Supro Huntington II Piezo circuit

[CereBassum]

Having some back/hip trouble - 10+ lb Stingray sure wasn't helping things.

I picked up a Supro Huntington II - Mahogany. Very nice piece all around - sure not a Ray but does enough for the material I play these days - mostly straight ahead jazz at fairly low volume: Solid bottom with good fundamental notes, controls work well, nice looking, plays well. Came with flats which work well on it.

But this thread is not about that bass - it's about the piezo circuit in there.
Yikes - it's a horror. When I switch it in, even with the volume all the way down on it, it sounds like I'm going through an old transistor or like a compression pedal all the way up with no bass end at all - terrible thin brittle sound that I can't really get rid of no matter what else I do with the controls - best is just to mask it somewhat.

I think maybe I've got a defective bass. Can somebody confirm or deny that?

 

[lz4005]

Looking at the specs I can find on that bass it doesn't say anything about a preamp. Does it have one? If not, well, unbuffered piezos just sound like garbage.

If it does have a preamp, check to make sure the piezo and mag signals aren't being combined out of phase. That will kill your volume and low end. The test is that the mags will sound fine alone, and the piezo will sound fine alone, but the bottom end will fall out when they're both on.

 

[CereBassum]

No pre-amp that I know about - no battery, billed as old school passive.

If I turn down the mags, the piezo still sounds wretched. I just leave piezo off all the time. I guess maybe the piezo is useless. But I had another one of their basses - a fretless - a while back and the piezo wasn't like this.

Tnx

 

[landrybass]

I really want to try one of the Huntington Fretless basses with that piezo. Can’t help your situation but I do admire the line.

 

[jd56hawk]

Having some back/hip trouble - 10+ lb Stingray sure wasn't helping things.

I picked up a Supro Huntington II - Mahogany. Very nice piece all around - sure not a Ray but does enough for the material I play these days - mostly straight ahead jazz at fairly low volume: Solid bottom with good fundamental notes, controls work well, nice looking, plays well, looks quite good. Came with flats which work well on it.

But this thread is not about that bass - it's about the piezo circuit in there.
Yikes - it's a horror. When I switch it in, even with the volume all the way down on it, it sounds like I'm going through an old transistor or like a compression pedal all the way up with no bass end at all - terrible thin brittle sound that I can't really get rid of no matter what else I do with the controls - best is just to mask it somewhat.

I think maybe I've got a defective bass. Can somebody confirm or deny that?

I've played several and the piezo has been the best thing about them, even on the single-pickup model.
I have to think something's wrong with yours somewhere.

 

[CereBassum]

I've played several and the piezo has been the best thing about them,

What did you like - could there be something wrong my ears? How is it supposed to sound? I do think maybe I've got a bad one.

Tnx

 

[jd56hawk]

Sounded like an acoustic bass with flatwounds or tapewounds.
It's one of the few short-scale basses I'd consider buying if I had to switch from regular to short.

You might want to check or ask about it here, though.
Supro Huntington Club

 

[CereBassum]

Sounded like an acoustic bass with flatwounds or tapewounds.

OK well - mine sounds like an old transistor radio with a cracked speaker. Not a good sign.
I've heard that piezo circuits can be problematic.

It is quite a nice little bass outside of this piezo problem, although with the stock flats it's a bit limited.

Tnx

 

[jd56hawk]

OK well - mine sounds like an old transistor radio with a cracked speaker. Not a good sign.
I've heard that piezo circuits can be problematic.

It is quite a nice little bass outside of this piezo problem, although with flats it comes with it's a bit limited.

Tnx

You're welcome.
If you solve the issue you might want to try D'Addario black tapewounds. Despite their claim that they're warm, they're still more aggressive than their flatwounds...with the proper settings.

 

[CereBassum]

If you solve the issue

It's brand new. I'm solving my issue by sending it back.

My go-to strings are GHS pressure wounds - nice middle ground between flats and deep rounds (much better than 'half rounds'), good consistent sound and relatively cheap. They make them for short scale so I'd put those on it and it would work well, but this one's going back.

