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Double Bass Krivo vs Bieselle magnetic pickups
- Thread starter Mouldy
- Start date
Never had a hum with my Krivo.
I own both Biesele and Krivo. The Krivo fell off multiple times over a few gigs while I was doing some heavy slapping. Since I play for fun mostly and not for stress, I bought a Biesele : ) The Krivo sound was fine and I had no complaints. However, the Biesele is a bit more adjustable and I found that I liked having controls at my fingertips. I was always concerned about the extra weight at the end of my fingerboard, and the extra weight of the Biesele is hard for me to ignore, but I didn't have any actual problems. It just felt weird sometimes. Krivo uses a stronger velcro these days and I upgraded to a stronger velcro just to have some choices in case I need to use it on bigger outdoor stages. I like the fact that Krivo is smaller and much easier to permantly live in an emergency-type gig bag of stuff I carry to gigs.
However, these days, I have guts mostly play guts and bring an electric upright as a backup in case feedback is a problem.
I own both Biesele and Krivo. The Krivo fell off multiple times over a few gigs while I was doing some heavy slapping. Since I play for fun mostly and not for stress, I bought a Biesele : ) The Krivo sound was fine and I had no complaints. However, the Biesele is a bit more adjustable and I found that I liked having controls at my fingertips. I was always concerned about the extra weight at the end of my fingerboard, and the extra weight of the Biesele is hard for me to ignore, but I didn't have any actual problems. It just felt weird sometimes. Krivo uses a stronger velcro these days and I upgraded to a stronger velcro just to have some choices in case I need to use it on bigger outdoor stages. I like the fact that Krivo is smaller and much easier to permantly live in an emergency-type gig bag of stuff I carry to gigs.
However, these days, I have guts mostly play guts and bring an electric upright as a backup in case feedback is a problem.
Can you comment on the comparison of sound...perhaps if one sounds more 'double bass-like' or more like a P bass?
My experience is that neither one is more 'double bass-like' than the other. To me, as the volume increases, they both sound like... mag pickups. I have no problem with the sound aesthetics-wise of a mag pickup. I prefer to think of it as a range of choices. Going for more of a 'roots' sound, I blended in a piezo feed as much as possible. I was aiming for as little mag as possible and only what I needed to avoid feedback. Maybe it was 20% mag and 80% piezo but I didn't really try to quantify it. It was more of a feel thing.
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After 4 shows (3 small outdoor festival stages, one small club) with the Biesele, I agree with @redwookie: the Krivo and Biesele sound pretty similar to each other. I do like the peace of mind of the Biesele’s sturdier mounting method.
Curious about both of these pickups as part of a mixed-pickup solution to amplifying my travel bass. Unfortunately, it has a fingerboard that tapers away from the treble side toward the bass (pic below). This might make the Biesele a no-go because of the way it mounts.
I watched @Adam Booker's review of the Krivo and liked what I saw and heard, especially as I could mix in as much/little signal from it as I wanted with the Full Circle depending on what random international backline happened to be present . Does anyone who has one think the shape of the end of my fingerboard would make it a no-go?
I watched @Adam Booker's review of the Krivo and liked what I saw and heard, especially as I could mix in as much/little signal from it as I wanted with the Full Circle depending on what random international backline happened to be present . Does anyone who has one think the shape of the end of my fingerboard would make it a no-go?
- May 3, 2007
- 1,468
- 1,156
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: D'Addario Strings, Remic Microphones
I would check with Johnny and see if he can make a custum one-off based on a rubbing or outline of the end of your board.
Funny you should ask, I called Johnny and asked about the same thing for my travel bass, he wasn't having any of it though and told me to figure it out myself....I have not done it yet, part of the problem is that if you put it at an angle the spacing is off and if you fill in the bevel with flat it (seems like the best solution) but makes the board way too long and puts too much stress on the little bit of velcro that would be holding it on. Ideally for a pickup like this a designed, angled Krivo would be great....maybe this will have an affect? ...Mine has more of an S shape to it so it would need to be customizable....
