This morning I went over to Adam Cohen's and we spent a couple of hours A+B-ing our pickups. Adam has a B-Band pickup. Checking their website, I see that they've discontinued this offering and it sounds like they had a few different configurations, so, I'm not sure which one Adam has now, I'll have to ask him.
My bass came with a Full Circle and I added an Ischell contact mic; the two feeding into a Headway EDB-2 pre-amp. I also recently bought a Headway Band pickup as a backup after hearing it at the Aebersold camp and finding the tone better than most.
The good news, is I think Adam and I both agreed that all 4 pickups sound very good and we're really happy that there are so many great amplification options available today. The pickups tend to cut through better - more punch - than the Ischell, but the Ischell does indeed sound very MBOL on my bass through the EDB-2 using the +Hi impedance setting. And we agreed that the best tone was blending the Ischell with a pickup. Which pickup is up for debate because they all sounded good going through the EDB-2 with very minor differences. The Band sounded very good but had much lower output so it won't go as loud as the Full Circle or B-Band. That could be because it's tough to get it tight enough around the bass; maybe sliding in a spacer after I've secured the velcro might help. Better yet, Headway could provide a ratcheting mechanism to improve the contact. The Full Circle and B-Band were pretty comparable, IMO, both cut through the mix very nicely with good presence. The Band was a bit more present above the octave in TP, which might be desirable for a bassist who likes to solo in TP a lot. We also found that Adam's B-Band sounded noticeably better going through the EDB-2 with +Hi impedance than going directly into his AI amp and after I left I remembered that Don Kasper, who has the same pickup, uses an FDeck before his Walter Woods. It seems as though that makes an easily noticeable improvement, so strike one for Kasper, but there's no reason to tell him...
We realized we rarely get to compare so much gear because of the expense so we thought it worth posting our findings.
I find, for many gigs, I just use my Full Circle direct into an amp with high impedance and find the tone unobjectionable. If I'm being finicky, I'll opt for Ischell by itself but in a larger ensemble or very live room, I usually wind up blending in the Full Circle to better hear myself. YMMVAEEGMWCBs.
Fuel to the GAS, sorry in advance, and don't tell your SO it's MY fault!
Ah, PS, all sounded great both arco and pizz - there was no need to adjust anything when switching which can be an issue with some pickups.
My bass came with a Full Circle and I added an Ischell contact mic; the two feeding into a Headway EDB-2 pre-amp. I also recently bought a Headway Band pickup as a backup after hearing it at the Aebersold camp and finding the tone better than most.
The good news, is I think Adam and I both agreed that all 4 pickups sound very good and we're really happy that there are so many great amplification options available today. The pickups tend to cut through better - more punch - than the Ischell, but the Ischell does indeed sound very MBOL on my bass through the EDB-2 using the +Hi impedance setting. And we agreed that the best tone was blending the Ischell with a pickup. Which pickup is up for debate because they all sounded good going through the EDB-2 with very minor differences. The Band sounded very good but had much lower output so it won't go as loud as the Full Circle or B-Band. That could be because it's tough to get it tight enough around the bass; maybe sliding in a spacer after I've secured the velcro might help. Better yet, Headway could provide a ratcheting mechanism to improve the contact. The Full Circle and B-Band were pretty comparable, IMO, both cut through the mix very nicely with good presence. The Band was a bit more present above the octave in TP, which might be desirable for a bassist who likes to solo in TP a lot. We also found that Adam's B-Band sounded noticeably better going through the EDB-2 with +Hi impedance than going directly into his AI amp and after I left I remembered that Don Kasper, who has the same pickup, uses an FDeck before his Walter Woods. It seems as though that makes an easily noticeable improvement, so strike one for Kasper, but there's no reason to tell him...
We realized we rarely get to compare so much gear because of the expense so we thought it worth posting our findings.
I find, for many gigs, I just use my Full Circle direct into an amp with high impedance and find the tone unobjectionable. If I'm being finicky, I'll opt for Ischell by itself but in a larger ensemble or very live room, I usually wind up blending in the Full Circle to better hear myself. YMMVAEEGMWCBs.
Fuel to the GAS, sorry in advance, and don't tell your SO it's MY fault!
Ah, PS, all sounded great both arco and pizz - there was no need to adjust anything when switching which can be an issue with some pickups.
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