(Let's not talk about strings... )

 

[jd56hawk]

If you're still looking for a short-scale, you might be interested in the one I feel is even better than the Supro.
Fantastic pickups and electronics in thos one.
Reverend Dub King.

 

[CereBassum]

Reverend Dub King.

Had a DKing a while back when I switched to shorties because of some left hand problems - I liked it. When my hand got better I sold it off.

Now I bought the Supro and the DKing, knowing I'd compare them and send one back. DKing is nice for what it is but for my uses, the Supro is better and the DKing is already somewhere between Brooklyn and TN.

One thing I really don't like about the DKing is the shiny varnished neck and binding - gets sticky if your hands start to sweat. If that was only thing I didn't like about it, I'd keep it and get the neck sanded down and refinished differently. But I've been playing a Stingray for a couple of years running and I got to not like semi-hollows.

But there is a lot to like about the DKing too. Reverend makes some nice instruments.

Tnx

 

[jd56hawk]

Had a DKing a while back when I switched to shorties because of some left hand problems - I liked it. When my hand got better I sold it off.

Now I bought the Supro and the DKing, knowing I'd compare them and send one back. DKing is nice for what it is but for my uses, the Supro is better and the DKing is already somewhere between Brooklyn and TN.

One thing I really don't like about the DKing is the shiny varnished neck and binding - gets sticky if your hands start to sweat. If that was only thing I didn't like about it, I'd keep it and get the neck sanded down and refinished differently. But I've been playing a Stingray for a couple of years running and I got to not like semi-hollows.

But there is a lot to like about the DKing too. Reverend makes some nice instruments.

Tnx

You're welcome.
I used Scotch-Brite on my Thundergun.
Worked wonders.
Also, I rolled the fret edges.

 

[CereBassum]

I used Scotch-Brite on my Thundergun.

When I returned the DKing, guy - a Reverend dealer - wanted sell me a Reverend Decision to replace the DKing - said he plays one that's only 8.5 lbs and works very well. But I don't know why they finish the necks that way - didn't they ever pick up a Fender or an MM? You want to feel wood, not varnish.

The Supro's neck is stained/painted but it is either sanded down or has a special finish - feels very good and doesn't get sticky.

 

[bassbrad]

You might try an acoustic preamp to temper the passive piezos on the bass, it may help a lot. i have a Dean Playmate EABC5 with their wretched sounding passive piezos but adding an acoustic preamp even a cheap one like the Behringer ADI21 made a huge impact on getting a functional tone.

 

[CereBassum]

have a Dean Playmate EABC5

Maybe the pre-amp is a good idea but I don't think it's supposed to sound the way it does - I think it's defective. If it wasn't they'd never get away with it.

Tnx

 

[bassbrad]

Maybe the pre-amp is a good idea but I don't think it's supposed to sound the way it does - I think it's defective. If it wasn't they'd never get away with it.

Tnx

The resistance of of piezo pickups is very high and they sound craopy through most amps because they do not have a high enough input. That is why I suggested trying an active acoustic preamp or a preamp that accepts those loads.

 

[Mugre]

The output impedance of a piezo is very high. Think of the pre-amp as being the transmsission that matches the load to the engine. But I think you may have other problems or what you were running into REALLY didn't like the impedance mismatch. With my old Martin that had the Thinline Piezo I used an old bi-fet preamp that cost like $49.00. Remember it's not about signal strength. It's about impedance mismatch.

Mugre

 

[jd56hawk]

The output impedance of a piezo is very high. Think of the pre-amp as being the transmsission that matches the load to the engine.

Is that why I can set my acoustic bass at the lowest possible setting and it's as potent as my G&L L2000 at halfway or more?

 

[Fender_Bender]

Yes, piezos can be problematic. It’s something about the elements in the saddles seated and working properly. Sounds like yours is not right. Have someone look at it, it might turn out to be a small problem that passed through qc.