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Double Bass Schertler Stat B Vintage revisited

#21
Just did a duo gig with the Stat B all slathered in putty like it is above (except that the G side pickup I have turned around...wrong in the picture) and had the volume very low. THe extra body sound with the putty was just really a great full rich yet distinct controlled sound.
I am really looking forward to getting the Felix: I just traded my U5 for one of those MAS 16's on the classified page (cant believe no one is biting) With the Felix (eliminating the extraneous 9volt boxes )and either the MAS16 (mic's work great with little speakers) or the MAS46 Im set. I think that little MAS16 is going to cover a lot of ground. (I play a lot of Duo/Trio) The Stat B sounds great through these speakers (anything sounds great but some pickups really use everything it has to offer)
 
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#23
flatback said:
Just did a duo gig with the Stat B all slathered in putty like it is above (except that the G side pickup I have turned around...wrong in the picture) and had the volume very low. THe extra body sound with the putty was just really a great full rich yet distinct controlled sound.
I am really looking forward to getting the Felix: I just traded my U5 for one of those MAS 16's on the classified page (cant believe no one is biting) With the Felix (eliminating the extraneous 9volt boxes )and either the MAS16 (mic's work great with little speakers) or the MAS46 Im set. I think that little MAS16 is going to cover a lot of ground. (I play a lot of Duo/Trio) The Stat B sounds great through these speakers (anything sounds great but some pickups really use everything it has to offer)
Click to expand...

Would you be able to describe this putty more fully, including where to buy it? I live in Scotland and don't know how to even describe it to merchants. Is it stocked by hardware stores? What is its primary use?

I used an original Stat B in my wonderful Daniel Hachez bass, installed perfectly by an L.A. luthier, on the G-string side and loved this pickup. Rick Jones is the person who recommended I take a look at it. When I sold the bass, I took the pickup with me, but of course it was carefully carved for the bridge on the Hachez and I haven't been sure how to install it on another bass. It sounds like I could use this putty to "replace" the cork that the luthier carefully carved off when he installed it. Many thanks.

Erik Hansen
Scotland
 
#25
"Blue Tack" is made for sticking photos and notices on the walls in offices, schools, and kid's drawings on non-magnetic refrigerator doors. Try a stationary store. I think you still want the little wedges. Mine are maple, but I suppose cork would work. I don't see the blue tack holding the pickup in place by itself.
 
#26
robobass said:
"Blue Tack" is made for sticking photos and notices on the walls in offices, schools, and kid's drawings on non-magnetic refrigerator doors. Try a stationary store. I think you still want the little wedges. Mine are maple, but I suppose cork would work. I don't see the blue tack holding the pickup in place by itself.
Click to expand...

What he said...
 
#30
image.jpeg


Last week I received my single element Stat-B. First, I tried to install it using the Schertler putty, but that did not work out for me. So, I installed it following the "official" method, using the small wooden wedge that came with the pickup (see image). My first impressions are very positive; it sounds far more natural, and less "electrically" than I expected, and especially when combined with my Schoeps mic the sound is wonderful, MBOL while also retaining a very focussed sound that is able to cut through a live band setting.

If you can stand "ambient" free improvisation, the link below may give you an idea how this combination sounds, both arco (starting at 4:12) and pizz, in a trio setting with keyboards and drums. The Schertler went straight into a Grace Felix, as was the Schoeps (mixed 40% pickup, 60% mic, highpass filter on the pickup, notch filter on the mic, no further eq), which was connected to a Schertler Jam 150 Extension powered cab. The band was recorded using a Tetramic ambisonic microphone going into an RME Octamic XTC mic preamp. Apart from adding a bit of reverb no additional processing was done.

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Cheers,
Vincent
 
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#31
I liked the arco sound on that clip a lot! Usually arco through an amp suffers, but not here. I can't tell as much about the pizz sound because the ensemble sounds distant in the recording and the level is pretty low. But I like the overall vibe of the sound. When I bought my stat B used, it did not come with the little wedge, which probably explains why I never liked it very much - i was always trying to cram it into the wing hole and it would sound OK until it slipped, then I would have to take my attention off of playing and try to fix it again and again. Obviously, i need to either find or fashion a wedge!
 
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#32
Many thanks for your kind words, Chris! If I were you, I would definitely try to get or make a small wedge, as correct placement is essential for this (and basically any other) pickup. Make sure that the pickup fits snugly, but not too tightly. You can also order replacement corks from Schertler (which I also did in case I messed up the installation, which, fortunately, I did not) if the cork on your pickup appears to be too short. According to the manual, you need to leave at least 6 mm of cork for the pickup to function properly.

Cheers,
Vincent
 
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#34
yeah, The corks can be at different angles...I have mine nearly opposite to one another (out of phase) and I also cut the corks very short to fit in my Contrabassetto and they work fine shorter then 6mm.
It is a contact mic for the bridge (two contact mics if you have the vintage model) and the direction they aim in and what they are up against (the shim installed on my new bass is cork and concave to fit exactly the capsule (in that particular direction) But for example I like the G side capsule to be reversed and aimed slightly toward the middle of the bridge where as the E side is more traditionally mounted...but also a little toward the meat of the bridge. Lots of tonal variation available. WIth the felix that overly crisp high end stuff that can sound weirdly electricy (listen to Charlie Haden going direct to the board on some of those recordings) can be eliminated, the direction of the capsule really can minimize that too. I think that this pickup got a bad rap because people have heard Charlie recorded with a great mic and then also heard what is obviously this pickup either straight to the board or thru his GK150 neither of which is a great sound. I think (having studied with and worked for him for a number of years) that he could have got a way better more acoustic sound out of it, but what he was trying to achieve with it was to have it as low as possible but still hear it (he had vicious tinnitus) and most of what he wanted to hear was mids...plus the acoustic sound of his stellar Vuillaume bass.
 
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#35
flatback said:
I think that this pickup got a bad rap because people have heard Charlie recorded with a great mic and then also heard what is obviously this pickup either straight to the board or thru his GK150 neither of which is a great sound. I think (having studied with and worked for him for a number of years) that he could have got a way better more acoustic sound out of it, but what he was trying to achieve with it was to have it as low as possible but still hear it (he had vicious tinnitus) and most of what he wanted to hear was mids...plus the acoustic sound of his stellar Vuillaume bass.
Click to expand...

When Charlie Hayden came to Webster University, he was using the original Stat (what's now called the Stat B Vintage) it sounded great. I lent him my Walter Woods MI-400-8, and a pair of Bose 802's. The Bose weren't the best sounding speaker, but
the combination of the Stat and the Woods, combined with the Vuillaume was lovely. That concert was recorded live and released as Charlie Hayden "The Private Collection". The second set of tracks starting with "Bay City are from that concert. It's
definitely mid present because of the Bose.

Ric
 
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