Double Bass K&K Bass Max

[Jake]

I have a Bass Max on my bass and the G string sounds thin through my amp compared to the other strings. Have any of you experienced this with bridge wing pickups mounted on the E string side? Is there a way to make it more balanced?

 

[neddyrow]

i have 2 basses and 2 bassmax pickups. both have the piezo element mounted on the E string side. works great! i may be waaay off but i thought that they are supposed to be mounted on the E string side.

 

[Jake]

It is on the E side. I like the sound except the G string sounds a little thin compared to the other strings.

 

[Francois Blais]

It has to do with the bridge shape and cutting.
Different configurations can produce this unbalance.

 

[DoubleMIDI]

I rather think moving the soundpost a bit away from the bridge might help.

 

[Jim Clark]

I've been using the Bass Max for 13 years, and I've always had better balance with it mounted on the G side of the bridge. On both basses I've used it on, the E string was way too boomy and loud related to the other strings (Spiro mittels for most of this time).

 

[Francois Blais]

You can also try to revert the Bass Max element.
I mean, twist it so the side facing the wing will now face the bridge leg.

 

[drurb]

You can also try to revert the Bass Max element.
I mean, twist it so the side facing the wing will now face the bridge leg.

The BassMax is a symmetric, dual-element pickup so that flipping it over would be expected not to change the sound. See here.

 

[Francois Blais]

Maybe, but that's not what I get in practice on my EUB.

 

[drurb]

Maybe, but that's not what I get in practice on my EUB.

Time for a blind test.

 

[bigshiny]

Been using the Bass max since before 2000. Never noticed flipping it to make it sound different. Could it be that the string itself might sound a little "thin"? I have noticed over the years that transducers can turn a small difference into a much bigger one in general. Sometimes messing with EQ at the preamp and the amp helps.

 

[FatBoutedGirls]

I never noticed a difference flipping the bassmax. I also installed it on the E side and the G string sounds fine. What's the rest of your chain and eq settings look like?

 

[DoubleMIDI]

If the soundpost is too close to the bridge the high string cannot transfer the energy well to the top and this might even be worse with a pickup. I had this with my bass and moving the sound post a bit away solved this and some other problems. If the highest string doesn't have a good resonance and sounds a bit scratchy with the bow this might be an indicator for a misplaced sound post.
It won't help much to try other pickups when the bass is not correctly set up.