I would like to have a Krivo on there. (I have been playing a little more amplified and heavy handed for certain electric gigs, whirly or Rhodes or guitar and horns) and I have no absolute attachment to MBOL or whatever, I would love to have a travel bass angled fingerboard Krivo to cut thru with...would have to ditch the Anima G though....
The position of the pickup on the string determines which partials (of the open string, others on a fingered note) are picked up at which volume. Like a one-dimensional position (string) for a contact mic that works on a 2-dimensional top. Position determines sound.
If you place the pickups for each string at different distances from the bridge, the sound for each string is a bit different. That might disturb or not, but all instruments with equal string lengths get the strings picked up at the same distance from the string.
The other thing that might get a bit unpleasant is that with pressing down the string in higher positions the string gets closer to the pickup and gets louder. So if you are used o make full use of the fingerboard, the magnetic pickups might not be the best solution. Getting the pickup position very close to the bridge mostly avoids the volume difference problem, but the string vibration there is rather small and therefor the electric amplitude is small and S/N-ratio gets a lot lower.
I nice had a Schaller on my first bass (couldn't get the Barcus Berry working, but had no time to figure is out anyway, as a result I got the Schaller as an instantly working amplification solution), so I have personal experience with that kind of problems.
If you place the pickups for each string at different distances from the bridge, the sound for each string is a bit different. That might disturb or not, but all instruments with equal string lengths get the strings picked up at the same distance from the string.
The other thing that might get a bit unpleasant is that with pressing down the string in higher positions the string gets closer to the pickup and gets louder. So if you are used o make full use of the fingerboard, the magnetic pickups might not be the best solution. Getting the pickup position very close to the bridge mostly avoids the volume difference problem, but the string vibration there is rather small and therefor the electric amplitude is small and S/N-ratio gets a lot lower.
I nice had a Schaller on my first bass (couldn't get the Barcus Berry working, but had no time to figure is out anyway, as a result I got the Schaller as an instantly working amplification solution), so I have personal experience with that kind of problems.
I don't have the problem that you describe that higher notes in TP sound louder than low position notes with my Biesele as far as I remember. Haven't used it much lately. But I never noticed it.
If the Krivo wasn’t too heavy, it might be possible to attack a little bridging piece to the bottom of the FB that could hold it in place. @Adam Booker,how much does it weigh?
I have used the Krivo for several years, attached with the Velcro Dual-Lok or whatever it's called, and it would take some work to get it off the end of the fingerboard! No hum, no feedback, and no P-bass comparisons!
Odd as it sounds, I actually have 2 Krivos on my bass, which is a 4-string recently converted to a 5-string. Even though the end of the board is the same, the pole pieces would not line up with the new spacing for the 5-string, which prompted me to use the 2 Krivos sandwiched together P-bass style.
At one point when it was still a 4-string, I experimented with putting an extra Krivo attached to the bridge and wire it like a Jazz bass but I wasn't real crazy about the nasally sound and took it off. I had to attach a small piece of wood permanently to the top of the bridge which I still keep on there without the pickup. I discovered that it helped reduce some feedback problems I had previously on some notes.
In all of my time fiddling with this, I managed to acquire 3 Krivos, which I still have. All of them are dramatically different sizes and weights since they are all different generations. I used the heavy-duty velcro before but since the neck has been thinned out quite a bit at the end, it never seemed to hold it up well. So I ended up using Gorilla tape along the side. The adjustable poles are very sensitive to position; i.e. too low, low output, too high, too loud and bang into the strings when slapping or playing heavy.
This is my current setup that is a relatively crude wood underbelly that houses the whole assembly. I plan to create a new one soon now that I have some real-world experience using it.
I need to remove the fingerboard and reinforce the neck to correct a forward bow so I plan to add some small 1/4" neo magnets along sides of the underside of the FB to allow for on/off attachmentof the entire rig, thus avoiding the awkward velcro attachment at the end of the FB.
Chris, attaching a stock mag in any position other than perpendicular to the board would not work because of the pole pieces not lining up. You would have to build an assembly that attaches to the full width of the base of the FB and cantilevered out past the end of the farthest angle on the G side. It's doable, although I think the sound would be a bit more mid-range but likely still be more acceptable than attaching it to the bridge.
