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Double Bass Realist Sound Clip?

damonsmith

damonsmith

May 10, 2006
10,333
9,046
53
Saint Louis, MO
www.balancepointacoustics.com
#1
I couldn't find a thread on this! @Ed Fuqua has one (if you could post your experiences, it would be great!). I would trust Ed about getting a good sound. Another trusted TB poster @Eric Hochberg mentioned a negative experience.

At the same time, I have been getting outstanding results from Barcus Berry clip that very few seem to have any love for, and this seems like a far more robust version of that!
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#2
It's one of those pickups that gives an edgy, trebly sound up close, but out in the house it sounds OK. The last performing arts theater gig I did (to a COVID empty house, they allowed about 15 "guests" into a 1,000 seat theater) , the sound guy took the direct out on the Woods and it sounded TERRIBLE. I've recently acquired a Headway EDB-2 and have added the Sennheiser to the mix. A young bassist fell by the last outdoor gig and sat in, so I could hear that out in the house and was really happy with the way everything worked - good, warm sound with a nice edge on the fundamental. But the main reason I got the Soundclip was to not have to add bridge adjusters or put something under the bridge foot. Plus, unlike rickwolff, I don't really have an "audiophile" set-up, just the Woods and a GK MBX112 cabinet.

So I imagine if you have a dark sounding bass, it could be a solution. But I don't think it falls into the bass only louder category...
 
#3
I couldn't get a useable sound from the sound clip, plus I'm philosophically opposed to adding weight to the bridge. Back in the day I had a bp100 and I really noticed the muting. For the music you play that's the last thing you need. I also like that Barcus as long as you have a pre amp, and have one on my 2nd bass.
 
#5
When gigs are for sure back in SoCal I'm gonna try out that Kremona DB-1 pickup, only because I don't need a piezo on all the time since I'm able to get a great workable sound out of an Ischell contact mic that has worked in most settings for me.

You might like the Ischell Damon. It's super easy to take on and off, especially if you mount the output jack to the tailpiece, and can have a pretty strong realistic sound that can hang in some loud settings if it's mounted right and is a good fit for your bass. Plus no piezo snarl when you use the bow.
 
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#7
I am a pretty big fan of the sound clip for the ease of use reasons.

Does I think it sounds great? No, but not any worse than any other piezo on an instrument. The adjustable weights, clamping tightness, and moveable location of the mechanism actually gives far more control and variables of sound than any other piezo I can think of. This can be great if you like to fiddle around with knobs and dial in, but for set and forget type people I wouldn’t recommend it.

The quality of sound doesn’t bother me at all for recording or live use, I have been happy with results using the standard eqs and amps- headway, fishman pro, ToneDexter, Phil jones amp, acoustic images amps.

As with any piezo you will really want a powered preamp that you can dial in gains and output and do some eq work to get good results.

My only complaint is that it does sometimes scratch the bridge when fully tightened, though if one were careful I imagine this could be avoided. The cable does dangle directly from the pickup some wiring cleanly can be tricky as well.

The easily reachable volume wheel is a major plus!!!
 
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#8
Sean Riddle said:
You might like the Ischell Damon. It's super easy to take on and off, especially if you mount the output jack to the tailpiece
Click to expand...
I love the Remic, but I kept the Ischell in case any louder gigs come up. I am rubber banding the XLR socket horizontally with the flat side across the tailwires (with a strip of padding in between). Works well if you can reach the 'sweet spot' from there. Sorry, no pics available at the moment.
 
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#9
As far as I know the Soundclip was developed for the traveling bassist who needs to play other people’s basses on tour.

The Soundclip does no harm to the instrument, it could be adjusted in many ways, but the sound is not exactly reproducible, even on the same instrument after transport, because the the weight of the clip needs to unmount it every time and you never get the same position and pressure as before.

The “no harm to the instrument” is relative because the weight and hard material can accidentally damage the bass if not handled correctly and with care.
 
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#10
DoubleMIDI said:
As far as I know the Soundclip was developed for the traveling bassist who needs to play other people’s basses on tour..
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Not a bad idea exactly, though if someone is rolling the dice on the basses they play it would be a bit odd to be attached to a pick up that people are recommending as "solidly adequate" at best and unusable at worst. Best to just roll the dice on the pick up as well!
I am not against "solidly adequate" - I might try one if I get one cheap!
 
#11
damonsmith said:
Not a bad idea exactly, though if someone is rolling the dice on the basses they play it would be a bit odd to be attached to a pick up that people are recommending as "solidly adequate" at best and unusable at worst. Best to just roll the dice on the pick up as well!
I am not against "solidly adequate" - I might try one if I get one cheap!
Click to expand...


As awful as I thought the Barcus Berry clip was, the Realist SoundClip is a good candidate for being even worse. Best to borrow one if you can, and see how it works on your bass, as apparently it works fine on some instruments.

I considered the SoundClip totally unusable on the bass we tried it on. This was on an instrument owned by our organization. I am pretty sure the owner of the pickup tried it on his personal instrument as well, with similar results. A few weeks later he bought an Ehrlund EAP. The only time he got a bad sound out of EAP was when a sound company provided an SVT and 810.
 
