Double Bass Realist Lifeline Life Span?

[Matt81]

Hey all-

My Realist Lifeline is cutting in and out. This is my second Lifeline, and I've only gotten about 4 years of life out of each of them. I was flying a bunch with the first one so chalked it up to wear and tear of assembling/disassembling the bass, but that hasn't been the case with this one.

Has anyone else experienced short life spans on these things? Or am I just lucky?

 

[jj.833]

I have one on my bass since 2015, never been off the bass, still working perfectly. For a few years now, I use it only in feedback emergency though.

 

[DoubleMIDI]

Maybe the part of the bridge that presses onto the Lifeline it either not plan or not parallel to the adjuster wheel which can damage a piezo.
An impact onto the bridge crown could be another reason for this.

 

[Sean Riddle]

I’ve had one since 2014 thats still going strong. Double check that the pickup element is totally flush in the adjuster. That can affect tone.

 

[Ric Vice]

I would hope that the Realist Lifeline is more malleable than the Realisy Copperhead. That said, several years ago, Sam Findlay came on the Talkbass DB Amps, Pickups and Microphones threads and said that on some basses due to a higher angle in respect to the bridge on a particular bass, realists tend to only last around 4 to 4.5 years.