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Double Bass Revolution SOLO Pickup Reviews
- Thread starter drurb
- Start date
Right, but I'm turning up my main output too! Any bad cable connections are gonna pop like a small pistol. So I'm running 600 watts out of my Focus SA into a 250 watt cab. Turning the FSA up past halfway starts to make me a little nervous.
Got a new RS back from Eric a couple days ago and tried it out tonight. This time I shaved it down to fit looser. It's loose enough that a firm tap will knock the pickup out of place.
The hum is gone. The pickup sounds a little different this time I think, could be just because of the looser fit. I dunno. Seems like it's pretty live - R side up was too much for me. R side down was perfect. I think it also has to do with the shape of my bridge wing. The curve on the bottom side of the wing creates a little high spot that sounds very full if I can get the hot side of the pickup to contact it just right. I still get alot of string noises despite the R side being down. With the Anima's, it gets a little thin in the extremely high register, especially on the G string. I put a touch of compression on my Fishman Pro Platinum Preamp and it rounds the sound out nicely and helped with the thin sound. The lows now are booming nicely too. Maybe a little louder than the highs.
Nice and loud - no more output issues. Actually the lows maybe too loud. I started having feedback problems with things turned up. Turns out the afterlengths were the culprit. If I get something to mute the afterlengths (like an unused patch cable), the sounds a nice and mellow with no feedback. I'll have to invest in a velcro strip now.
With the preamp settings at almost flat, and with a little compression, I do get the "my bass but louder" sound, especially in the lower register. In the end, I think it's much better than the Full Circle. Kudos to Eric, Upton, and their fantastic service! Thanks guys!
BTW: A tip to find the sweet spot if you haven't figured it out... Pluck the open strings so they sound and keep fidgeting with the pickup until you get some decent volume. Turn the amp up a bit so that you make sure you can hear it. A sweet spot and a bad spot is different like night and day it seemed. Also, if you need a little extra pressure for the contact area, you might try twisting the pickup slightly (yaw, not roll). Mine sits an off angle (like 50-55 degress or soemthing). In my experience, if it was real snug then it's too tight. Mines on slightly firm but not tight. But the danger is always sanding off too much so be careful.
EDIT: Actually it's not really a firm fit. It's more like a soft pinch. Could come out easily but I don't plan on knocking the PUP out while I play.
The hum is gone. The pickup sounds a little different this time I think, could be just because of the looser fit. I dunno. Seems like it's pretty live - R side up was too much for me. R side down was perfect. I think it also has to do with the shape of my bridge wing. The curve on the bottom side of the wing creates a little high spot that sounds very full if I can get the hot side of the pickup to contact it just right. I still get alot of string noises despite the R side being down. With the Anima's, it gets a little thin in the extremely high register, especially on the G string. I put a touch of compression on my Fishman Pro Platinum Preamp and it rounds the sound out nicely and helped with the thin sound. The lows now are booming nicely too. Maybe a little louder than the highs.
Nice and loud - no more output issues. Actually the lows maybe too loud. I started having feedback problems with things turned up. Turns out the afterlengths were the culprit. If I get something to mute the afterlengths (like an unused patch cable), the sounds a nice and mellow with no feedback. I'll have to invest in a velcro strip now.
With the preamp settings at almost flat, and with a little compression, I do get the "my bass but louder" sound, especially in the lower register. In the end, I think it's much better than the Full Circle. Kudos to Eric, Upton, and their fantastic service! Thanks guys!
BTW: A tip to find the sweet spot if you haven't figured it out... Pluck the open strings so they sound and keep fidgeting with the pickup until you get some decent volume. Turn the amp up a bit so that you make sure you can hear it. A sweet spot and a bad spot is different like night and day it seemed. Also, if you need a little extra pressure for the contact area, you might try twisting the pickup slightly (yaw, not roll). Mine sits an off angle (like 50-55 degress or soemthing). In my experience, if it was real snug then it's too tight. Mines on slightly firm but not tight. But the danger is always sanding off too much so be careful.