#12
Happy Steve said:
I love the Remic, but I kept the Ischell in case any louder gigs come up. I am rubber banding the XLR socket horizontally with the flat side across the tailwires (with a strip of padding in between). Works well if you can reach the 'sweet spot' from there. Sorry, no pics available at the moment.
Click to expand...
I have just a 1/4 inch output jack on my Ischell and I rigged up an attachment device similar to what Gollihur sends out with Realists they sell, a clip for the jack and a screw, washer, and nut to screw it on the tailpiece. No pics of mine either cause I took it off and a Realist Lifeline I have after covid hit since there's no need for pickups right now, except for a few summer recordings I did. It has made my bass sound much nicer!
 
#15
Bought a SoundClip when it was new and one of the few alternatives to the Realist. The option of a volume knob was extremely attractive in those days. Pretty much everything everyone has said is true... thinner, trebly, edgy. They're OK, maybe even good sounding under ideal circumstances, but never great. Mine went into the bag as a back-up when I went to the Ehrlund EAP system. However, regardless of what many have said, you can get a usable tone out of one though you have to experiment with placement and weight combinations. It EQ's about as the same as most piezo pickups. I keep my #2 bass set up with baroque guts and it's totally acoustic. The SoundClip has always been "good enough" when I show up for an acoustic gig and unexpectedly discover a sound man lurking around with a DI in his hand. I can't recommend this as a primary pickup but they make a useful "for-when-all-else-fails" pickup. Plus, they can effectively double for brass knuckles at the "chicken wire" gigs. How can you go wrong?
 
#16
damonsmith said:
If anyone wants to sell me one for a decent price, PM me!
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I got one for a very reasonable price! Thanks @Garagiste!! What people are saying is very true as far as how it stacks up against all the pick ups in the world.
When you compare it to those that come off the bass quick and easy, it may be the best yet. It interferes with the acoustic sound a bit more that the Barcus Berry clamp (which is just so light), but is far more robust. Without the weight the acoustic sound is not bad, and the amp sound is workable. I have tried through my AI Clarus / Upshot, I will run it through my old GK 200MB later. More to come..
 
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#17
damonsmith said:
I got one for a very reasonable price! Thanks @Garagiste!! What people are saying is very true as far as how it stacks up against all the pick ups in the world.
When you compare it to those that come off the bass quick and easy, it may be the best yet. It interferes with the acoustic sound a bit more that the Barcus Berry clamp (which is just so light), but is far more robust. Without the weight the acoustic sound is not bad, and the amp sound is workable. I have tried through my AI Clarus / Upshot, I will run it through my old GK 200MB later. More to come..
Click to expand...
Glad to hear it arrived.
 
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#18
The best part about the Sound Clip, really is the jack right on the thing. The wire to 1/4 jack is such a bummer!
Arco, as others have reported is oddly amazing. Pizz needs the dialing in. AI gear and George L. cables help + a nice old bass. I am going to try it on the Chadwick and GK tomorrow.

Sean Riddle said:
When gigs are for sure back in SoCal I'm gonna try out that Kremona DB-1 pickup, only because I don't need a piezo on all the time since I'm able to get a great workable sound out of an Ischell contact mic that has worked in most settings for me.

You might like the Ischell Damon. It's super easy to take on and off, especially if you mount the output jack to the tailpiece, and can have a pretty strong realistic sound that can hang in some loud settings if it's mounted right and is a good fit for your bass. Plus no piezo snarl when you use the bow.
Click to expand...
 
#19
I finally got to try it on a gig. Semi-outdoors, with the upshot & Clarus 1 & Chadwick hybrid. The great arco sound is what was unexpected! The pizz sound is punchy yet still pretty natural. The volume knob and the input jack right on the pick are really great as well.
The weight does disrupt the acoustic sound, however, what used to do was cut the amp with the volume pedal for arco and then I needed as pure of an acoustic tone as I could get. In this case, I can set the volume knob on the volume pedal to keep enough amp in the sound to make up for the loss of acoustic sound.

Again, I can totally see someone who is playing mostly amplfied and doesn't mind a pick up living on the bass - there are far better options out there.
Also, I am not really sure it is better than Barcus Berry clamp, but I am on my third one of those, they are actually great pick ups through modern amps but they are delicate and they need 1/4 input soldered on to really get anything out of.

So, if you are starting with the premise that the pick up just cannot live on your bass full time, I am cautiously saying this is the best one out there. Is it worth $400? Best to find a used one - but maybe.
 
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#20
A bit more to report:
I had two part project this weekend. Saxophone / Bass / Drums trio. Studio recording on Sat. and an outdoor show on Sun.
I did the first part of the recording with just my old bass, no amp. The drummer had just gotten a new set and it really did sound amazing, so for the last two tracks the engineer plugged in a bespoke tube bass amp and quickly dialed up a great sound with the Sound Clip.
It is bit odd - the arco sound is great, the pizz takes a bit of fiddling, not much, though.
The next day, we played in an open pavilion. I used my Clarus 1 to the Upshot (George L cables) with my Chadwick hybrid and quickly dialed up a great sound. I was able to play a pretty heavy free jazz set with no volume issues and a tone I was very happy with.
If you play a lot of arco like me, you might find this to be a great pick up. There are better pick ups or at least easier to use pick ups for pizz out there, but with good gear, this is actually a solid pick up.
 

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