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Double Bass Yamahiko Double Bass Pickup

#421
So, I took the plunge about a month ago and got a stereo Yama with a Felix. I was using a B Band first gen with blend box before, and this thing picks up where that leaves off. First thing I noticed was how little top end noise there was. Second, I arco a bunch and I now do not have to accommodate for the unbalanced amount of signal between pizz and arco. The Yamahiko picks up less which allows the bass to provide more acoustic signal to the room to help balance the overall volume. The low pass on the Felix might be the best and most underrated knob on the whole device. I will be upgrading to a powered cab in the future but in the mean time, my WW is pretty flat and the EA cab has the mid and tweet wide open. Everything you all have said about this pickup is 100% true and I love how the pickup takes nothing away from the vibration of the instrument.
 
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#422
yeah man killing setup there. I just had a nice communication with Kiyohiko and he is slammed with orders...He is getting ready to offer the stereo jack publicly, since it is just thru this thread that anyone knows about it so far. I really dig that even though he never made it with that intension, the Y can be used easily so many different ways without much fuss. I always have the stereo jack on the bass but sometimes use just the E side and sometimes I bridge the pickups. When I use the stereo jack into the Felix I get a good sound by using the HPF (yeah it is good) on the E side and the notch on the G side which you can use to attenuate easily the obnoxious mids (400-500) but the mid eq is great for doing that too. I also phase reverse one of the pickups, generally the G side. There is a ton of tonal variation possible with this set up and though I have only used it on two basses (wildly different instruments one super dark and one super brite) I can see it being such a great tool for a lot on instuments. THe real bother about it is the Felix which has so many possible kobs and buttons that it is fairly easy to forget how you got that great sound...But somewhere here on this thread someone made up a handy eq tear sheet that allows you to mark where you like things and keep it handy.
 
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#424
Bassguyrob said:
So, I took the plunge about a month ago and got a stereo Yama with a Felix. I was using a B Band first gen with blend box before, and this thing picks up where that leaves off. First thing I noticed was how little top end noise there was. Second, I arco a bunch and I now do not have to accommodate for the unbalanced amount of signal between pizz and arco. The Yamahiko picks up less which allows the bass to provide more acoustic signal to the room to help balance the overall volume. The low pass on the Felix might be the best and most underrated knob on the whole device. I will be upgrading to a powered cab in the future but in the mean time, my WW is pretty flat and the EA cab has the mid and tweet wide open. Everything you all have said about this pickup is 100% true and I love how the pickup takes nothing away from the vibration of the instrument.
Click to expand...

Congratulations,
Keep the Woods if you can afford it. Like you, I’m fortunate to have both a Woods and the Grace and find that both boxes have their unique merits and what’s unfortunate is that the Woods dosen’t have a HPF and the it isn’t a good match with an FDeck Buffer Preamp.
 
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#430
Mike Arnopol said:
Ok---checked the conversion. The dollar is weak. Fortunately the Yen is weaker. $259 shipped.

Bit the bullet.
Click to expand...
Bassguyrob said:
So, I took the plunge about a month ago and got a stereo Yama ....
Click to expand...

Congratulations, Rob! I’d like to buy one of these myself. But not exactly sure where and how to do it. Hoping you might answer a couple of questions for me. Is Yamahiko.info (Japan) closest source to USA? And I’m looking at 35,000jpy (currently $317usd) there for the single including shipping. Hoping you can tell me what I might expect in terms of additional charges (duty/fees) for shipping to USA (Portland OR). Thanks!
 
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#435
fasternak said:
Congratulations, Rob! I’d like to buy one of these myself. But not exactly sure where and how to do it. Hoping you might answer a couple of questions for me. Is Yamahiko.info (Japan) closest source to USA? And I’m looking at 35,000jpy (currently $317usd) there for the single including shipping. Hoping you can tell me what I might expect in terms of additional charges (duty/fees) for shipping to USA (Portland OR). Thanks!
Click to expand...
Since I spent more than 60,000 yen, shipping was free. My guess is 30-40 dollars to ship it but YMMV....
 
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#437
shwashwa said:
in clip the fishman actually sounds usable...
Click to expand...

I guess I’m just so used to the Ehrlund EAP, Remic’s and the DPA, that although the Fishman does sound bit better than the Underwood et. al. it wouldn’t be worth exploring for me. I’ve been down that road before with a Walter Woods and it was full of potholes. :woot: If Rick Wolf’s demos of the KNB-1 Cremona, are any indication , it’s a far superior pickup to the older pizeos demonstrated in the video. That said I like the demo.
 
#438
flatback said:
yeah man killing setup there. I just had a nice communication with Kiyohiko and he is slammed with orders...He is getting ready to offer the stereo jack publicly, since it is just thru this thread that anyone knows about it so far. I really dig that even though he never made it with that intension, the Y can be used easily so many different ways without much fuss. I always have the stereo jack on the bass but sometimes use just the E side and sometimes I bridge the pickups. When I use the stereo jack into the Felix I get a good sound by using the HPF (yeah it is good) on the E side and the notch on the G side which you can use to attenuate easily the obnoxious mids (400-500) but the mid eq is great for doing that too. I also phase reverse one of the pickups, generally the G side. There is a ton of tonal variation possible with this set up and though I have only used it on two basses (wildly different instruments one super dark and one super brite) I can see it being such a great tool for a lot on instuments. THe real bother about it is the Felix which has so many possible kobs and buttons that it is fairly easy to forget how you got that great sound...But somewhere here on this thread someone made up a handy eq tear sheet that allows you to mark where you like things and keep it handy.
Click to expand...
Whenever I reach a "killer" sound I take a picture of my Felix and Mesa Walkabout or DB 751 settings with my cell phone and save it...don't leave home without it!
 
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