Double Bass Yamahiko Double Bass Pickup

[Maple]

Where did you source those connectors? I’ve tried searching Mouser and the web, but I think I’m using the wrong search term.

I bought them off eBay - they are “M5 microdot” male crimp fittings and work with RG-174 cable

You also need a specialized crimp tool like this
rmsdeal77 Coax RF Connector... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LV5V17E?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

 

[Hasty]

I bought them off eBay - they are “M5 microdot” male crimp fittings and work with RG-174 cable

You also need a specialized crimp tool like this
rmsdeal77 Coax RF Connector... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LV5V17E?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

Awesome. I just needed more specific details. All my searches kept returning 10-32 connectors. That showed me all the eBay sellers. I already have the crumpet and a TRS 1/4” jack.
This could be a fun experiment.

 

[crd]

Okay, I summoned the inner strength to cut my bridge and ordered the dual sensor TRS Yamahiko set-up. I keep asking myself, if a tasteful full bass sound is made in a noisy club with drums and no body hears it, is it really a tasteful bass sound...

 

[Hasty]

Okay, I summoned the inner strength to cut my bridge and order the dual sensor TRS Yamahiko set-up. I keep asking myself, if a tasteful full bass sound is made in a noisy club with drums and no body hears it, is it really a tasteful bass sound...

Yes! Someone, somewhere, will hear it and appreciate it… even if they don’t understand why they appreciate it.

I played a gig this weekend and we had a sub on guitar. His primary instrument is double bass and he’s an amazing player (much better than me IMO). He commented on how much he liked my tone. Yamahiko+ToneDexter for the win!

 

[dylanjohnson]

Ok, after following this thread loosely over the years and mostly feeling like this pickup would be a major hassle (heavy eq, switching between sensors, preamps, hpf, phase issues, bridge drilling, etc), I finally bought a single sensor to fit my existing 1/4 x 20 threads.
All I can say is this- I plugged it into my favorite amp (GK 200mb), and it just sounds great. No clipping, flat EQ and no HPF. Can't wait to play it on my gig tonight. Since there aren't a lot of videos/soundclips of this pickup, I thought I'd make a quick one. I turn off the amp around 1:06 to compare the acoustic sound of my Juzek with the amp sound.

Current exchange rate puts this around the price of a Full Circle or Lifeline.

 

[crd]

Ok, after following this thread loosely over the years and mostly feeling like this pickup would be a major hassle (heavy eq, switching between sensors, preamps, hpf, phase issues, bridge drilling, etc), I finally bought a single sensor to fit my existing 1/4 x 20 threads.
All I can say is this- I plugged it into my favorite amp (GK 200mb), and it just sounds great. No clipping, a basically flat EQ with just a hair of bass rolled off and no HPF. Can't wait to play it on my gig tonight. Since there aren't a lot of videos/soundclips of this pickup, I thought I'd make a quick one. I turn off the amp around 1:06 to compare the acoustic sound of my Juzek with the amp sound.

Current exchange rate puts this around the price of a Full Circle or Lifeline.

hell yes. Sounds great!!

I find the lack of audio recording on talk bass a little weird myself. These days a recent iPhone mic records really well... The digital to analog and analog to digital record in my iPhone beats hi fi systems that used to cost serious $$$$ just ten years ago.

 

[Hasty]

hell yes. Sounds great!!

I find the lack of audio recording on talk bass a little weird myself. These days a recent iPhone mic records really well... The digital to analog and analog to digital record in my iPhone beats hi fi systems that used to cost serious $$$$ just ten years ago.

Pictures are easy but video is kind of a pain.

I can’t upload directly which means I’ve gotta throw it on YouTube, then grab the link, then paste it in. Yeah I know… definitely first world problems. It’s just extra steps I don’t always want to mess with.

I understand not wanting to add all that extra data to the servers here, so I’m not complaining about it. I would probably feel the same way about hosting bandwidth I don’t have to.

 

[Hasty]

Ok, after following this thread loosely over the years and mostly feeling like this pickup would be a major hassle (heavy eq, switching between sensors, preamps, hpf, phase issues, bridge drilling, etc), I finally bought a single sensor to fit my existing 1/4 x 20 threads.
All I can say is this- I plugged it into my favorite amp (GK 200mb), and it just sounds great. No clipping, flat EQ and no HPF. Can't wait to play it on my gig tonight. Since there aren't a lot of videos/soundclips of this pickup, I thought I'd make a quick one. I turn off the amp around 1:06 to compare the acoustic sound of my Juzek with the amp sound.

Current exchange rate puts this around the price of a Full Circle or Lifeline.

That sounds seriously good! I’ve got the dual sensor setup and I need to find some time to experiment with the options available to me. I also need to finish my split cable so I can route them separately into the Felix and play with eq and phasing options.

Nice work!

 

[dylanjohnson]

I think as usual it depends on your bass. This Juzek doesn't have the biggest low end but it has a certain midrange in the sound that is easy to amplify. I hope you find the sweet spot!

 

[Hasty]

I think as usual it depends on your bass. This Juzek doesn't have the biggest low end but it has a certain midrange in the sound that is easy to amplify. I hope you find the sweet spot!

To clarify I'm extremely happy with it. Just wanting to experiment a little to see what different sounds I can get out of it. I feel like this pickup is extremely capable and I'm seeing what options might be available.

 

[TroyK]

Ok, after following this thread loosely over the years and mostly feeling like this pickup would be a major hassle (heavy eq, switching between sensors, preamps, hpf, phase issues, bridge drilling, etc), I finally bought a single sensor to fit my existing 1/4 x 20 threads.
All I can say is this- I plugged it into my favorite amp (GK 200mb), and it just sounds great. No clipping, flat EQ and no HPF. Can't wait to play it on my gig tonight. Since there aren't a lot of videos/soundclips of this pickup, I thought I'd make a quick one. I turn off the amp around 1:06 to compare the acoustic sound of my Juzek with the amp sound.

