Double Bass Please help i.d. this mag pickup from my Azola Bug Bass

[daveman50]

Hey, folks, I recently acquired a very nice Azola Bug Bass, but I'm having trouble with the magnetic pickup, which is extremely noisy. My first question, as I try to figure this out, is: can anyone identify the maker of the pickup? Photos attached. Thanks!

(The bass also has a K&K piezo, and a 4 knob setup-- vol (push-pull); blend; treble boost/cut; bass boost/cut. The push-pull seems to be a mid control - ? - the bass does not run passive.)

 

[Ric Vice]

I'd reach out to Steve and ask him, he's a very nice cat. He'll know what he used since he built the bass.

 

[Francois Blais]

Looks like a modified Krivo.

 

[daveman50]

Looks like a modified Krivo.

Yes, it does.

 

[Jeff Bonny]

It's almost certainly a Kent Armstrong. I think he did the mags for all the Bugbasses and some of the other Azola EUB's.
Here's custom p.up Kent made for my Azola Deco Bass in 2001.

WD Music Products has been distributing Armstrong pickups for years and it's kinda hard to get past them and get in touch with Kent himself. No idea what he's up to now but in 2014 I discussed another custom p.up with him. His email address then was [email protected]

If you can't get your pickup repaired a new Krivo would be an excellent replacement.

 

[daveman50]

That's interesting. Kent made me a custom pickup for a BG a few years ago.

 

[Jeff Bonny]

Just looking at the conversation I had with him about those Bugbass pickups (I wanted a mag for a double bass) he said he still had all the molds.

 

[daveman50]

I've solved the worst of the noise issue, using my usual ham-handed technique of opening the control cavity and poking at wires, as well as cleaning the RCA jack on my t-shirt. Eventually I'll have someone who knows what they're doing take a look and do what they do (reflow solder, etc.). Thanks. I'll post again if I get any more info regarding the pickup.

 

[Martin Beer]

It does look very much like the Kent Armstrong I owned a few years ago, right down to the RCA jack and the connections on the bottom.

 

[Jeff Bonny]

Now I think of it after replacing them once removing the RCA jacks and plugs completely solved noise issues on my Azola Deco bass. For whatever reason they just didn't work between the 1/4" input and the pickup which I could never figure out. They've been 100% reliable in every other piece of gear I've ever had with them.

If it can be done without damaging the pickup I'd remove the RCA and hardwire right to the 1/4" input jack.

 

[daveman50]

Jeff, thanks. This mag pu is wired into a preamp - it's the lead coming into the control cavity at the top of the photo. Aside from poking at the wires, it's beyond my pay grade to rewire this. But perhaps the lead exiting the control cavity could be rewired at the pu to eliminate the RCA jack.

 

[DoubleMIDI]

In most cases e pots or the connector pins have been oxidized over time. Some Deoxid into the pots and lots of movement of the pot control from one end to the other and back helps for the latter, pulling off the cable connectors from the PCB soldered pins and putting them back on for two or three times should do the job. Be careful to only pull at the connector, never at the cable. Pulling one side of the connector a bit higher, then the other one and repeat is the best way to get the connector free.
Sometimes there is a lock at the connector that Ned's to be opened, but I don't think there is one looking the photo.

Another source of noise is a broken or bad shield connection. By poking around it might get temporarily better or much worse. Both is not a good solution but can mak it easier to find the bad shield connection.