EDIT: Actually it's not really a firm fit. It's more like a soft pinch. Could come out easily but I don't plan on knocking the PUP out while I play.
I am enjoying the sound of my Revolution solo as well. I did have some volume issues with it, but it had a lot to do with the shape of my bridge wings. I am using the Solo with the "R" facing the body as well. It just sounds more natural to me that way. I am looking forward to trying out an LR Baggs Gigpro with the RS soon.
wondering, eroy, others - has anyone experimented with the sound impact of the shaping of the contact surface of the wing ?
For example, if the butt-end of the wing is widened with sandpaper, it will tend to be rounded slightly convex, and thus put more pressure on the pickup at the center of the contact surface than on the periphery. Since the other side of the pickup is pressed against the arch of the bridge leg, inherently convex, this means the pressure on the pickup is concentrated at the center on both sides.
On the other hand, if the wing was opened with a sharp knife, its butt-end could be shaped slighthly concave, rather like the bottom of a well-done bridge foot. This would mean the pickup would bear more pressure around the periphery on the wing side versus at the center on the other side. It is just a hunch, but I suspect this would make the piezo inside behave quite differently, resulting in a different sound.
I have no idea whether one way or another would sound better or worse; I guess I am just saying this might be an interesting variable to experiement with.
BTW, I don't have one of these pickups yet myself, but I am planning to get one, so this has got me thinking about them.
For example, if the butt-end of the wing is widened with sandpaper, it will tend to be rounded slightly convex, and thus put more pressure on the pickup at the center of the contact surface than on the periphery. Since the other side of the pickup is pressed against the arch of the bridge leg, inherently convex, this means the pressure on the pickup is concentrated at the center on both sides.
On the other hand, if the wing was opened with a sharp knife, its butt-end could be shaped slighthly concave, rather like the bottom of a well-done bridge foot. This would mean the pickup would bear more pressure around the periphery on the wing side versus at the center on the other side. It is just a hunch, but I suspect this would make the piezo inside behave quite differently, resulting in a different sound.
I have no idea whether one way or another would sound better or worse; I guess I am just saying this might be an interesting variable to experiement with.
BTW, I don't have one of these pickups yet myself, but I am planning to get one, so this has got me thinking about them.
- Mar 19, 2002
- 800
- 130
- 53
- Disclosures
- President: Upton Bass String Instrument Co.
Hey Myrick,
when we install them in the shop we are mostly putting them in Despiau bridges which have an extremely narrow gap between the wing and the leg. Not even I will sand the pickup down that thin (I make them all, so I know how thin I could take it) so we take some material off the leg to widen the slot. We do this very carefully with a file to make sure the plane we make on the leg is parallel to the plane of the wing. It has been my thought that this makes for a better fitting pickup on both the top and bottom. for the pickups we install in the shop we never get complaints about output volume or tone. I suspect that most of the output and tone problems I hear of are a symptom of poor installation.
But, what your talking about is not getting better overall contact...but rather concentrating the contact on the middle or sides. If I were to try this, I would say putting the pressure on the sides will not do much for you at all and may give a pretty poor result. concentrating the pressure on the middle (or some call it sweet spot) may give you more volume but it may be too bright as well. Dunno...kinda speculating as I have not tried these methods myself.
Overall...I suggest you try to get the most complete fit on the top AND bottom of the element for the best results.
Also, think of the RS like you would a soundpost. Fit and placement are everything. Subtle changes in tightness, contact and placement can be the difference between a pickup you like and a pickup you can't live without.
when we install them in the shop we are mostly putting them in Despiau bridges which have an extremely narrow gap between the wing and the leg. Not even I will sand the pickup down that thin (I make them all, so I know how thin I could take it) so we take some material off the leg to widen the slot. We do this very carefully with a file to make sure the plane we make on the leg is parallel to the plane of the wing. It has been my thought that this makes for a better fitting pickup on both the top and bottom. for the pickups we install in the shop we never get complaints about output volume or tone. I suspect that most of the output and tone problems I hear of are a symptom of poor installation.
