Double Bass Lars pick up: anyone tried it yet?

[Frits]

LARS CM-B MKII (Double Bass)

LARS CM-B es un micrófono de contacto diseñado para contrabajo. Su función es capturar la vibraciones de la tapa armónica y amplificarlas de una forma lineal tanto en tonalidad como en dinámica. Incluye una masilla para adherir el sistema a la tapa armónica del instrumento sin dañar el acabado y...

larspickups.es

 

[Luca Visconti]

Double Bass - Lars Pickup

there is already an open thread, you can refer to it.

 

[logdrum]

LARS CM-B MKII (Double Bass)

LARS CM-B es un micrófono de contacto diseñado para contrabajo. Su función es capturar la vibraciones de la tapa armónica y amplificarlas de una forma lineal tanto en tonalidad como en dinámica. Incluye una masilla para adherir el sistema a la tapa armónica del instrumento sin dañar el acabado y...

larspickups.es

And the summary was that it picked up the bass drum and other noises too much on actual gigs, The experts also thought that it is piezo rather than a mic

 

[DoubleMIDI]

Just listening to the example I think it is a piezo.
The higher frequency components („air“) are missing or at least heavily attenuated which is typical for a piezo transducer (like the Ehrlund and MSP).
My AKG contact mic which is an encapsulated electret condenser has more natural air sound.

The FAQ says that it is totally passive and needs a high-Z input of at least 1 MegOhms. This is also typical for a piezo.

 

[vvvmmm]

Wait, I thought Lars plays the drums?

 

[fdeck]

En route to the development of modern microphones, a lot of different technologies were explored. There were piezoelectric microphones. And there are contact microphones, that pick up vibrations by being in contact with something. So, a piezoelectric contact microphone is a real thing. The Ehrlund is also a piezoelectric contact mic. I’ve got one of those, and experienced similar issues, such as feedback and picking up the drummer. But it works fantastic on my cello. Don’t ask me why I have a pickup on my cello.

On the other hand, there are players who love them. One thing’s for sure, no two instruments amplify the same, and no two players have the same amplification needs. I know of no other method than trial and error for finding the right bass pickup. I think the fundamental problem is that there’s no single “place” on an acoustic instrument where the localized vibrations represent the entire tone of the instrument.

 

[PB+J]

En route to the development of modern microphones, a lot of different technologies were explored. There were piezoelectric microphones. And there are contact microphones, that pick up vibrations by being in contact with something. So, a piezoelectric contact microphone is a real thing. The Ehrlund is also a piezoelectric contact mic. I’ve got one of those, and experienced similar issues, such as feedback and picking up the drummer. But it works fantastic on my cello. Don’t ask me why I have a pickup on my cello.

On the other hand, there are players who love them. One thing’s for sure, no two instruments amplify the same, and no two players have the same amplification needs. I know of no other method than trial and error for finding the right bass pickup. I think the fundamental problem is that there’s no single “place” on an acoustic instrument where the localized vibrations represent the entire tone of the instrument.

Back when I was gigging regularly tried so many different ways to amplify the bass! K+K pickup/mic blend, the Realist, the Rev Solo, the Schertler Dyn B; a suspended SM-57: I think there are some other in there I can't remember. They all had good and bad points, I settled on the Ehrlund with the Ehrlund preamp, which got the best sound for me in the most venues. But to get the best from it you really would need to be able to duplicate yourself so you can listen to it while playing the bass in different positions, or position it, record some stuff; move it, record same stuff, move it, record the same stuff, etc etc. I actually did that, but lost patience with it.

The Tone Dexter seems like a great idea but when it came out I was mostly interested in balancing decent sound against set up and carry time. One trip from the car to the stage, fast setup and breakdown was my goal.

I bet the Enhrlund would sound good with a red eye preamp. But I just got a new bass, with a Full Circle already on it, so I'll probably end up going through the whole process again.