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Double Bass Magnetic pickups....help

T

Thomas Stone

Apr 28, 2005
134
0
Herne HIll, London....UK
#1
Hello all TB ers.

I'm about to do a radio show with my current band and i'm in desperate need of a pickup that wont feed back.

This is no jazz gig.
The band boasts a very loud drummer, bassoons and clarinets and i'll be playing a good deal of arco.
I'm aware magnetic pickups are not known for their hifi reproduction of the string bass, but in this instance the studio room is small and the volume will be high and i'm more worried about feedback than sounding too much like a slab.

has anyone got any reccommendations of magnetic pickups ?(available in the UK)

thanks
Thomas
 
#2
#5
Hi Thomas,

My previous post probably needs some explaination. I have a Schaller 10/70 magnetic pickup on my laminated bass that I use for my insanely loud gigs. Very good at controlling feedback. These are made in Germany, and are probably more accessable in Europe than they are here. They attach to the end of the fingerboard with 4 small screws. Price is about $100 USD. The problem with arco is, that the bow dampens the movement of the string, and your volume will literally be cut in half compared to what you were getting with pizz.

I am a little confused about your radio station gig. My experience with radio station and recording studios, (admittedly not recent) is that they don't like amplifiers in the studio. They prefer to mike everything, and slabs generally go straight in to the mixer. Before spending money on a 1 purpose pickup, I would contact the studio and ask them how they plan to put you in the mix. I expect that they would mike the bass and hopefully provide you with a set of earphones so that you can monitor your intonation.

Good luck
 
#6
I agree they won't work for arco. Especially if you have to cut through in a loud band. I do that all the time on my gig and spent time with a magnetic pickup blended with a piezo. It just added too much low end. I decided to let the PA work for me and I've had lots of luck playing loud big rooms with just a Full Circle on my full size carved bass or a realist on my Czech-ease. It is all about EQ. I just played a gig tonight and I was insanely loud in the monitors. Really too loud. This with loud acoustic guitar and kick in the monitors with it. The electric guitars were not in the monitors.
 
#7
I use a Stringcharger straight into an SVT sometimes with double cabs and it works great, the only feedback you will get is from the strings themselves at an insanely high volume like Jimi Hendrix. I use the stringcharger without preamp and a K&K slap pickup with preamp and get complimented all the time on the sound. The high notes are just as loud as the low notes unlike piezos. I do not play jazz I play rock rock a billy and blues and it works equally well for all. They are expensive however at about 300.00 but well worth it to me. You can bend the thing for equal pickup from all the strings. They are not as natural sounding as piezos espeiclaly on the low notes but more than make up for that with their great high note definition and high volume capabilities. I also have the K&K bass max installed on my bass and use it once in a while but the stringcharger gets far more use. It is ideal for a small room with high volume. the only thing I don't like is you get far more sustain on the low notes than with a piezo which increases the louder you are so you don't get a natual thump on the low notes like a piezo. But with good technique you get used to it and learn to compensate.
 

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