But, what your talking about is not getting better overall contact...but rather concentrating the contact on the middle or sides. If I were to try this, I would say putting the pressure on the sides will not do much for you at all and may give a pretty poor result. concentrating the pressure on the middle (or some call it sweet spot) may give you more volume but it may be too bright as well. Dunno...kinda speculating as I have not tried these methods myself.
Overall...I suggest you try to get the most complete fit on the top AND bottom of the element for the best results.
Also, think of the RS like you would a soundpost. Fit and placement are everything. Subtle changes in tightness, contact and placement can be the difference between a pickup you like and a pickup you can't live without.
OK - I read through this thread - eventually!! 
And I am convinced - I'd like to try one of these!
So I went to uptonbass.com and tried to order one, as I thought $99 - not bad, worth the risk!
But then it adds on $51 shipping to the UK and I expect I will get VAT slapped on plus customs charges - now it's not looking such a good risk...
So is there any way I can avoid paying so much to get one shipped to me in the UK?
And I am convinced - I'd like to try one of these!
So I went to uptonbass.com and tried to order one, as I thought $99 - not bad, worth the risk!
But then it adds on $51 shipping to the UK and I expect I will get VAT slapped on plus customs charges - now it's not looking such a good risk...
So is there any way I can avoid paying so much to get one shipped to me in the UK?
- Mar 19, 2002
- 800
- 130
- 53
- Disclosures
- President: Upton Bass String Instrument Co.
Hey Bruce,
Our shipping calculator for foreign sales is, to put it bluntly, stupid. It ties into to UPS & USPS calculators, and does a horrid job. A package of that size to Europe would be a fraction of the quoted price. We are working on it. You can eMail us for an exact quote.
You can always get it from your side of the pond though. I don't think it's on the website, but you could call them...I'm sure they ship.
http://www.clefmusic.com/revolution_dealer_europe.htm
Our shipping calculator for foreign sales is, to put it bluntly, stupid. It ties into to UPS & USPS calculators, and does a horrid job. A package of that size to Europe would be a fraction of the quoted price. We are working on it. You can eMail us for an exact quote.
You can always get it from your side of the pond though. I don't think it's on the website, but you could call them...I'm sure they ship.
http://www.clefmusic.com/revolution_dealer_europe.htm
There are a lot of ways to do this to avoid "unwanted expenses". I will not put this up in public, but I can send you a PM later on today telling how I have done it when ordering stuff from US.
rgds
oystein - Norway
rgds
oystein - Norway
I got a quick reply from them - I'm doing very well for customer service
this morning!!
But there's not much in it - so they charge £84 - which works out at about $150 if you do the currency conversion!!
this morning!!
But there's not much in it - so they charge £84 - which works out at about $150 if you do the currency conversion!!
Bruce Lindfield said:I got a quick reply from them - I'm doing very well for customer service
this morning!!
But there's not much in it - so they charge £84 - which works out at about $150 if you do the currency conversion!!
Now, suppose I bought one of the RS pickups and mailed it to you in a small envelope. Then you just happened to send me $99 plus tax via Paypal. Would that be okay?
DRURB said:Now, suppose I bought one of the RS pickups and mailed it to you in a small envelope. Then you just happened to send me $99 plus tax via Paypal. Would that be okay?
I got more or less the same deal from Norton Customs - Brent Norton .
One of these things should be winging its way to me now!
Bruce Lindfield said:I got more or less the same deal from Norton Customs - Brent Norton .
One of these things should be winging its way to me now!
Great! Glad to hear someone is taking care of you. I really would have been happy to help you.
After a couple of weeks of messing with my new RS, I think I have it set where I like it. Since my last post, I started waffling on the pickup because the upper register twang on the G was really bothering me.
On my Fishman pre, I've had to cut the low-mid pretty much all the way. That range causes too much feedback. The upper high is cut a little too, just to keep everything from sounding boxy. This also seems to remedy the twang. The twang was bothering so much that I was about to give up and go search for another pickup.
Anyways, everything else is flat. I only use a touch of compression and depth. Sounds pretty good. I won't say it's mic-like anymore but it's better than all pickups I've used (FC & Underwood).
