Double Bass Warmest sounding pickup?

[Johnny Atomic]

OK, so the BP-100 only sounds horrible on 95% of basses.

So, I still think I will pass on that one, thanks.

i think you're being generous at 95%, that pickup is a horrid piece of crap, but that's just my opinion.

love my fishman pre, but i wouldn't wish a fishman bp100 on anybody.

 

[Bass]

I've had good luck with both the Underwood and the Revolution Solo II.

I don't know about terms like warm or organic, but both of the above pickups sound good.

Not like horrid pieces of crap.

 

[conte2music]

Consider checking the fit of the pickup. I recall discussions of alternative ways to mount the piezos on the bridge that seemed to give better results. Those bulky metal clips just have to be muting the bass, and when the bass is muted like that, the first part of the sound to go would probably be the lows.

While the realist is warm sounding...I've had much more "useable" results with the Fishman Full Circle. Also, with the Realist, I get really nervous about having that piezo right on the top table of the bass.

+1 about the realist sounding good with the bow

 

[wiro]

I've had the Realist but then I found out about the Clevinger Natural Presence: This little miracle produces lots of both warmth and clarity. As well for arco and fingerstyle. Even the AMT cannot beat it! And you don't need an extra pre-amp any more. It can be plugged in directly in any amp because it's not a piëzo.

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[dbudd]

Surprised no one mentioned the fishman full circle. I use it with the fishman platinum eq and i get a decent soudn with my kay.

 

[Gearhead43]

I've had the Realist but then I found out about the Clevinger Natural Presence: This little miracle produces lots of both warmth and clarity. As well for arco and fingerstyle. Even the AMT cannot beat it! And you don't need an extra pre-amp any more. It can be plugged in directly in any amp because it's not a piëzo.

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

So if it's not a piezo, then what the heck is it??

 

[wiro]

So if it's not a piezo, then what the heck is it??

They don't explain it on their website. Perhaps they wanna keep the secret for themselves? All they say about the used materials is:
"...... Natural woody tone because the pickup itself is made of wood, the most pleasing conductor of sound. Each pickup is made of genuine Sitka violin-top spruce in a proprietary laminar structure with a transducer element intimately coupled to the wood.
The Clevinger Natural Presence pickup produces warm, sweet lows, complex mids and natural highs, with full expressive dynamic range bowed and plucked. There is no need to change any setting when going between arco or pizz. ......"

Main advantage is that it's impedance is in the 'normal' range so you don't need a special pre-amp. Just plug in any bass amp or DI and there you go.

 

[drurb]

Indeed, the Clevinger does seem to be a piezo pickup (see Link Removedas well). As for the "novelty" of embedding a piezo element in a wood sandwich along with desirable loading materials in order to construct a bridge-wing pickup, someone does have a [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] on that.

The Rev Solo is the best bridge-wing piezo pickup I've ever used. I've never come closer to "my bass but bigger" with any other bridge-wing pickup. The Rev Solo does have to be individually fit to your bridge but, in my experience, the effort is well worth it.

 

[Alexi David]

The warmest pickup is a BP-100 set on fire.

 

[Johnny Atomic]

The warmest pickup is a BP-100 set on fire.

That's the best way to use a BP100 i've heard of!!!

 

[Marc Piane]

The Rev Solo is the best bridge-wing piezo pickup I've ever used. I've never come closer to "my bass but bigger" with any other bridge-wing pickup. The Rev Solo does have to be individually fit to your bridge but, in my experience, the effort is well worth it.

The trouble is it is all case specific. I've tried almost all of 'em and there are things I like and things I don't.

I think the best thing to do is find one that works for you and then forget about it. There is no pickup that sounds like a DB. None. You'll end up saving yourself a load of money. Plus every time you change one thing in your signal chain something else inevitably needs to be changed too. It is a never ending cycle if you let yourself be sucked it by it.

 

[Gearhead43]

It's also about what you need the pickup to do for you and your sound, your style of music.

For guys like me who play fairly loud Rock n Roll / Rockabilly type stuff, alot of the "nuance" of the double bass sound gets smothered when you are playing at club volumes.

So, it is a compromise. I like a fat, punchy tone that cuts thru a band with electric guitars, while still keeping a decent amount of "woody" quality to the tone, and provides that huge deep "pillow" of bass that drives a band.

For me, the trusty ol' Underwood does that very well, and so far has been the best at not being too prone to feedback either. It still sounds like an amplified double bass, which IMO, is "a sound" unto itself. A good sound.

The Underwood is very easy-going about installation and pressure also. As long as the pickup is just snug in the wing, it sounds good. I always use mine with just one pickup installed on the E side of my bridge. This gives a more "open" and deeper sound with less mids than using both transducers.

It also all depends on your bass 's character and your idea of what a good "sound' is.

I would still like to try a Planet Wing though, from what I have read it may just have the Underwood beat.

 

[PB+J]

I gave up on pickups and went with a DYN-B, a contact mic. It doesn't have that quacky piezo sound, but it doesn't sound like my bass only louder either

 

[bolo]

It's also about what you need the pickup to do for you and your sound, your style of music.

For guys like me who play fairly loud Rock n Roll / Rockabilly type stuff, alot of the "nuance" of the double bass sound gets smothered when you are playing at club volumes.

So, it is a compromise. I like a fat, punchy tone that cuts thru a band with electric guitars, while still keeping a decent amount of "woody" quality to the tone, and provides that huge deep "pillow" of bass that drives a band.

