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Double Bass Pickup suggestions?

Garrett151

Garrett151

Mar 23, 2011
318
5
#1
(This could be in the wrong forum. Sorry about that...)

Hey ya'll, just bought my first upright! I bought a used Shen sb200 willow from Steve Swan (great guy!). Anyway, I'm going to need a pickup soon and I was wondering what you guys like. Has anyone had success with a particular pickup for this bass? I'll be playing it through my BG rig, a Mesa M-pulse and 4x10 cab. I'm going to be playing country and hopefully jazz. Thanks for your opinions!
 
#5
I have the same bass and similar rig, I blend a Full Circle and a Ehrlund and I am somewhat happy with the results. I'd say you can't go wrong with a Full Circle, is easy to install and it's reliable. Another popular choice is the Realist, you might want to check it out too. Lotta info about these if you search this forum. Hope you'll find what you're looking for!
 
#6
Steve is a great guy. +1 on the Full Circle. I'll put in a plug for Matt Bohn (AKA the Bass Doctor) in Felton as a good choice to install it. The Realist is solid too; although, in my experience (and many others on this board) it tends to be a little too "dark" sounding, certainly too dark for my current bass.

Beware - bass guitar amps generally don't work well amplifying the double bass - they are not as "flat" in their response as amps made for double bass. I suggest that you try out an amp or two that was designed for the double bass before you pass judgement on your pickup - for what it's worth.
 
#7
johnz said:
Steve is a great guy. +1 on the Full Circle. I'll put in a plug for Matt Bohn (AKA the Bass Doctor) in Felton as a good choice to install it. The Realist is solid too; although, in my experience (and many others on this board) it tends to be a little too "dark" sounding, certainly too dark for my current bass.

Beware - bass guitar amps generally don't work well amplifying the double bass - they are not as "flat" in their response as amps made for double bass. I suggest that you try out an amp or two that was designed for the double bass before you pass judgement on your pickup - for what it's worth.
Click to expand...

Alright thanks for the advice. As I am 17 and don't have much money after buying an upright, I'm not even going to tease myself by looking at acoustic amps. I'll try to make due with what I have, especially because I have 14 bands of EQ between my amp, EQ pedal, and VT bass. We'll see what happens.
 
#8
Both are good plug and play pickups. I've used both for years each under a variety of circumstances. In general (subjectively) I think Full Circle is a little more capable. But, an advantage that the Realist has, is that it is more consistent over a variety of amps. I used a Realist back when I was playing a lot of jam sessions and taking some ensemble classes, where I would plug into whatever amp was available.

It might be a betting choice for you for now. It should last you a good 4-5 years without a hiccup and you won't need a pre-amp.
 
#10
johnz said:
Beware - bass guitar amps generally don't work well amplifying the double bass - they are not as "flat" in their response as amps made for double bass.
Click to expand...

Amps made for double bass? I suppose you aren't joking, though a web search for that phrase suggests that you introduced the concept in that post. Can you suggest a specific model or two?

The new piezo pickup I've been fiddling around with picks up a lot of high pitched sound, compared to electric bass, enough that I have to turn the treble knobs way down on my B-50R.
 
#11
Donn - Maybe I am getting too creative in my terminology; to answer your question, think EA Doubler, the GK MB150 and a good chunk of the Acoustic Image amps. These amps tend to have a much flatter response when the tone controls are set at neutral. By way of contrast, my experience with a SWR working man's 12 was that the EQ sounded really nice for a bass guitar, but has a tonal response that I find really unpleasant for the double bass. As usual, YMMV
 

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