Double Bass Pickup/Mic Advice

[timidbassist]

Hey guys,

I am currently renting a bass from my college, but I need a mic\pickup to go through an amp because I simply need to be louder. Does anybody have any advice on where to find a cheap one of these? I need it to be cheap, the quality doesn't need to be great as the bass isn't even very great. I need one quick though is the problem.

Any advice would be great! Thanks!
Davey

 

[jazzbassnerd]

Revolution solo or K&K Bass Max. Both under $100. Both good pick-ups.

 

[mje]

Or the good old SM57, wrapped in foam and taped under the tailpiece. Available everywhere in beat-up condition.

 

[fdeck]

I would advise on using one of the inexpensive piezo pickups with a buffer preamp to get started. It has been my experience that miking is really problematic due to feedback and pickup of nearby instruments -- amplifying your competition.

 

[timidbassist]

Hey guys, thanks for the help so far. Those two are right about what I was hoping to spend. If there are any more that anyone knows of I'd love to hear from them.

One question, since this is a rented bass as of now, what kind of alterations am I looking at for installation? I can't really make a huge change to the bass since it isn't mine. Sanding the bridge might not be too drastic, but is that all I have to do?

Thanks so much!
Davey

 

[greitzer]

...what kind of alterations am I looking at for installation? I can't really make a huge change to the bass since it isn't mine. Sanding the bridge might not be too drastic, but is that all I have to do?

Not sure about the K&K 'cause I haven't used it, but for the Revolution Solo, the only alteration you may have to do, is sand the bottom of the "wing" of the bridge on the E string side, to make sure there's enough room in that wing slot to fit the pickup in. If you luck out, and it's a perfect fit right out of the box, then you don't have to do any sanding. And if the opening in the wing slot is too big, then you'll just need to add a cardboard or wooden shim to make it snug.

If you follow the Rev Solo instruction info, you also will have to take off the G string and feed a little doohickey over it that holds the input jack, then restring the the G string. However, you don't have to do it that way; it can be used without putting the G string through the doohickey.

 

[bolo]

With the Rev SOLO, you can sand the pickup too (on one side) to get it to fit properly, to limit the amount of sanding to your bridge.

Regarding shims, I used to use clarinet reeds with the BassMax and they worked. For the SOLO however, after I sanded mine down too far I opted to have the p/u reconditioned by the manufacturer for $40 so I could start over.

With both of these types of pickups, I actually had to sand the bridge some to get them to fit best. At first the surface planes of my bridge wing and bridge foot (where both these types of pickups make their contact) were not parallel. They were kinda wedge shaped, and this was problematic. So I eventually sanded out the wing slot to make these two surfaces parallel, and things worked much better.