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Double Bass Has anyone tried the "wood Realist."

J

James Gibson

Mar 3, 2007
266
4
Brooklyn, NY
www.myspace.com
#1
I know it's available (of course) from (all hail) Bob Gollihur's site. I've been researching some pickup options, and this one piques my interest.

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Has anyone tried this? Any noticeable difference? Does the new design reduce the marks made to the bass's top from the pickup? Any comments welcome. Thanks!

James
 
#3
I was at the Frankfurt Musik Messe and was at Gages and talk both with him and his worker (cant really remember his name, but we had a nice long talk )
the wood realist in their opinion has a more compressed sound and has a bit more mids... he said the differences were subtle but so far, thats what they think.
about the new pickup, it clamps into the foot bridge and has a volume pot and a way to trim the sound.. cant remember well enough.
its made to be a option for traveling bassists since its easy to mount and can jump from bass to bass, also according to them, its not as flat as the realist, it colors the sound in a nice way like if your bass is a little shy on the lows, the pickup will add a nice low end.
i listened to the pickup and it didnt sound bad, but theres not really the optimal place to judge because thee was always too much noise around.
however and according to them, if you're looking for a natural sound, you should stay with the realist
hope this helps

Nuno
 
#5
Does this raise the height of the strings on the bass side?
If so:
- would you would have to drop the height of the bridge adjusters to compensate? I am under the impression that both bass adjusters have to be about the same height to prevent undue pressure on one side the bass top.

-if you do not have the adjusters, would the increase in height of the bass side mean your bridge curve and string notches have to be re-cut?

Thanks.
 
#6
martinc said:
Does this raise the height of the strings on the bass side?
If so:
- would you would have to drop the height of the bridge adjusters to compensate? I am under the impression that both bass adjusters have to be about the same height to prevent undue pressure on one side the bass top.

-if you do not have the adjusters, would the increase in height of the bass side mean your bridge curve and string notches have to be re-cut?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

The size of the wood is almost as thin as the copper version. I measured both with a caliper and show measurements on my site. It's a thin and flexible slice of veneer.

I suspect if somebody blindfolded a player and then asked them if they could tell if the wood OR copper pickup was or was not installed on their bass, they probably couldn't tell the difference.
 
#7
Mike Carr said:
Good question, I've been wondering the same. BTW, does anyone have any news about Gage's new "Soundclip" pickup?
Last thing I saw on this board about it was that it was to be available in March. Any of you NYC guys have any updates?
Click to expand...

I was told today that the release (shipping date to we dealers) date is May 10, so if that is to be believed I'll have them May 11. I believe one is coming my way this month so I can kick it around.

Saw it at NAMM, it's a very impressive, sturdy, and flexible little unit, and the Gage folks are very excited about it. I took some closeup photos of it in January.

realsclip.jpg
 
#10
arseniotall said:
interesting..i throw my realist on the rental bass pretty easily...dont understand the market for this one.
Click to expand...

It is even easier to put on a rented bass, whatever bass a player might encounter. The option of locating the pickup further up the bridge opens up a whole new world of possibilities that the under-foot Realist could not. There are adjustable, removable weights on one side to alter the character of the response. Both of these characteristics will make it easier for players to attain "their sound".

It also offers a volume control, with the jack on the other side.
 
#11
Bob Gollihur said:
The size of the wood is almost as thin as the copper version. I measured both with a caliper and show measurements on my site. It's a thin and flexible slice of veneer.

I suspect if somebody blindfolded a player and then asked them if they could tell if the wood OR copper pickup was or was not installed on their bass, they probably couldn't tell the difference.
Click to expand...

Bob: OK.
Thanks for clearing that up.
 
#16
Since Mr. Gollihur posted on this thread, I'll go ahead and thank him. I bought the Wood Realist through his site and the correspondence was quick, as was the delivery. Always a pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Gollihur. I'll be in touch soon with my next purchase: a new cab. I'm eying one of the EA's on your site. Any information about the Wizzy 12 MLine? And have you heard anything about the 2x10 cabs returning?

As for the Wood Realist, I'm almost completely happy with it. I've never used the original copper foil model, so I can't speak for it's performance in relation to that, but I do like the sound I'm getting from mine. I've read a lot about how the Realist is an extremely dark pickup. Through my EA iAmp800 and :crying:TERRIBLE:crying: Peavey 4x10 cab (a remnant for my pre-DB, high school rock band days:bassist:) I'm able to get an articulate and transparent sound. I only say "almost completely happy" because the output level isn't as high as the K&K Bass Max I've been using prior. I remedied this with my roommate's LR Baggs Para DI and got a tone I was extremely happy with on a recent quartet gig.

Currently, I have the Realist as well as the Bass Max on my bass. At school, I end up playing in probably 2-3 different rehearsal rooms throughout the day, with one of 3 vastly different amps. For right now, I am able to use one of the two pickups depending on what room/amp configuration I'm working with, though I will say I've been leaning toward the Realist. What's for certain is that I was very excited to remove the old Shadow Nanoflex from my bass to make room for the Realist.
 
#17
Well, you'll never get the output from any of the better pickups routinely discussed here that you will with the BassMax. The BassMax is an extremely "hot" pickup. I never liked it at all. In my experience it's a midrange-heavy transducer that made any bass I tried it on sound like an overgrown BG. I can't imagine that the Realist is anything but a vast improvement over the BassMax-- IMO, IME, my $0.02.
 
#18
drurb said:
Well, you'll never get the output from any of the better pickups routinely discussed here that you will with the BassMax. The BassMax is an extremely "hot" pickup. I never liked it at all. In my experience it's a midrange-heavy transducer that made any bass I tried it on sound like an overgrown BG. I can't imagine that the Realist is anything but a vast improvement over the BassMax-- IMO, IME, my $0.02.
Click to expand...

I would agree with you. I definitely favor the sound of the Realist over the BassMax. I'm keeping the BassMax around until I can afford a preamp to boost the signal from the Realist and a new cab to reproduce the signal with more transparency and detail.
 

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