Double Bass Should I get a new pickup?

[Zondra]

Hi there,

I use Fishman's original BP-100 and it has always worked just fine. I recently have started playing with a more professional band, and they are not liking my sound. They've tried plugging me into several different bass amps, but end up just sticking a microphone between my strings & bypassing my pickup all together... and plugging straight into the soundboard that way. This seems to work OK, but I would prefer to use a pickup than a mic. I was thinking about the Fishman full circle, but am not totally sure about it. I'm currently very happy with my bridge setup, and getting the FC would mean retrieving my adjustable bridge off another bass (the adjustable bridge origionally came with the bass I'm gigging with, and needs to come off that other bass anyway) - so it would take a bit of work. Would it be worth it? Or am I looking at this the wrong way? What about getting a DI box? Something like the FISHMAN PRO-EQ PLATINUM BASS PREAMP/EQ/DI? Or both?

I'm an accoustic player, so all this electronic stuff is so foreign to me. But I've just recently moved back to an area where I lived nearly 10 years ago, so I'm already connected with the music scene, but have improved a lot as a musician. People have heard that I'm back and better & I'm getting calls for gigs left and right. As awesome as that is, I need to be able to plug into a variety of different systems. The band I mentioned above (who are putting the mic between my strings) is paying the best & offering me the most gigs, so I'm eager to please them first.... but I want to be able to fit into any sound situation.

Any advice?

Thank you in advance,
Zondra

 

[MingusAmongUs]

I would advise trying one thing at a time. A preamp/eq would probably go a long way. Many amps are made for electric bass and don't match the impedance of piezo pickups. The pre/EQ should solve that part of the problem. The nice thing about trying out the FISHMAN PRO-EQ is that if you end up with a new pickup and don't need the EQ, you can always sell it.

If the EQ doesn't help your current pickup, you can try a Realist with your current bridge. The Revolution Solo II is another option that won't require cutting up or changing the bridge (I don't think).

If it's practical at all, you could try using a blended combo of pickup and mic.

Fair warning: the pickup you have now is older "technology" and is only going to sound so good. You may end up just replacing it.

I have the Realist on one bass and the Fishman FC on another, and I've been pretty happy with both. The Realist tends to give a darker sound than most pickups. The FC picks up a little bit of everything.

 

[Jake deVilliers]

Zondra, there's no reason that you couldn't install a Full Circle into your present solid bridge. Its a quick and easy job.

 

[Zondra]

Thank you Jamie. I know that pickup technology must have changed since I got mine. My pickup came with my bass when I got it, which was around 15 to 20 years ago... I wouldn't mind upgrading - I just want to make sure I'm doing the right upgrades & am not just wasting money. I've been considering getting a DI for a while now, but for the past couple of years I've been traveling with my EUB & haven't neaded to mic my good DB. Now the DB is out of storage and I'm back to figuring out the sound problems. I'm pretty sure I'm going to get some sort of DI. Any suggestions? The Fishman one I mentioned in the earlier post is just what I've found by looking online.
Thank you - Zondra

 

[Zondra]

Jake - I am under the impression that the full circle replaces the bridge adjusters. Am I wrong? I have a solid bridge that I'm very happy with (I don't want to change anything permanent on it). The adjustable bridge I have is cut to pretty much the same size as my solid bridge.

 

[MT Spaces]

Hey Z .... Welcome .... Is That Really You?? I only live about 10 blocks away from you now that you have moved back to Montana. Are you going to Gardiner on Sunday for the music fest? Give me a call 539-5481 and come over sometime ... We can talk pick-ups and amps (and you can give me a bass lesson). You can listen to my Solo Rev II on my '40 Kay. I could help you fit one up or show you how to do it yerself if you want .... I've done 3 now .... it isn't hard. I wish I could tell you more about the Full Circle .... if Mr. DeeVee ever gets a flight case and does one on my other bass .... then you can try it out too .

 

[MingusAmongUs]

Thank you Jamie. I know that pickup technology must have changed since I got mine. My pickup came with my bass when I got it, which was around 15 to 20 years ago... I wouldn't mind upgrading - I just want to make sure I'm doing the right upgrades & am not just wasting money. I've been considering getting a DI for a while now, but for the past couple of years I've been traveling with my EUB & haven't neaded to mic my good DB. Now the DB is out of storage and I'm back to figuring out the sound problems. I'm pretty sure I'm going to get some sort of DI. Any suggestions? The Fishman one I mentioned in the earlier post is just what I've found by looking online.
Thank you - Zondra

The Pro-EQ (sorry im getting all my acronyms mixed up -- the preamp/eq you mentioned) is pretty well regarded around here and i would suggest getting just that, for the twofold reason that 1) it will give you lots of tweaking room with the lousy existing pup, and 2) if you end up not needing it, you can pretty easily make (most of) your $ back when you sell it. However, I have no personal experience with that doodad so don't hold me to it. Another recommendation is the much simpler and less expensive HPF/Pre that's made by a fellow poster here, FDeck. I have this and it's great. No EQ but it will correct most impedance problems and adds a high-pass filter (or a low-band rolloff), as well as a phase switch. Runs on 2 AAs I think and is very small and light.

