Double Bass Low (almost no) output with Realist copperhead

[turcmic]

fellow bassists,

I bought a used upright, 2010 Shen SB200, with a realist copperhead pickup a couple weeks ago. Didn't try it when I bought the bass (my mistake but a great deal on the bass). I also bought a Headway EDB2 preamp. I have some gigs coming where I'll play UB and EB.

I built a new pedalboard this week and put everything together this afternoon just on time for band practice tomorrow. I plugged the UB... almost no output even with gain and master at 10. Tried my p-bass with the preamp, everything is fine. Tried to swith to higher impedance on the preamp, no changes. I checked the bridge's feet and everything seems to be fine.

I read a few threads where realist's premature death is a known issue.

Is there a doctor in the house that can help my pickup live again or should I buy a new pickup?

 

[Michael Eisenman]

Make sure that your bridge is at 90° to the top, and therefore that the bridge foot is making full contact with the foil. Also—and I'm not sure whether this applies to all versions of the pickup—you can place a little piece of electrical tape or similar thick tape over each raised—or formerly raised—piezo element (little dot) to apply more pressure to it. My old pickup had two elements, IIRC.

Hope this helps.

 

[turcmic]

Thanks Michael. My pickup has 2 elements also.

The foot is perpendicular using the "slide a piece of paper" trick. I put a thin piece of cork between the pickup and the foot. No changes.

 

[sean_on_bass]

On two different basses i have found the copper Realist to provide a fairly substantial signal even with a quick and dirty DIY install. I have also heard though that they can die after a number of years. If you have the luxury, try installing the pickup on another bass to see if the issue persists. You can also try changing which bridge foot you have it under, just to experiment. My gut says that you just have a bad pickup. Even plugged directly into an amp with no preamp boost should get a decent signal with this pickup.

Also, have you tried plugging direct to the amp and bypassing your pedals/preamp?

 

[turcmic]

On two different basses i have found the copper Realist to provide a fairly substantial signal even with a quick and dirty DIY install. I have also heard though that they can die after a number of years. If you have the luxury, try installing the pickup on another bass to see if the issue persists. You can also try changing which bridge foot you have it under, just to experiment. My gut says that you just have a bad pickup. Even plugged directly into an amp with no preamp boost should get a decent signal with this pickup.

Also, have you tried plugging direct to the amp and bypassing your pedals/preamp?

Thanks Seanto

I tried with and without the preamp, under both feet... definately a bad pickup.

I bought a Krivo pickup (should receive it in a few days) because I have loud gigs coming and go from there. The UB world is more complex than the EB world!