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Double Bass POLL: Which pickup do you use?

Which pickup do you use?

  • Total voters
    181
Danny Adair

Danny Adair

Nov 21, 2000
424
15
50
San Antonio, Texas, USA
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#1
This poll is my attempt to get a grasp on which pickups TB DB'ers are using either alone or in conjunction with a microphone. This poll may show my bias as a pickup user; hopefully a microphone-centric player will throw together a microphone-focused poll.

I've tried to capture old stalwarts, recent favorites, and brand-new or lesser-known options. Please don't hesitate to reply with options that I've overlooked.

Thanks,
Danny
 
#2
I'm actually blending my Full Circle with my Upton Rev. Solo. The FC is great, but just a bit electric sounding. The solo is really natural sounding, but starts to ring at certain frequencies (like a mic would just before it really feeds back) as the volume goes up. Blending the two about 50-50 gives me a sound almost as natural as a mic with WAY more headroom. :)

The Solo is really "punchy" too. Great pizz. It gets a little loud and scratchy with the bow. The FC works better with the bow. Blending helps the Solo sound better with the bow.
 
#5
I use the AMT mic exclusively now. I like to play with high action to get that "bounce" in my sound, and the mic just reproduces it better than a pickup could. I haven't found it necessary to blend a pickup into my signal.
 
#7
None of the above!

I am using a homemade magnetic pickup on my 1962 Kay. It consists of four rare earth magnets, each with a coil of wire around it. The coils are pulled out of little stepping motors... everything was scavenged from the trash at my day job. These are attached to a framework of pieces made from 1/4 inch thick Lexan, ultimately clamping to the end of my fingerboard.

Yeah, the thought of a DIY pickup seems horrifying, and we all know about the magnetic pickup sound. But it is actually quite inconspicuous, and I have gotten nothing but compliments about my sound. Maybe I get a bit less of the electricky sound because this is a really low impedance single coil pickup. It is also mounted at a fair distance away from the strings to minimize distortion -- possibly a culprit with commercial magnetic units. I make up for the relatively weak output level with some gain on my preamp.

Piezos have never treated me well, but I am ready to try again, now that I have a preamp with all of the bells and whistles for controlling feedback -- proper input impedance, phase switch, and parametric. We'll see how it goes.
 
#14
I did so want to pick the SISSIES choice. I have yet to use an amp on a gig this year.

I have a Realist which I put through the amp, a Sennheisser MD 409 that I put through the PA. I don't always use them at the same time, at KAVEHAZ I just use the mic, some casual gigs that I need soem volume on I just use the pick up.

But sweetest of all are the gigs I don't need any amplification for.
 
#17
Unlike everyone else in this thread (LOL), I'm still looking for the perfect pickup

I put "full circle" but in fact, i don't HAVE a full circle at the moment--i sent it back to fishman for a warranty repair and I'm awaiting its return.
So technically I should have put "bass max." but i like dthe full circle pretty well when it was working
 
#18
Full Circle. I must say that I use the Fishman Pro Platinum EQ with it. The pre-amp makes it smoother and punchier. And if this makes any sence, the pre-amp makes it so I can be softer and hear myself better, which I am sure that my bandmates appreciate.
 
#19
At present, I'm using Underwoods on the Kolstein and Standard. They cut through with reasonable amount of tone and are easy on and off. That being said, when I get back into experimental mode, the Solo sounds like something I'd like to try. The trouble with so called "natural" sounding pickups, to me, is that many times if it sounds great at home it will invariably get lost in the mix on the gig.

Ike
 

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