The sound isn't exactly natural to me. The Anima's on my bass sound like they have alot more organicness about it than what my rig puts out. I may have to try a different cab to see if I get a better hi-fi sound.
I tried this thing at two trio rehearsals now in a studio and a house with wood floors and this EQ settings is more like what I want to hear. I'm satisfied with the sound, for now.
The pickup is still on pretty loose on my bass. It looks like it's gonna fall out at any moment, but it sounds the best that way. It sits about half-way into the bridge wing at a 45 degree angle, R side down.
One thing I do notice is that if I do a pull-off just right, I can get it to be very loud and percussive. Much louder than if I pull as hard as I could on the strings by normal means. This is the only time the pickup seems blatantly unnatural. Does anybody else get this?
On my Fishman pre, I've had to cut the low-mid pretty much all the way. That range causes too much feedback. The upper high is cut a little too, just to keep everything from sounding boxy. This also seems to remedy the twang. The twang was bothering so much that I was about to give up and go search for another pickup.
Anyways, everything else is flat. I only use a touch of compression and depth. Sounds pretty good. I won't say it's mic-like anymore but it's better than all pickups I've used (FC & Underwood).
The sound isn't exactly natural to me. The Anima's on my bass sound like they have alot more organicness about it than what my rig puts out. I may have to try a different cab to see if I get a better hi-fi sound.
I tried this thing at two trio rehearsals now in a studio and a house with wood floors and this EQ settings is more like what I want to hear. I'm satisfied with the sound, for now.
The pickup is still on pretty loose on my bass. It looks like it's gonna fall out at any moment, but it sounds the best that way. It sits about half-way into the bridge wing at a 45 degree angle, R side down.
One thing I do notice is that if I do a pull-off just right, I can get it to be very loud and percussive. Much louder than if I pull as hard as I could on the strings by normal means. This is the only time the pickup seems blatantly unnatural. Does anybody else get this?
hdiddy, I grinned as I read your whole post (below). I bought a second RS recently too, and my experiences have been very similar to yours.
My first SOLO fit really snug in a sweet spot for the first 4-5 months that I had it. But then all of a sudden it didnt fit snug anymore in that very same spot. Go figure. But I liked the RS so much, I decided to order another one and start over.
Like hdiddy, my second RS also sounds slightly different, almost certainly due to a better fit this time on my end. I took my time and went real slow with the sanding and fitting.
Thanks to a post from eroy, this time I noticed on my bridge that the planes of the surfaces of the bridges wing and leg were not perfectly parallel. I think with my first SOLO, only one edge of the bridge wing was firmly contacting the pickup. In retrospect I think this poor fit with my original p/u created a more ambient tone than what I hear now.
This time I also went with the R symbol facing the strings, which was a change for me. With the first RS and with the planes of the bridge wing and leg not being perfectly parallel, I think the "R" symbol hot spot was making more flush contact with the bridge when the p/u was flipped over (facing the table). Thus I preferred that sound. But with the extra care taken this time with the fit of the new pickup, I found I preferred the R symbol up facing the strings. It has preserved most of the characteristic fullness and depth of tone that I liked from before, but it sounds more focused now.
Overall, it sounds better to me, again since I installed the pickup more carefully this time and got a better fit. I hear left hand articulation coming through better, sustain is better, and the low notes sound more natural with more bloom in them. I think with the "R" symbol facing the strings instead of the table on my bass it conveys the initial hit and the blossom of each note better, with less of a thump and more of a boing, IMO of course.
I agree w/ hdiddy and eroy and everyone else about taking the time to experiment and find the sweet spot, as per all the previous posts. In my case I think its been worth the effort to go through the whole process a second time, using what I learned the first time around.
And since I fit the pickup better, it does perform better to my ears. So to me it was worth the effort and the cost.
My first SOLO fit really snug in a sweet spot for the first 4-5 months that I had it. But then all of a sudden it didnt fit snug anymore in that very same spot. Go figure. But I liked the RS so much, I decided to order another one and start over.
Like hdiddy, my second RS also sounds slightly different, almost certainly due to a better fit this time on my end. I took my time and went real slow with the sanding and fitting.
