So I have just bought a 1978 Engelhardt upright and am in need of a pickup. I've already looked through the sticky links but am having a hard time figuring out my best option so I figured I would defer to the experts here. I will be playing country, bluegrass, and rockabilly mostly at loud volumes. I will be slapping occasionally and will almost never use a bow. I don't want a pickup that requires bridge modification and my budget is $200 or less for a used pickup or mic. What is my best option at this point? Thanks so much for the help!
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Double Bass The right pickup for my bass
- Thread starter kmsimone
- Start date
If you're going to be playing loud much of the time, you might want to check out the Link Removed. The person who makes these pickups is also a member here. You can contact him via email: [email protected] or via PM here. His user name is jflojazz.
Magnetic pickups in general tend to be relatively feedback resistant, and the Krivo doesn't require bridge modification.
Magnetic pickups in general tend to be relatively feedback resistant, and the Krivo doesn't require bridge modification.
I'm a string bass repairman in Reno, Nevada. I see lots of different types of basses, and as many different types of players and applications. Many of my clients are Jazz musicians, some play Bluegrass, and a number of Rockabilly guys, too. From my experience with Kay and Engelhardt basses, on a budget- try a K&K Bass Max. It is easy to install, and under, or about a hundred bucks last I checked. They sound great for a number of applications on these basses. They make a more expensive Rockabilly model, which is not really necessary, in my opinion.
If you are going to play loud, with a large amp- you may need a magnetic pickup, like The Pierre Joseph's String Charger, or Krivo...or a Schaller- which have been around a long time. YOU WILL have feedback issues, playing too loud with any pickup... standing off-axis of the cabinet is critical.
If you are going to play mainly Jazz, I recommend a Gage Realist for low volume small combo gigs- or a Fishman Full Circle, with 1/4-20 threads, if you already have an adjustable bridge on your bass. If you still have the original Engelhardt bridge on your bass, firstly- I'd be very surprised. They are the worst part of those basses, a cheap, flatsawn maple warp magnet. You should have a high quality maple quartersawn adjustable bridge installed on your bass, if you don't already have one.. It makes a big difference in a number of areas. There are a lot of pickups on the market..some show up on Ebay, after players try them and find that they are the wrong pickup for their application. Hope this is of some help- Good Luck!
P.S. I have a Full Circle on my Herman Lowendall carved bass.
I have used a homemade magnetic pickup, The Realist, Underwood, Polytone, DeArmond, Fishman BP-100, and now the Full Circle.
If you are going to play loud, with a large amp- you may need a magnetic pickup, like The Pierre Joseph's String Charger, or Krivo...or a Schaller- which have been around a long time. YOU WILL have feedback issues, playing too loud with any pickup... standing off-axis of the cabinet is critical.
If you are going to play mainly Jazz, I recommend a Gage Realist for low volume small combo gigs- or a Fishman Full Circle, with 1/4-20 threads, if you already have an adjustable bridge on your bass. If you still have the original Engelhardt bridge on your bass, firstly- I'd be very surprised. They are the worst part of those basses, a cheap, flatsawn maple warp magnet. You should have a high quality maple quartersawn adjustable bridge installed on your bass, if you don't already have one.. It makes a big difference in a number of areas. There are a lot of pickups on the market..some show up on Ebay, after players try them and find that they are the wrong pickup for their application. Hope this is of some help- Good Luck!
P.S. I have a Full Circle on my Herman Lowendall carved bass.
I have used a homemade magnetic pickup, The Realist, Underwood, Polytone, DeArmond, Fishman BP-100, and now the Full Circle.
Schatten RB-1 from Bob Gollihur.
Easy to install in the bridge wings. You can leave it on the bridge when you play unplugged with no effect on the sound. Full sound and low maintenance.
The Schatten is very much like the BassMax which I used for 10 years but is not as "heavy sounding". It's a bit more natural. Install it and forget it.
I use mine on an Eberle ply with steel strings and an LR Baggs Paracoustic or UltraSound DI box.
There's a lot to be said for many bass pickups....but I suggest the Schatten as an inexpensive, well made, simple and very effective solution to amplification.
Easy to install in the bridge wings. You can leave it on the bridge when you play unplugged with no effect on the sound. Full sound and low maintenance.
The Schatten is very much like the BassMax which I used for 10 years but is not as "heavy sounding". It's a bit more natural. Install it and forget it.
I use mine on an Eberle ply with steel strings and an LR Baggs Paracoustic or UltraSound DI box.
There's a lot to be said for many bass pickups....but I suggest the Schatten as an inexpensive, well made, simple and very effective solution to amplification.
I will make the same contribution to this discussion that I make to every discussion of a first-time pickup - try sixrounds.com - Home and spend $50 brand new. They really do work fine and it may be all you'll ever need.
I have (again, as posted on this forum before) recently installed a piezo kick drum trigger, at a cost of $14.95, on a middle school student's double bass, and that works fine, too.
For me, the acid test is whether or not you can hear the difference or hear any problems - when I listen to the 6th grader's $14.95 pickup on his rented, not-much-of-an-instrument bass, it sounds fine and appropriate to me. I'll have to say the same about the SixRounds and my own playing on my own instrument - it's good enough for me.
-S-
I have (again, as posted on this forum before) recently installed a piezo kick drum trigger, at a cost of $14.95, on a middle school student's double bass, and that works fine, too.
For me, the acid test is whether or not you can hear the difference or hear any problems - when I listen to the 6th grader's $14.95 pickup on his rented, not-much-of-an-instrument bass, it sounds fine and appropriate to me. I'll have to say the same about the SixRounds and my own playing on my own instrument - it's good enough for me.
-S-
Thanks so much for the help guys. Right now it's between the K&K Bass Max and Schatten RB-1. Basically whichever one I can find for less i will go with. Thanks again for the advice!
Okay one last question... Should I get a preamp with the either the Schatten or the K&K Bass Max? I will be running the bass through a 1988 GK RB800 most likely into an 8 OHM Ashdown 2x10.
As a bassist playing the same or similar genres, I would also recommend the K&K setup. They are designed for loud situations, and one model has an extra fingerboard transducer to enhance the slaps and comes with it's own preamp. Ebay would be a good place to score one.
Impedance mismatch between pickup and amplifier is sometimes, but not always, a problem. Over the years I have had Fishman, Shadow and Barbera systems. The Barbera works better without a preamp, the others worked better with one.
For further, and perhaps more in-depth insight of volume situations, I would suggest checking out Rockabillybass.com - dedicated to the rockabilly bass player
Impedance mismatch between pickup and amplifier is sometimes, but not always, a problem. Over the years I have had Fishman, Shadow and Barbera systems. The Barbera works better without a preamp, the others worked better with one.
For further, and perhaps more in-depth insight of volume situations, I would suggest checking out Rockabillybass.com - dedicated to the rockabilly bass player
kmsimone,
I believe the input impedance on all the GK amplifiers is 1 meg ohm, so you might be able to get away without one, depending on what it sounds like. Both K&K and Schatten offer pre amps for their pickups, they are designed to match the pickup with your amp so I'd either go with their boxes or a FDeck HPF Buffer Pre Amp that has a phase switch, low pass filter, volume control, and battery indicator light. For it's price and feedback control, it's difficult to beat the HPF Pre Version 2.
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kmsimone: I always use a pre-amp. Both the Schatten and the BassMax have very high outputs so they will be too much for many bass amp inputs.
If this is the case though ....with your own pre-amp you could bypass the pre-amp stage of your amp.
