Double Bass String mounted jacks

[Abjimajik]

I have been playing a lot more arco lately, and discovered that removing the jack socket of my Full Circle made a huge difference in tone and playability of D and A strings.
Obviosly the afterlength was being significantly choked by the socket, which attaches to those strings beneath the bridge.
I have since ordered a Pecanic tialpiece to see if this will further improve tone, which should arrive soon.
I am, however, still left with the problem of where to put the jack socket. I am toying with the idea of drilling a hole in my quiver, which is made of VERY thick leather, but this may get a little bit in the way of actually using the quiver.
The socket detatches to leave a small, (what I call) phono plug on the end of a thin wire.
I would be really grateful of any suggestions or ideas for the best way of setting this up.

Riad

There must be, collectively, a thousand years of bass playing experience round here!

 

[Bob Branstetter]

Several of us have been using the mounting method used on the Gage Realist pickup with other pickups. It is just a simple black plastic 1/2" cable clamp that holds the jack housing in place on the back side of the tailpiece with the ball end of the (usually G or E) string. If the diameter of the jack housing is too small, use a layer or two of heat shrinkable tubing. Both the plastic clamps and the shrink tubing are available at most hardware stores.

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

You can get a small plastic mounting piece that was originally made with a hole in it for a screw (hope you know what I mean), then run your E string through the hole, which will cause the plastic ring to clamp down on the FC mounting jack. Don't know if I can describe it very well, but imagine that you have a flat piece of plastic band about 2-3" long and 1/2" wide that gets rolled into a near circle - the hole goes through the place where the two ends meet. A lot of Underwood jacks seem to be mounted this way.

For arco, you are right - the afterlength gets choked and stops the sound when string mounting jacks are used. For amplified pizz, however, the open afterlength can be a nightmare at higher volumes, especially if you are using a bridge piezo and/or a mic. I've discovered that velcro straps are a great and quick way to silence the afterlength quickly and effectively, and are easy to remove when you want the resonance there for unamplified playing. You can get both the velcro straps and the plastic mounting loops at Radio Shack. Good luck, and please fill in your profile!

 

[flatback]

I have been using the fullcircle for a week now (and find it just a bit better sounding but a whole lot better constructed then the PUTW) the very first modification I made was to get rid of the string mount and replace it with the mount from a Barbera which is an elegant little clip that the jack snaps into then velcros to the tail piece (super velcro). I have the pecanic tail piece, and I always have problems with the gage mount even building it up with tape or shrink wrap, somehow it always ends up slipping out. I use Planet waves cables too which have an extra little pressure lock that keeps the cable from pulling loose and that really pulls the gage mount outta line.
I wish that some luthier on this board would make the ultimate tailpiece mount as a retro fit for (just about any pick up with a 1/4 inch out)

 

[Jazzman]

I use Planet waves cables too which have an extra little pressure lock that keeps the cable from pulling loose and that really pulls the gage mount outta line.

The trick with the gage mounting is to just hold into the jack with one hand while you insert or retract the instrument cable.

BTW, the new realist pups have a different molded jack that has two rings on it that prevent the jack from slipping out of the mount.

 

[Abjimajik]

Thanks Guys, I think im getting the idea of what road to go down now.
Does anyone know if i can ditch the jack socket supplied with the FC for a lighter connector?

 

[Adrian Cho]

I hate the look of string jacks and I also find they affect the sound. I took the clips off the Dyn-B string jack and I have the jack (with its built-in phase inverter switch) mounted on the back of the tailpiece using some of the Schertler putty. It's not ideal though and I've trying to think of how I can improve it. Velcro might do the trick. One problem is to ensure that the string jack doesn't vibrate against the back of the tailpiece. I'm thinking if I might put a big piece of the velcro soft side on the tailpiece so that the string jack can rest on it, and then put some of the velcro hard side on the string jack itself.

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

I hate the look of string jacks and I also find they affect the sound. I took the clips off the Dyn-B string jack and I have the jack (with its built-in phase inverter switch) mounted on the back of the tailpiece using some of the Schertler putty. It's not ideal though and I've trying to think of how I can improve it. Velcro might do the trick. One problem is to ensure that the string jack doesn't vibrate against the back of the tailpiece. I'm thinking if I might put a big piece of the velcro soft side on the tailpiece so that the string jack can rest on it, and then put some of the velcro hard side on the string jack itself.

Radio Shack (God love 'em) also sells thin nylon bands that fasten like a belt and hold tight (only problem is, if you want to remove them, you have to cut them and put on a new one later). They're strong as hell, and since they're black, they blend with ebony tailpieces so well you can't see them unless you're right up on the bass. They come in all different lengths, so you can take your pick. I've found that attaching things to the tailpiece with these works well and is rattle-free if you put some foam between whatever you are mounting and the tailpiece before tightening the straps down.

 

[olivier]

what about adhesive Velcro ? Stick it to the back of TP and to the jack. prolly will dampen vibrations too.

 

[oystein]

what about adhesive Velcro ? Stick it to the back of TP and to the jack. prolly will dampen vibrations too.

That's what I did and it works out fine and is quite discreet visually as well.

rgrds Oystein

 

[Tom Baldwin]

Radio Shack (God love 'em) also sells thin nylon bands that fasten like a belt and hold tight (only problem is, if you want to remove them, you have to cut them and put on a new one later). They're strong as hell, and since they're black, they blend with ebony tailpieces so well you can't see them unless you're right up on the bass. They come in all different lengths, so you can take your pick. I've found that attaching things to the tailpiece with these works well and is rattle-free if you put some foam between whatever you are mounting and the tailpiece before tightening the straps down.

You can actually remove these without cutting. There is a tiny little tab in there that you must pry away from the strip with a jeweler's screwdriver, then the strip will slide out. If we are talking about the same thing, you can reuse them until the tab breaks, but I've not broken one yet.

 

[Wil Davis]

I used to have mine mounted on the strings, but I'll give it a try using a Velcro™ strap…

Here are a couple of pics:

 

[Huy Nguyen]

Hey fellas,

I took DURRL's advice and went to RadioSmack yesterday, but didn't find the screw type cable clip he was talking about. Instead I found a adhesive backed cable holder that works perfectly. And you can still pop the jack in and out as you need. I just wrapped the jack in some masking tape to give it more girth so that it'll stay firm in the clips. Works great, looks great and shouldn't rattle one bit. I'll just funnel instrument cable around the tp so the jack won't go flying out everything I accidentally pull on it when I'll use it.

 

[lowphatbass]

Way back in the day I swapped the jack w/ a more conventional style w/ a threaded nut and washer on the end thats designed to mount through a hole, but still fully sheilded..I used to mount it through the string ball hole on the tailpiece..I used nylon washers to eliminate marring, it worked well for me but I'm sure you guys think its probably a bit silly!