Thanks to a post from eroy, this time I noticed on my bridge that the planes of the surfaces of the bridges wing and leg were not perfectly parallel. I think with my first SOLO, only one edge of the bridge wing was firmly contacting the pickup. In retrospect I think this poor fit with my original p/u created a more ambient tone than what I hear now.
This time I also went with the R symbol facing the strings, which was a change for me. With the first RS and with the planes of the bridge wing and leg not being perfectly parallel, I think the "R" symbol hot spot was making more flush contact with the bridge when the p/u was flipped over (facing the table). Thus I preferred that sound. But with the extra care taken this time with the fit of the new pickup, I found I preferred the R symbol up facing the strings. It has preserved most of the characteristic fullness and depth of tone that I liked from before, but it sounds more focused now.
Overall, it sounds better to me, again since I installed the pickup more carefully this time and got a better fit. I hear left hand articulation coming through better, sustain is better, and the low notes sound more natural with more bloom in them. I think with the "R" symbol facing the strings instead of the table on my bass it conveys the initial hit and the blossom of each note better, with less of a thump and more of a boing, IMO of course.
I agree w/ hdiddy and eroy and everyone else about taking the time to experiment and find the sweet spot, as per all the previous posts. In my case I think its been worth the effort to go through the whole process a second time, using what I learned the first time around.
And since I fit the pickup better, it does perform better to my ears. So to me it was worth the effort and the cost.
hdiddy said:Got a new RS back from Eric a couple days ago and tried it out tonight. This time I shaved it down to fit looser. It's loose enough that a firm tap will knock the pickup out of place.
The hum is gone. The pickup sounds a little different this time I think, could be just because of the looser fit. I dunno. Seems like it's pretty live - R side up was too much for me. R side down was perfect. I think it also has to do with the shape of my bridge wing. The curve on the bottom side of the wing creates a little high spot that sounds very full if I can get the hot side of the pickup to contact it just right. I still get alot of string noises despite the R side being down. With the Anima's, it gets a little thin in the extremely high register, especially on the G string. I put a touch of compression on my Fishman Pro Platinum Preamp and it rounds the sound out nicely and helped with the thin sound. The lows now are booming nicely too. Maybe a little louder than the highs.
Nice and loud - no more output issues. Actually the lows maybe too loud. I started having feedback problems with things turned up. Turns out the afterlengths were the culprit. If I get something to mute the afterlengths (like an unused patch cable), the sounds a nice and mellow with no feedback. I'll have to invest in a velcro strip now.
With the preamp settings at almost flat, and with a little compression, I do get the "my bass but louder" sound, especially in the lower register. In the end, I think it's much better than the Full Circle. Kudos to Eric, Upton, and their fantastic service! Thanks guys!
BTW: A tip to find the sweet spot if you haven't figured it out... Pluck the open strings so they sound and keep fidgeting with the pickup until you get some decent volume. Turn the amp up a bit so that you make sure you can hear it. A sweet spot and a bad spot is different like night and day it seemed. Also, if you need a little extra pressure for the contact area, you might try twisting the pickup slightly (yaw, not roll). Mine sits an off angle (like 50-55 degress or soemthing). In my experience, if it was real snug then it's too tight. Mines on slightly firm but not tight. But the danger is always sanding off too much so be careful.
EDIT: Actually it's not really a firm fit. It's more like a soft pinch. Could come out easily but I don't plan on knocking the PUP out while I play.
Yeah, mine fits weird as the bridge wing surfaces are not parallel either. The top of the wing is flat. The bottom is slightly rounded. Since there is a slight wedge shape to the RS, mine goes in and half of it sticks out. I think I'm getting the RS to contact right at rounded surface on the bottom side. I think the rounded surface creates a high spot so I'm just coupling the pickup there. Flipped over, with R side down, the pickup is either too tinny or too muted.bolo said:
I did try it on the G side wing, and that was just awful. I think it's safe to assume now that how the pickup sounds depends alot on how your bridge is shaped and if you can get it to sit in the right place.
