Double Bass Realist questions.

[RustyCage]

I've been thinking about getting a pickup for my bass.
I live in Israel at the moment but I Plan on moving to NYC in a couple of years to contiue my studies at The New School and I am not planning on taking my plywood bass with me. when I asked my friends and teachers on which one should I get, they all told me to get the Realist Copperhead. those are also installed on all of the basses in my school. after comperring prices online, I found out that buying one plus an installation locally costs as much as The Realist Soundclip, but ordering a Copperhead from Ebay (still-in-the-box mint condition) costs half as much. my questions are:

how easy and safe is it to mount the pickup without any training? I am scared shitless of doing something stupid

how easy is it to dismount the pickup? so I could take it with me and wont have to get a new one.

or should I even get the Soundclip? (considering that it sound as good ,if not better, than the Copperhead and also if I shouldn't take the risk and install/uninstall the copperhead on my own and pay an outrageous amount of money to get it done)

P.S: my bridge doesnt have adjusters so the Fishman Full Circle isn't an option.

 

[KUNGfuSHERIFF]

Installing the Realist is easy. Lay the bass on its' back, slack the E&A strings, lift the bridge foot on that side and lay the pickup on the witness point, and gently drop the bridge foot back into place so the foot makes good contact with the two round piezo elements. The jack mounts to the tailpiece with a clip that attaches to the ball of the G string.

Removal is the reverse of installation. I wouldn't thrash it around any more than necessary, as the junction of the lead and the copper foil seems to be a weak spot.

Two other things -- the original Realist tends to sound like boomy, thuddy hell on plywood tops, possibly as a function of the lack of resonance compared to a carved top. Also, they have a limited lifespan...several years for some folks, 10 years for others.

 

[DoubleMIDI]

If you want a brdge foot pickup consider the Shadow SH-965NFX too. It comes with two foils (you only need to use one and have one spare in case the foil gets damaged) and also a have an impedance buffer so you are not dependent on a low input inpedance of the amp (good if you need to use the amps from the place where you are playing).

If you use two foils (might be needed for some basses), then you might get a bit of a phasing/echo-like effect.

Just take a spare battery with you all the time and remove the 1/4"-plug from the battery adapter if you don't need to play or the battery drains out after a few days.

 

[Ric Vice]

I've been thinking about getting a pickup for my bass.


......when I asked my friends and teachers on which one should I get, they all told me to get the Realist Copperhead. those are also installed on all of the basses in my school. after comperring prices online, I found out that buying one plus an installation locally costs as much as The Realist Soundclip, but ordering a Copperhead from Ebay (still-in-the-box mint condition) costs half as much. my questions are:

how easy and safe is it to mount the pickup without any training? I am scared shitless of doing something stupid

how easy is it to dismount the pickup? so I could take it with me and wont have to get a new one.

or should I even get the Soundclip? (considering that it sounds as good , if not better, than the Copperhead and also if I shouldn't take the risk and install/uninstall the copperhead on my own and pay an outrageous amount of money to get it done)

From what I gather you are getting a pickup for your plywood bass that will be left in Israel. Is that correct? If that's the case, Realists aren't always a good match with a bass that has a laminate top. I'm not fond of the Sound Clip, so if you're going to get a Realist then I'd recommend either the copper foil or wood version, that slips under the E foot of the bridge. Another option would be to try the Shadow, as it's got a thinner pickup that's a bit easier to install under the bridge foot.


Ric

 

[DoubleMIDI]

The Shadow is packed in a thick transparent plastic foil, so not neccessarily thinner.
But is works on a lot of basses and you don't need to carry a preamp around (except for EQ, the tone pot on the battery adapter of the shadow is unusable, always set it to the brightest sound.) Just transport it in the protective box when travelling without a bass.