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Double Bass Need a new pickup- full circle or…?

krfoss

krfoss

Supporting Member
Nov 29, 2007
3,039
4,505
Orange County, CA
#1
My Shen 150 currently has a copperhead realist but may be going bad because it’s distorting even at low volumes. I’ve read they can go bad, so I’m looking around.

For this bass playing half fingers/ arco, should I just replace the copperhead, or shift to the full circle. I have a FC on another bass (old American standard) and it’s fine, but are there better options for this bass?
 
#4
Sam Findlay who is David Gauge’s business partner came onto Talkbass many years ago and explained that based on their own anecdotal evidence
the angle that the strings break over the bridge to the tailpiece can put more pressure one the Realist Bridge pickup causing the pickup to fail. While it’s not statistical data it seems to be borne out by other TB members. If you like the way the realist sounds with your bass and amp the Realist Lifeline sounds similar, is great with the bow, and mounts differently.
 
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#6
I use the LifeLine on my 150 and think it works pretty well. I had a Full Circle but it stopped working (I had three fail within a short period of time on two basses). The Full Circle felt a little punchier but I think the LifeLine's tone is nicer. All upright pickups have their issues and tonal downsides unfortunately.
 
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#7
I've owned a Full Circle, Realist, and Revolution Solo. The Revolution Solo is by far the most natural and musical sounding, to my ears. The Full Circle is great in that you can put it on pretty much anything and it sounds decent, including electric upright basses. I never bonded with the Realist, although it's okay at low volume to supplement your acoustic tone.

To get the most out of the Rev Solo, you may want to pay somebody to install it for you though.
 
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#8
ole Jason said:
I use the LifeLine on my 150 and think it works pretty well. I had a Full Circle but it stopped working (I had three fail within a short period of time on two basses). The Full Circle felt a little punchier but I think the LifeLine's tone is nicer. All upright pickups have their issues and tonal downsides unfortunately.
Click to expand...
Agreed, bowing isn’t very comfortable or sonically pleasant with the Full Circle, while the LifeLine works for both Pizzicato and Arco.
 
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#9
Using the Realist Lifeline into a RedEye Twin or RedEye, cleans up much of the Realist’s muddy qualities, even at higher volume levels. I used a Upton Revolution Solo into the Headway EDB-2 for a bit but it just didn’t produce the tone quality I’m looking for, so as with most every pickup “ results may vary”
 
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#10
Schertler STAT-B . Arco is natural sounding almost mic like. Takes a lot of SPL to feedback, just slightly lower than full circle. If you need that FC punch, you just need a preamp with bass and low mid controls to dial it in or use a natural sounding compressor, It comes with a preamp as the contact mics need 11 volts phantom but if you have a preamp that can supply 8 - 13 volts phantom a the tip then that will work. I know AER, Headway and Schertler can do that. The preamp that comes with it the 9 volt battery lasts really long.

It is a bit expensive but you can move the pickup to other basses. And if you are in classical setting where a pickup wiring is deemed unsightly you can remove the pickup easily

I am in a trio ( Rhodes, Vox organs and Clavinet) bass and drums where I use effects and I am very happy with the Stat-B. The FC was actually not so great, Too much low end and it is not as even volume wise across the strings
 
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#12
I use the realist with the docking station. It seems to work well on both of my basses, a 1932 voit & Geiger and a Korean carved bass. I can lower the output for arco parts plus turn it off to switch to electric bass. In my opinion, the docking station seems to smooth out the sound…🤷‍♂️
 
#13
I love my Realist Soundclamp, can adjust the response by changing the positioning/tightness, and it's easy to move from bass to bass. Was super convenient to take with me when I had a fly-in gig where they were renting a bass for me. And having a volume knob on it is nice, even if mostly I just use it either full on or full off.
 
#15
Having used both gage pickups, the full circle, and yamahiko, for me the best by far is the Yamahiko with a 2.2 capacitor in the output jack.

But, the gage lifeline is pretty bow-friendly, probably because it lops off upper mids like crazy. For me, that creates a bigger problem when I need some clarity playing pizz with a drummer.

