Double Bass Realist LifeLine

[arseniotall]

Thanks all. Its a gk mb500 through a wizzy 10. Carved fendt maggini (kolstein) with zyex g and helicore pizz. Threads down, wooden adjusters, and i had on a blue shirt with grey slacks....

 

[Don Sibley]

and i had on a blue shirt with grey slacks....

 

[RenanDias]

This sample of the lifeline in action made my day, will go for it. Just wish I could play like the boy on the blue shirt did :-D

 

[ErikvanD]

Quick question on the Lifeline XL: I am thinking on buying one. My bridge has large ebony adjusters with threads down. The adjuster rods are glued in place in the top side of the bridge. At this moment I use the bass with the adjusters fully screwed in but making the string height a little bit higher should work. If I were to install the Lifeline where would I put it? I see a lot of discussion on this but this mostly refers to metal adjusters that are not glued in. I guess the best way would be between the adjuster wheel and the bridge foot (so on the threaded part)?

 

[jonas]

the pickups needs pressure, so there is only one possible side: the pickups slides in where the wheel touches the wood.

 

[ErikvanD]

Ok, thanks Jonas. So in my case indeed between wheel and foot. So now I just have to decide if this is the right pickup for me. But that's a whole different story...

 

[DoubleMIDI]

And the adjusters ARD not glued into the wood, otherwise you wouldn't be able to turn the wheel at all.
Tune down the lower three strings, turn the bass bar adjuster a bit in/down to make room for the Lifeline and you might be able to lift the bass bar side top piece of the bridge and separate adjuster and top bridge piece a bit to slide in the Lifeline. Then tune up the strings again and check the bridge angle several times during tuneup.
And the plan side of the lifeline makes contact to the adjuster (it's not possible to mount the other way without breaking the piezo).

 

[ErikvanD]

They are in fact glued in. The wheel is just a large ebony nut that screws on the glued in "bolt". Therefore my question as these ebony adjusters are of a different construction as most metal, one piece adjusters

 

[jonas]

And the adjusters ARD not glued into the wood,

Some adjusters come in two pieces: the (fixed) thread and the (movable) screw -- mainly the wooden ones are made this way. Others come in one piece, thread and screw are made from one part of Aluminum or POM, and turned as one unit.

 

[DoubleMIDI]

Thanks, Jonas, for this information about adjusters. And sorry, Eric, I didn't read your posting carefully enough.

 

[stefaniw80401]

My bridge (From Robertson in NM) has those phenolic adjusters, threads down, and the bearing surface of the adjuster wheels are not flat -- furthermore, the adjuster shaft holes are not drilled deep enough into the bridge leg to bear the full weight upon the adjuster wheel.

I'm not sure that this pickup will work on my bridge. Suggestions welcome.

 

[Mark Gollihur]

My bridge (From Robertson in NM) has those phenolic adjusters, threads down, and the bearing surface of the adjuster wheels are not flat -- furthermore, the adjuster shaft holes are not drilled deep enough into the bridge leg to bear the full weight upon the adjuster wheel.

I'm not sure that this pickup will work on my bridge. Suggestions welcome.

It's unlikely to work; the bearing surfaces should be perfectly flat (perpendicular to the posts) and making flat, even contact with the surface of the bridge wood. Not only will you get uneven results (at best) but you'll probably damage the pickup.

 

[ErikvanD]

After my posting here on February 15th I bought a XL Lifeline and installed it today. Very easy indeed!! I don't know yet if I am happy with the raised strings, I guess I'll just give it some time.

What bothers me more is that I get no sound out of the Lifeline whatsoever... The pickup gives a signal when I plug it into my tuner so I guess my amp might be to blame... This works absolutely fine with my EUB with pre-amp but not with the Lifeline (and also not with a simple piezo pickup I made myself a while back). I have send an email to verify if this amp-pickup combination should work or not.

 

[Mark Gollihur]

What bothers me more is that I get no sound out of the Lifeline whatsoever... The pickup gives a signal when I plug it into my tuner so I guess my amp might be to blame... This works absolutely fine with my EUB with pre-amp but not with the Lifeline (and also not with a simple piezo pickup I made myself a while back). I have send an email to verify if this amp-pickup combination should work or not.

Yeah, that's weird. What amp? Have you tried switching cords? Tested the amp with any other instruments using that same input? It's a simple thing; even if not optimal, you should still get sound.

 

[ErikvanD]

Hey Mark,

I have tried two cords. I have only used the amp so far with my EUB with pre-amp. The amp is a Phil Jones Bass Double Four that does have a setting for passive elements. Jonas, where I bought the Lifeline and that also sells PJB told me it should work. He also told me that on this amp the signal might be weak and a pre-amp might be a good idea but nevertheless I think I should at least hear something.

I have tried all settings and get no sound. I also tried the pickup with an Apogee jam iPad interface. The indicator light on the Apogee lights up when I pluck a string but no sound is recorded. I did a cross reference with the EUB and that worked fine.

This is the only amp I have so I do not have the opportunity to try another amp soon...

Is there a way to check such a pickup with a multimeter or something?

 

[Mark Gollihur]

Sounds like there just might be a problem with the pickup. You shouldn't need a preamp, the PJB has a high enough input impedance for quality sound, and the Lifeline is under pressure and has plenty of gain (the seller is wrong if he's saying the output is expected to be weak).

 

[jonas]

(the seller is wrong if he's saying the output is expected to be weak).

That’s not exactly what I said, Mark.

 

[Eric Hochberg]

Is it installed on the threaded side?

 

[ErikvanD]

That’s not exactly what I said, Mark.

Jonas is right here, I might have described it a bit wrong... He did not refer to the output of the pickup but to the amp itself having rather low volume with some pickups.

It is installed on the threaded side so between adjusting wheel and foot. Here it gets maximum pressure.

 

[Michael Eisenman]

I wonder whether there's enough pressure on the Lifeline. Have you tightened the wheel enough to begin to raise the bridge on that side? Snug is not sufficient; all of the downward pressure from the strings must bear on the pickup. If you had a "normal" adjuster, this pressure would be achieved automatically.

Another thing that hasn't been suggested: Since the pickup is so easy to install and remove, have you tried it on a different bass (with "normal" adjusters)?