Okay, so nearly acoustic trio gig last week, rehearsal on the weekend and then big room gig last night with FOH sound.
The first thing I'm going to say is that these adjusters are 3mm thicker than the ones they replaced and I have an appointment Monday to remove about that much bridge to compensate. I like my strings higher than it seems most people do, but it's a lot of work right now. I actually like the acoustic sound at this height, but it's too much work, especially in higher registers. I can always adjust them back up there post-op, but right now it's bottomed out and it's really too high.
For the trio gig the pickup was okay. I did notice that it was a bit hot, but it was a low volume gig and I just kept the gain on my amp down. The drummer commented that he thought we sounded great. I was unsure, but I do have to note that most of my gear things over the year have failed to garner any comment from anyone on a difference.
For that gig and the rehearsal, I took my Wizzy M-Line and my EA Micro head. I really had to twiddle to get a sound that I liked and in the end I had rolled the single midband control WAY DOWN. I got reasonably comfortable with the tone, but the guitar player complimented it several times and the final thing that he said was "it's just good to be able to actually hear you", which I thought was an interesting comment.
For the gig last night, I thought I would try my iAMP, since it has a 4 band parametric eq. I've never felt confident using it and have posted here before about needing to learn how to eq. All of you have offered helpful advice like "it's easy" and "just listen for the frequency that is objectionable and then isolate it and tune it down, duh". I'm just stupid enough that it didn't help, though.
But a funny thing happened, the Yamahiko sounded great with the eq flat... =^|
So, I got to the gig early, put my amp up on a chair and plugged it in. It sounded pretty good. I played with the two midbands and did cut specific frequencies slightly and was really happy with the sound. Huh. When the band sound checked, I actually put some of that back in and during the 2nd set made a small adjustment to change the specific frequency that I was cutting. Most of the night, I was unaware. It sounded good in the way that any other night sounds good. We did have general sound problems, but we always do on that stage. When I soloed is when I really noticed how full and even my tone was. I've never heard that before, it was just there for me. Very musical, very present and clear.
The sound guy said afterward that it was the best doublebass sound that he's ever gotten and it was easy for him with very little eq. (I did send him a post-eq DI signal) But, I have to count all of that as a win for the Yamahiko.
The fdeck hpf helps, a lot. I might even go so far as to say it is necessary. I have been carrying one for years, but don't often use it, because I don't always see the point. I think it's critically necessary now. It might soften the input and/or somehow help with the impedance and it definitely keeps those lowest frequencies from running wild. I occasionally, but rarely had the problem with the Realist, the Lifeline or the Full Circle. I also have a Tech21 paradriver that I never really thought helped DB all that much, but I'm interested in exploring it with this pickup. I think the pickup needs attention, it's not plug and play.
I have favored play and play pickups. The Realist for example works almost identically with any amp. It's going to sound mostly the same and it's a good sound. It's not a great sound, it's not hifi. If you don't like it in a room or on a night, there's not a lot you're going to be able to do about it in my experience, but it's great for backline and not hassling with your sound. The Lifeline is similar. The Full Circle is better, but still pretty plug and play in my experience. I wonder if this is why eq always confused me so much, it was hard to make a big difference in my sound with those pickups. When they were good they were good, when they were bad, I was usually unable to fix them, most nights they were fine.
I briefly tried the Stat-B a couple of different times and the Yamahiko reminds me most of it. Very hi-fi, very dynamic, not plug and play, but it feels way more capable. Unlike the Stat-B it's easy to install, assuming that you already have bridge adjusters (and you have enough space in your bridge to accommodate the added thickness). Getting the gain right is going to be important, but it doesn't seem difficult so far. I think probably your amp is going to matter more than with some pickups. HPF is vital and maybe I wasn't the problem with eq, maybe there just wasn't enough there for the eq to work with before. It seems to make sense now and I'm encouraged by what I've got to work with here.
Looking forward to dropping my strings back down a few mm's and I am dealing with too much change at once. I'm adjusting to a RobPin (different post on that) and this string height. But as those things settle in, I think I'm going to be at home with the Yamahiko.