I think the full circle is a good sounding pickup, but the yamahiko is very similar in sound and built WAY better.
 
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#16
I got a Northern Luthierie “Da Crusher” from a member here, and it sounds the most like my bass to me between it, the Realist Lifeline and the old Fishman Classic - I don’t have a Full Circle. I do like the Lifeline too. The dual elements of Da Crusher are stacked in a compound that turns gummy when heated, so you get a literal custom fit to the wing without removing wood from the bridge. Pretty cool, but it is not easily moved between instruments, if that’s a need.
 
#17
Endlesssolo said:
Having used both gage pickups, the full circle, and yamahiko, for me the best by far is the Yamahiko with a 2.2 capacitor in the output jack.

But, the gage lifeline is pretty bow-friendly, probably because it lops off upper mids like crazy. For me, that creates a bigger problem when I need some clarity playing pizz with a drummer.

I think the full circle is a good sounding pickup, but the yamahiko is very similar in sound and built WAY better.
Click to expand...
With the yamahiko are you recommending a single pickup or 2? Thanks
 
#18
labravajazz said:
With the yamahiko are you recommending a single pickup or 2? Thanks
Click to expand...
I use the single element pickup with a 2.2nf capacitor in the output jack. That’s what I would recommend based solely on my experience. I’ve never tried the two element pickup up. One thing you could do if you wanted is order 2 elements, try it with both elements and single. It’s easy to do that simply by disconnecting the short cable between the elements.

A slight tangent about the output of the Yamahiko. I personally found this pickup almost unusually with the stock output jack, due to high enough output to distort my Clarus and my WW, with or without the fishman preamp I have. I tried soldering a capacitor in a spare 14” cable, and that fixed the problem. There are a few threads about this on this forum, lots of good info. Once I found the right cap value (for me, 2.2) I ordered an output jack (he calls it the output cable) from yamahiko and now I can use any 1/4” cable.

Ok, so that got me thinking, why is such a well built and well thought-out pickup delivered with such a high output to distort on the low E, even with high quality amps? Recently, one of the more knowledgeable posters on this site (maybe doublemidi) posted something about how the 2 element design results in a drop of output voltage. That makes sense; maybe the standard output is optimized for the 2 element model. I’m guessing here.
 
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#19
Endlesssolo said:
… Recently, one of the more knowledgeable posters on this site (maybe doublemidi) posted something about how the 2 element design results in a drop of output voltage. That makes sense; maybe the standard output is optimized for the 2 element model. I’m guessing here.
Click to expand...
Yes, it was me.

I simply measured the capacitance of the single element Yamahiko and added a capacitor just slightly larger in value than that in parallel to simulate the second pickup element to bring the volume a bit down.

My Yamahiko (8 mm) has 1.2 nF and the closest capacitor value I found at home was 1.5 nF.

Original post here
 
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#20
Endlesssolo said:
I use the single element pickup with a 2.2nf capacitor in the output jack. That’s what I would recommend based solely on my experience. I’ve never tried the two element pickup up. One thing you could do if you wanted is order 2 elements, try it with both elements and single. It’s easy to do that simply by disconnecting the short cable between the elements.

A slight tangent about the output of the Yamahiko. I personally found this pickup almost unusually with the stock output jack, due to high enough output to distort my Clarus and my WW, with or without the fishman preamp I have. I tried soldering a capacitor in a spare 14” cable, and that fixed the problem. There are a few threads about this on this forum, lots of good info. Once I found the right cap value (for me, 2.2) I ordered an output jack (he calls it the output cable) from yamahiko and now I can use any 1/4” cable.

Ok, so that got me thinking, why is such a well built and well thought-out pickup delivered with such a high output to distort on the low E, even with high quality amps? Recently, one of the more knowledgeable posters on this site (maybe doublemidi) posted something about how the 2 element design results in a drop of output voltage. That makes sense; maybe the standard output is optimized for the 2 element model. I’m guessing here.
Click to expand...
Yes! The Yama was designed as a two element pickup and that is why the one element can be too hot.
 
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