For me, the trusty ol' Underwood does that very well, and so far has been the best at not being too prone to feedback either. It still sounds like an amplified double bass, which IMO, is "a sound" unto itself. A good sound.

The Underwood is very easy-going about installation and pressure also. As long as the pickup is just snug in the wing, it sounds good. I always use mine with just one pickup installed on the E side of my bridge. This gives a more "open" and deeper sound with less mids than using both transducers.

It also all depends on your bass 's character and your idea of what a good "sound' is.

I would still like to try a Planet Wing though, from what I have read it may just have the Underwood beat.

Well said.

I gave up on pickups and went with a DYN-B, a contact mic. It doesn't have that quacky piezo sound, but it doesn't sound like my bass only louder either

Similarly, sort of, I went with a regular mic, blended w/ a pickup. Like Uncletoad has said, the softer the gig, the higher the ratio of mic in the blend. I'm no genius, but I've tried five pickups and three mics over a ten year span. Blending a p/u and a mic is the best sounding, most flexible, most practical and workable solution I've come across for my needs and my tastes. And like fingers said, which p/u sounds the warmest to you on your bass is case specific. So get crackin'. Enjoy the journey. And make a good sound.

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

Well said.Similarly, sort of, I went with a regular mic, blended w/ a pickup. Like Uncletoad has said, the softer the gig, the higher the ratio of mic in the blend. I'm no genius, but I've tried five pickups and three mics over a ten year span. Blending a p/u and a mic is the best sounding, most flexible, most practical and workable solution I've come across for my needs and my tastes. And like fingers said, which p/u sounds the warmest to you on your bass is case specific. So get crackin'. Enjoy the journey. And make a good sound.

Yup. I played a gig with killing players last night that was by necessity "stoopid loud". The mic couldn't do much in terms of SPL, but it added just enough air to make the loud pickup sound passable. Like FUNGUS, I'm really trying to learn to get my "set and forget" groove on. It's all about the music in the end.

Back on topic, for me and my basses, the Full Circle is the best sounding and most hassle free of the many, many pickups I've tried.

 

[PB+J]

I've been thinking or a while that if I had the dough, I'd get

1. A 2 channel AI focus amp
2. An exploreaudio h-clamp
3. A full circle

I already have an SM-57 and a beta 58. I'd use one of those and the full circle, which is IMHO the best sounding piezo pickup, and blend as needed.


Let's see, what could I sell....

Meanwhile, my answer to your question about the warmest sounding pickup (not mic) is the Full Circle

 

[drurb]

The Rev Solo is the best bridge-wing piezo pickup I've ever used. I've never come closer to "my bass but bigger" with any other bridge-wing pickup. The Rev Solo does have to be individually fit to your bridge but, in my experience, the effort is well worth it.

The trouble is it is all case specific. I've tried almost all of 'em and there are things I like and things I don't.

I think the best thing to do is find one that works for you and then forget about it. There is no pickup that sounds like a DB. None. You'll end up saving yourself a load of money. Plus every time you change one thing in your signal chain something else inevitably needs to be changed too. It is a never ending cycle if you let yourself be sucked it by it.

Well, I don't think that it's "trouble" that it's case specific, rather, I see that as the nature of the beast. It's certainly true that a particular pickup, like a particular string, can be great on one bass and a dog on another.

That said, I've had the RS II on two different basses and it has worked quite well on both. Some generalities about pickups can, in fact, be made because the design of some pickups results in their having similar "voices" almost regardless of the bass they're on. Some designs are, overall, superior to others.

No pickup sounds like a DB? In the purest sense, you're quite correct. On the other hand, the sound I achieve with the RS II is damn good and I do have a rather discriminating ear (an occupational hazard or benefit-- depending on how you look at it).

Indeed, when one thing in the chain is altered, something else usually has to change. In many cases though, that change may require no more than an alteration in the tone-shaping. This is just another reason why I'm a fan of parametric tone-shaping circuits (such as on the EA iamps). They allow for enormous flexibility. FWIW, I do not run my amp "flat" with the RS II. I doubt there is a pickup or microphone out there with which I'd do that. After all, the Wizzy 12" that I use has its frequency-response anomalies as does the RS II combined with my or any other bass. There's no particular virtue in not using the tone controls. I adjust mine to get as close as I can to "my bass but bigger." IMO, the end result is quite good-- I'd go so far as to say it's rather impressive.

 

[drurb]

...Blending a p/u and a mic is the best sounding, most flexible, most practical and workable solution I've come across for my needs and my tastes.

Please remind me (us) what mic/pu combination you are using. Is it the Beyer with H-clamp and RS II?

 

[Treyzer]

I know we've been down this road before and most probably will do this dance many more times.

Although many of the posts have great info, It strikes me that no one is commenting on the elephant in the room;

I'm talking about the sound characteristics of the room your playing in, the proximity of the other instruments and all the other sound variables that we, as bassists, have to contend with in a live situation.

All of the other variables are typically what can be most vexing (vexing is my new word for the day!)

My particular setup: Full Circle, Fishman Platinum Pro, Phil Jones FlightCase 300 and often an AMT mic into the house can sound amazingly good and close to how my bass sounds unamped but..and this is a big BUTT...all of the other variables can negate pr seriously alter what I'm hearing onn stage.

I would be very interested in hearing how otheres deal with or counter many of these obstacles in a live playing situation!

Ball's in your court!

Trey

 

[Paul New]

In need-to-be-idiot-loud situations, I`ve lately taken to playing my old precision. Please don`t hurt me.