Double Bass Krivo Electromagetic Pickup Review

[Mark Gollihur]

Can you give a link to this kind of jack mount? I did an internet search and got Linked In profiles for Roger Davis, and no site where I can learn about such as jack mount, or buy one...

Drop me a line. I'll hook you up.

 

[Stewie]

^^ That's why they get my business, wish I had found them a few years ago.

 

[damonsmith]

^^ That's why they get my business, wish I had found them a few years ago.

Yeah, Golihur is great! Horrific magnetic pick ups aside!

 

[Mike Carr]

Yeah, Golihur is great! Horrific magnetic pick ups aside!

 

[Mike Carr]

I offer get calls to play stupid loud gigs and the client insists on double bass. Sometimes people listen with their eyes not their ears. One of my basses can't handle an Underwood. The bridge wing slots are too wide and to affix an Underwood too much shimming deadens the good sound that Underwoods deliver. So for that bass..I went for the Krivo and it works great! Just played last Saturday with it in place and no one had a problem with my sound. And yeah it's not the most natural sound but it works well in jazz or pop contexts. I like it..I just put on my NHOP hat and go for it!

 

[damonsmith]

My only client is the music. I'd never throw my sound under the bus for few bucks. I don't mind compromising with amplified bass when it serves the music - as in having the speed to better interact with a great drummer.
A shift at most any day gig would be better that the sound of those things!
Slight concession: if I was more into NHOP I could see the fun in it, but not for a long commercial gig!

 

[Mike Carr]

Hey Damon..good for you! As for me, my only client is the music too. Serving "the music" is a given at the level of the game I am at. Some times this requires making the people who pay me..my clients happy. My clients in my over 40 year career have included 3 Grammy Award Winners and about a half a dozen Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees. Last year I played over 250 gigs. A lot of them paid " a few bucks". Quite a few of them paid quite a few bucks! Have a great day Damon!

 

[moproducer]

I use the Krivo with a Helicore Hybrid Light E, and I can confirm that the output is lower compared to Eurosonics and Superflexible Solos I had on A,D and G.

The solution I found was to stick a small disk shaped neodium magnet on top of the weak pole piece. The pole aligment must be right or it will reduce the output. The pole should be scewed out a little so that if you try to remove the magnet later it won't be stuck inside the hole.

This video demonstrates the same idea:

Gee whiz, is that the inside of a Krivo? Looks like a pair of Fender P's...

 

[Mark Gollihur]

Gee whiz, is that the inside of a Krivo? Looks like a pair of Fender P's...

No, that's a video he linked to of a person using a pair of Fender P's...

 

[moproducer]

Well, I have wondered if anyone here had ever tried that, it seems to work OK for the guy who posted the video. I will likely give that a shot myself.

 

[Stewie]

I run a different bass, with a different Krivo now(sold the old one with the bass) light guage Jargars
I get nothing but compliments. If you hate the idea of magnetic pickups, don't buy one. If you want hassle free volume. What are you waiting for?

 

[Diplock]

I run a different bass, with a different Krivo now(sold the old one with the bass) light guage Jargars
I get nothing but compliments. If you hate the idea of magnetic pickups, don't buy one. If you want hassle free volume. What are you waiting for?

On loud blues gigs I enjoy the sound I'm getting with the Krivo and medium Jargars. Maybe it's a compromise some people don't want to make but I always need to play through an amp and for me a Fender bass is a much less satisfactory solution to high stage volume.

 

[fdeck]

Well, I have wondered if anyone here had ever tried that, it seems to work OK for the guy who posted the video. I will likely give that a shot myself.

I used a P-Bass style pickup for my first magnetic. It worked, but the contraption that I built to hold it was pretty conspicuous. Being amplified at all allowed me to try playing jazz on upright bass, since I really knew nothing about available pickups or how to use them.

Switching to a piezo forced me to refine my technique in a hurry, and has made me a better player. Of course it's not MBOL, but does a better job of capturing the dynamics and attack, so it makes for a better connection between what I'm doing in my practice room and on stage.

 

[Chickenwheels]

As Megan said, it’s all about the bass.
I have a fully carved, full size instrument. You just can’t use a piezoelectric or mic live with this bass…it’s just too huge and lively, and feeds back very quickly.
I’ve just ordered a Krivo.

 

[Joshua Pickenpaugh]

I love my Krivo PU, and have been using it hassle free for several years. I find it much easier to sculpt a usable tone than I ever did with a piezo. Ymmv, of course.

 

[Chickenwheels]

On loud blues gigs I enjoy the sound I'm getting with the Krivo and medium Jargars. Maybe it's a compromise some people don't want to make but I always need to play through an amp and for me a Fender bass is a much less satisfactory solution to high stage volume.

Yes, DB is a whole other feel and style for me. I much prefer to play melodically on DB, it speaks so much better. I’m not a fan of EB for jazz playing at all.

 

[moproducer]

OK, finished it...it ain't pretty but it sure does work!

I took a used Bartolini p'up I found on eBay and created this rig to mount to the fingerboard. It's height-adjustable through the use of nylon spacers on the four mounting screws. The "polepieces" are actually Nd magnets stacked at appropriate heights. Heliocore HH strings. I can crank it to stupid loud and it really honestly sounds great, NO FEEDBACK.

Less than $50 invested in it.

 

[Diplock]

Cool! Did you consider reversing the two pickups putting the D/G side closer to the fingerboard? It always seemed to make sense but I’ve never gotten to try it myself.

 

[moproducer]

Cool! Did you consider reversing the two pickups putting the D/G side closer to the fingerboard? It always seemed to make sense but I’ve never gotten to try it myself.

I did a rough-in several ways and ended up with what you see. I think the bass itself might have a lot to do with it. In this case, I took a cheap instrument that I wouldn't feel too terrible about bastardizing. As luck would have it, I wound up with something that really sounds good.

Having the pickups float as opposed to making contact with the body (taking a cue from the old Gibson Johnny Smith model guitars) makes the big difference. The tone, sustain and texture of the string vibration is certainly modified and altered by the response of the instrument itself. But the only thing going to your amp is the vibration of the string and, likewise, no sensation of the amp by the instrument gets to the pickups.

 

[Chickenwheels]

So, I popped on the Krivo…and was horrified at the sound!!!
Fast forward some weeks to today:
I spent some time setting the Krivo up. I used my amp, a QSC K8, and my Realist Copper as a reference. And fiddled and fiddled and fiddled…
Long story short: mounting the Krivo as low as possible and burying the magnets deep in the pickup housing has rendered a fantastic, natural and loud sound that is actually awesome. Very close to MBBL.
Gigging Friday and feeling confident.