 

[Zondra]

Bob - hey fancy meeting you here. Yeah, it's really me. Yeah, we should get together and talk basses. I'm still considering going to Gardiner this weekend. I was going to pick up the blonde Kay that Robert G. has & bring it back so I can work on it (I want to switch bridges on it, and try and figure out if there are bigger problems). Is that fest on Sunday? I maybe was going to go down there on Saturday. I've got a gig in Big Sky on Sunday, so I can't go to Gardiner then. If you're in Gardiner and want to pick up that blonde for me, it would save me a trip (only if it's not inconvenient).

As for getting together and talking basses or lessons or whatever, I've got an open schedule during my days. I work a night job and am usually out gigging on the weekends, but my week day DAYS are pretty much free. My # is 599-7491, or you can email me at zzzondee (at) hotmail.com

 

[MingusAmongUs]

FWIW, I can appreciate the desire to hang onto a solid bridge. I refused to get adjusters for the longest time because I couldn't accept the fact that putting two skinny pieces of metal in the middle of the sound path could be a good thing. But when I got a new bass, that's what it came with. In retrospect I have come to the conclusion that having the ability to adjust with the weather and the seasons is worth any loss of sound that may or may not result. Obviously I haven't heard this new bass with a solid bridge but it's pretty hard to imagine it could sound much better than it already does.

OTOH, here on the East Coast the weather can change in a heartbeat (just ask Mark Twain). You may not have the same kind of issues out there in the high desert land.

 

[MT Spaces]

Bob - hey fancy meeting you here ..... Is that fest on Sunday? I maybe was going to go down there on Saturday. I've got a gig in Big Sky on Sunday, so I can't go to Gardiner then. If you're in Gardiner and want to pick up that blonde for me, it would save me a trip (only if it's not inconvenient) .....

Yep Z ..... the fest is on Sunday. I plan on seeing Robert so I could pick that bass up for you .... I'll have my pick-up truck with a topper. Last I saw that bass it was hurtin' ... top near bass-side bridge foot was pretty sunk-in. Call me Friday night or Sat. morning or I'll call you to confirm that I can pick it up for you.

P.S. Zondra, I apologize in advance here and don't mean to embarass you ..... But I can't help myself. Busta & Jake, I wish you could meet Z sometime. She and her Dad are a couple of my local music and upright bass heroes. She is a great human being, bass player, and all-around-zany-character. I lifted these pix off her website from when she worked in Antarctic a few years back. At the "Icestock" festival at McMurdo Station, she is playing (in gloves) her EUB with a plywood "mask" (complete with beer holder) made by one of the carpenters down there ...

 

[MingusAmongUs]

Well, you definitely don't wanna wear white in Antarctica!
Might get lost.

 

[Zondra]

Bob - Thanks for the embarassing photos. I'm probably most embarrassed about playing with gloves - but it was either that or frost-bite. The drummer and I didn't get frost-bite, but the rest of the band did. I was playing a gig the other day in Wyoming and it got cold out at night. The mandolin player started to complain about cold fingers & I told him that this gig was nothing compared to an outdoor gig in Antarctica. Anyway, Bob, I'll give you a call (I should probably call Robert as well) about the details of picking up that blonde bass.

Jamie - I'm lucky that I'm not having to make the decision of trying to fit adjusters into my solid bridge. When I got this bass it came with two identical bridges - one with adjusters and one without. They play almost the same, but since I've had no nead to make adjustments, so I've kept with the solid bridge. I did have some issues when I lived back east and the humidity messed up just about everything on this bass. It behaves best when it's in steadily dry Montana, and there is no need to make seasonal adjustments. Now when I travel to different climates, I just take my solid bodied EUB (that Bob posted photos of above) - it holds up to all weather conditions. Although the extreme cold and dryness did crack my ebony fingerboard (luckily not enough to effect it's playability, though). Anyway, the only reason I'd change over to that adjustable bridge is to install the Full Circle pickup. I'm not apposed to that.

