislike about the Realist are its lack of focus - especially in louder situations - and its tendency on my basses to be weaker on the top string than on the bottom two. A little puffiness on the G could be a good thing; puffiness on the E and A aren't what I'm looking for.
 
#36
It's great to see a new product from David gage and im curious to see if the soundclip sounds better than the previous realist. It's great that it's easily moved but it's also twice the price.

Keep those reviews coming! :-)
 
#37
Mark Carlsen said:
3. And that difference is......:confused:
Click to expand...

My initial auditions revealed it to be quite different from the original Realist, a much more neutral and linear character without the original's emphasis on the body. But I want to experience it with different basses and amps for a more balanced conclusion. I can say that, as with most pickups, its personality varies from bass to bass and bridge to bridge.
 
#38
Very interesting. I'm not in the pickup market right now, but I really like the idea of something that goes on and off, so it's not in the way when you're acoustic and does it's job when you're amped.

I used the Realist for years and liked it fine. Never had feedback problems. I didn't like it imprinting my table and knew that it was about the age that Realists start failing, so I switched to Full Circle while I was having some other work done. Generally, I like the Full Circle sonically a little better and I like that it's off the table, but it does bother me that it is "permanently" mounted and I can't really even adjust my bridge height in less than full turn incriments.

So, if the new kid on the block here gave us reliable performance in that tone spectrum (vs Bp-100, Bassmax, Underwood type tone) then I'd say it's a good contender for next pickup. I'm happy to know that all of you mooks will buy and try before I have to. :smile:
 
#39
Bob Gollihur said:
1. While they recommend putting the plug in first to avoid moving the bridge, I found that I could plug the cable into the pickup while it was mounted on the bass. I just took care to apply pressure on the other side of the pickup frame to compensate for the push from the cable insertion at the bottom.
Click to expand...

As usual, I didn't read the directions before mounting it and my bridge footer started to move when I pushed the cable in. Considering how easy it is to attach (it takes me about 5 or 6 seconds now-one handed), there isn't any reason to leave it on. You certainly don't want to leave it on in the case, if it gets knocked loose in transit, the thing is heavy enough to do some pretty serious damage to the top of your bass.

In my short time with it, if you're attaching it to the bridge foot, it isn't that sensitive to position. In other words, it isn't like an Underwood where you have to move it around and search for the sweet spot. You can pretty much slap it on there and it's going to work.

There just doesn't seem to be any reason to keep it attached when you're not using it and attaching the cable while the pickup is off is both easier because you can just jam the cable in and completely eliminates any risk of jarring the bridge.

BTW Bob: thanks for getting this thing to me so fast. As always the speedy service is much appreciated.

mark
 
#40
Chris Fitzgerald said:
I'd be interested in hearing this as well. I'm not a Realist fan, but am curious. The things I dislike about the Realist are its lack of focus - especially in louder situations - and its tendency on my basses to be weaker on the top string than on the bottom two. A little puffiness on the G could be a good thing; puffiness on the E and A aren't what I'm looking for.
Click to expand...

You would probably find the SoundClip more useable than the Realist (because you can change where you mount it and you can vary the pressure on the piezo and the weight of the pickup--all of which allow you to refine the sound) but overall you'd probably have many of the same complaints. I don't think the SoundClip will work any better than the Realist at high volumes. I started feeding back with it at fairly low volume on all three basses. I didn't notice the G side being weaker than the E side on the 2 basses it worked with but I don't have that problem with the Realist on the back up bass either nor do I notice any unwanted puffiness on the E and A.

On the bass that the Realist doesn't work on, I notice all of those things and the SoundClip has the same problems although maybe not quite as severe.

Please bear in mind that I've only had about 90 minutes to work with this thing so far so some of my opinions will undoubtedly change with further experimentation.

mark
 

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