The other possibility is having one custom wound for that specific angle and shape, even with the additional curl under E string. Again, doable but likely very pricy if you can find someone to do it for you.
At one point when it was still a 4-string, I experimented with putting an extra Krivo attached to the bridge and wire it like a Jazz bass but I wasn't real crazy about the nasally sound and took it off. I had to attach a small piece of wood permanently to the top of the bridge which I still keep on there without the pickup. I discovered that it helped reduce some feedback problems I had previously on some notes.
In all of my time fiddling with this, I managed to acquire 3 Krivos, which I still have. All of them are dramatically different sizes and weights since they are all different generations. I used the heavy-duty velcro before but since the neck has been thinned out quite a bit at the end, it never seemed to hold it up well. So I ended up using Gorilla tape along the side. The adjustable poles are very sensitive to position; i.e. too low, low output, too high, too loud and bang into the strings when slapping or playing heavy.
This is my current setup that is a relatively crude wood underbelly that houses the whole assembly. I plan to create a new one soon now that I have some real-world experience using it.
I need to remove the fingerboard and reinforce the neck to correct a forward bow so I plan to add some small 1/4" neo magnets along sides of the underside of the FB to allow for on/off attachmentof the entire rig, thus avoiding the awkward velcro attachment at the end of the FB.
Chris, attaching a stock mag in any position other than perpendicular to the board would not work because of the pole pieces not lining up. You would have to build an assembly that attaches to the full width of the base of the FB and cantilevered out past the end of the farthest angle on the G side. It's doable, although I think the sound would be a bit more mid-range but likely still be more acceptable than attaching it to the bridge.
The other possibility is having one custom wound for that specific angle and shape, even with the additional curl under E string. Again, doable but likely very pricy if you can find someone to do it for you.
FYI Jason currently makes a 5 string version! Glad you found something that works!
Yeah, I wrote to him awhile back about it. Unfortunately, the stock 5-string wouldn't work on my bass since the pole spacing wouldn't line up on the 4-string neck. He didn't have time to make me a custom one though.
I don’t think any pickup mag or piezo can sound natural past the volume level where the acoustic sound of the instrument is covered up by the amplified sound. For one I don’t believe any pickup is capable of accurately capturing the natural sound of the instrument. But I think there may be a psychoacoustic thing going on too where your brain becomes less and less convinced the more your sound is coming out of a box on the floor.
That said I found the Krivo to be as convincing as any piezo at lower volume levels. And playing louder it doesn’t sound like your bass does acoustically but it sounds good and not at all like a P Bass. The microphonic qualities of the Krivo definitely impart much of the acoustic personality of the bass.
I had good results plugging straight into amplifiers but found a HPF to be VERY helpful in controlling low end feedback. I almost consider a HPF to be essential running any acoustic bass through any amplifier. I’ve also used a parametric EQ but have really only needed it at higher volumes.
That said I found the Krivo to be as convincing as any piezo at lower volume levels. And playing louder it doesn’t sound like your bass does acoustically but it sounds good and not at all like a P Bass. The microphonic qualities of the Krivo definitely impart much of the acoustic personality of the bass.
I had good results plugging straight into amplifiers but found a HPF to be VERY helpful in controlling low end feedback. I almost consider a HPF to be essential running any acoustic bass through any amplifier. I’ve also used a parametric EQ but have really only needed it at higher volumes.
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Reviving this thread. I have a Krivo that I can use on two of my uprights, and I would also like to be able to use it on my BSX Allegro EUB which has a curved fingerboard bottom as in the pic that @Chris Fitzgerald posted earlier. Krivo now has a new pickup that enables that connection with some sort of "L" connector. Regardless, I'm still trying to make it work with the older model which can't be retrofit. Will report back if I ever succeed.
@John Chambliss I would love to see the new design and how they overcome that! I don't think I would ever need a Krivo for my acoustic basses, but i could see it being useful for the travel bass.