Speaking of bridges (boy, how many subjects do I have going on here?), I think that the problem with my blonde bass is the bridge. I put on my adjustable bridge from my other Kay (the one I'm trying to mic right now), since I didn't like the bridge that came with the Blonde. Bob, I checked out the blonde a few weeks ago (my car was already full, so I couldn't pick it up), and I don't think it was the top that was the problem. I think it was the bridge. When I first installed that bridge, I had to put that one adjuster up higher than the other one to start out with (though not as high as it's been adjusted to now). I'm thinking I will put it's original bridge back on (although It's so low and I can't stand the action on it that way), and see if that helps. I also have several bridge blanks that my Dad and I bought, so that we could carve them down for this bass. Once I get that bass back in my hands, I plan to take some close up photos and post questions on the setup-repair section of the Talkbass Forums.... and see what kind of advice I can get... that's another subject right now, though.

 

[Zondra]

Since I haven't posted much here before, you all may want to get to know me. Here's a photo of me with 5 of my 6 basses. The EUB is missing from the photo. I have never actually had all 6 at the same place at the same time to take their photo - thought that may happen soon as I'm working on gathering them all up again.

In the photo, from Left to Right: 1941 Blonde Kay, 1939 American Standard, ca 1900 Croation Berde, 1960s Gibson Ripper, and my favorite 1940 Kay.

 

[MT Spaces]

..... Here's a photo of me with 5 of my 6 basses ...... ca 1900 Croation Berde .....

Z ..... I confess that I messed around a bit (with all due care and deep reverence to your Croatian relatives) with that Berde and the big old leather pick during a wild-game jam when you were gone to distant cold places and the bass was being stored at Pete & Rachel's house in Livingston. That thing is something else .... I totally sukked on it !

 

[Zondra]

Bob - yeah, it's hard to play that bass. The piano wires (since it's too big to take regular bass strings) really hurt my left hand. I'd like to do some work on it & turn it into a 4 toned bass tuned like the others, and get some better strings. But finding a luthier who works on those types of basses isn't easy. It looks like I'd have to take it to Penslyvania, or somewhere like that. I'd like to get it up and running, though, as it has the deapest tone of any of them. I'm glad to hear that you were playing it. I figured that if I stored it somewhere where there were frequent jams, it was bound to get played.

 

[MingusAmongUs]

Since I haven't posted much here before, you all may want to get to know me. Here's a photo of me with 5 of my 6 basses. The EUB is missing from the photo. I have never actually had all 6 at the same place at the same time to take their photo - thought that may happen soon as I'm working on gathering them all up again.

In the photo, from Left to Right: 1941 Blonde Kay, 1939 American Standard, ca 1900 Croation Berde, 1960s Gibson Ripper, and my favorite 1940 Kay.

hot dawg!

 

[Jake deVilliers]

Whoa baby, that looks like fun! Now I have serious case of Berda envy....

 

[MT Spaces]

Bob - yeah, it's hard to play that bass .... I'd like to do some work on it & turn it into a 4 toned bass tuned like the others, and get some better strings. But finding a luthier who works on those types of basses isn't easy. It looks like I'd have to take it to Penslyvania, or somewhere like that. I'd like to get it up and running, though, as it has the deapest tone of any of them .....

Whoa baby, that looks like fun! Now I have serious case of Berda envy....

Actually Z ..... You might Private Message our B.C. Pal Jake about the Berda . Who knows? ..... The Jakester might just be able to help you out. He is way-closer than Pennsylvania and has been known to hang out at Northwest Folklife, Tacoma WinterFest, and Portland River City Fest. Afterall ..... it is just a big-a&& guitar (that's missing 3 strings ) and he knows how to work on guitars ... Especially if you can find a "Santa Cruz" logo / label somewhere on that Berde .

 

[Jake deVilliers]

That Berda almost looks like one of Richard Hoover's early prototypes, from the 'basement years'!

Good thing Zondra doesn't have a Domra too, or we'd all need to move to Utah!!

 

[MT Spaces]

.....Good thing Zondra doesn't have a Domra too .....

Watch out what you say there Jake !! Here's pix of Z & her Pa and her Croatian relatives .... She just might have a domra (or maybe a bisernica, basprim, tercbasprim, Čelovič, or bugaria) hanging out in her basement that she needs some work on . Really cool history of instruments and info on Tamburitza Orchestras ..... http://www.sukar.org/eng/i-sizes.php .... But what do I know ? Ask Zondra ..... I'm just a mutt .... 1/4 Norwegian, 1/4 Deutsch, the rest a muddle of English/Welsh/Irish.

Zondra wrote a wonderful "thesis-type" photography project / book for a class here at Montana State University that traced her Pop's Croatian roots and relatives playing traditional Croat music in Chicago back "in the days" .... It's all "bluegrass" to me .... Just from different parts of the world.... Great Stuff !