Current exchange rate puts this around the price of a Full Circle or Lifeline.

Yeah that'll do.

I've been getting along pretty well with mine too. Single element, no special low-output cable or whatever. It's a little bit like Spirocores in that there is more information there than I'm used to, so I've had to spend a bit of time with my eq with getting used to the output, but now that I have, it's no more or less stable than any other pickup I've used straight to the amp. I sometimes run it through an fdeck hpf, but not always and I'm starting to like the eq a little flatter. It just took a minute for me to acclimate to it.

 

[statsc]

Ok, after following this thread loosely over the years and mostly feeling like this pickup would be a major hassle (heavy eq, switching between sensors, preamps, hpf, phase issues, bridge drilling, etc), I finally bought a single sensor to fit my existing 1/4 x 20 threads.
All I can say is this- I plugged it into my favorite amp (GK 200mb), and it just sounds great. No clipping, flat EQ and no HPF. Can't wait to play it on my gig tonight. Since there aren't a lot of videos/soundclips of this pickup, I thought I'd make a quick one. I turn off the amp around 1:06 to compare the acoustic sound of my Juzek with the amp sound.

Current exchange rate puts this around the price of a Full Circle or Lifeline.

Going back and forth between the amplified and unamplified sound it’s really hard to hear the difference, which I guess is a good thing, but also therein lies the rub. In my experience, most decent pick-ups played through a decent amp at this volume level will sound very close to the acoustic sound of the bass, especially when the acoustic sound is contributing so heavily to the recording. Where the rubber meets the road is on a gig at performance volume level sitting in a mix with other instruments. Maybe that explains why there are so few of these comparison recordings posted here!

 

[Keithunem]

Going back and forth between the amplified and unamplified sound it’s really hard to hear the difference, which I guess is a good thing, but also therein lies the rub. In my experience, most decent pick-ups played through a decent amp at this volume level will sound very close to the acoustic sound of the bass, especially when the acoustic sound is contributing so heavily to the recording. Where the rubber meets the road is on a gig at performance volume level sitting in a mix with other instruments. Maybe that explains why there are so few of these comparison recordings posted here!

I agree about the lower volume sounding good. I have two pickups on my upright (Upton Bohemian). The Yamahiko is mounted on the E side of bridge. I couldn’t get great tone until I did two things…One, I bought a Sarno Black Box to adjust impedance amount…two I’ve found that pulling the minds out around 550hz (give or take) really helps. However, no matter how good I can get it to sound, you can only give those pickups so much volume before they feed back.

My other pickup is a magnetic Krivo mounted at the end of the fingerboard. It’s not quite as warm and organic, but it’s really, really nice sounding.I’ve played it at several outdoor concerts with huge PA support and gotten nothing but compliments. Plus, I can play ridiculously loud with absolutely no hint of feedback. Of course, it really depends on your wants and needs…

 

[Earl]

I think as usual it depends on your bass. This Juzek doesn't have the biggest low end but it has a certain midrange in the sound that is easy to amplify. I hope you find the sweet spot!

Man my 7/8th Juzek has too much low end, so the two sides bridged works better usually, maybe because of phase cancellation.

 

[dylanjohnson]

The amp was near performance volume for me, but I don't play super loud on gigs. I'll be working 4 gigs in different environments all weekend so I'll have a good idea how I feel about it by then.

 

[lrhbass]

Has anyone used the Y. with the threads up.I have one with the threads down, single sensor,and my other bass has the current threads going up. Being that the elements are in the shaft I wonder how much that would go against the original design....That being said the Y is really a super Pick -Up...

 

[TroyK]

Has anyone used the Y. with the threads up.I have one with the threads down, single sensor,and my other bass has the current threads going up. Being that the elements are in the shaft I wonder how much that would go against the original design....That being said the Y is really a super Pick -Up...

Mine is threads up, but it was never threads down, so I can't compare how it might have sounded.

I was at a rehearsal tonight and there is a less than ideal GK backline combo. Not really meant for DB, but it's a rehearsal and there was an amp there, so I didn't want to schlep mine. About 2/3 of the way through I turned the mid control up, it was @ maybe 10:00 and I turned it about 2:00 and suddenly warm and full. I wasn't using my hpf.

As for feedback, I've honestly never had a problem with feedback on jazz gigs, except with the Erhlund and Stat-B, both of which are (sort of) mics. I haven't had any hint of feedback with the Yamahiko, Full Circle, or Lifeline. Then again, I don't play Rock-a-billy or anything that I think might cause that issue.

My message to lurkers and USD vs JYN followers is that, single element, regular cable it's the best pickup I've ever used. It's not plug and play with no thought like the Realist, but it's close now that I'm used to it and it's a better pickup.

 

[SamuelHarris]

My message to lurkers and USD vs JYN followers is that, single element, regular cable it's the best pickup I've ever used. It's not plug and play with no thought like the Realist, but it's close now that I'm used to it and it's a better pickup.

AMEN

 

[dylanjohnson]

Mine is also threads up. Played a quintet gig last night and it sounded excellent. EQ flat with a hair of bass added on my 200mb.
Plug and play for me.

Mine is threads up, but it was never threads down, so I can't compare how it might have sounded.

I was at a rehearsal tonight and there is a less than ideal GK backline combo. Not really meant for DB, but it's a rehearsal and there was an amp there, so I didn't want to schlep mine. About 2/3 of the way through I turned the mid control up, it was @ maybe 10:00 and I turned it about 2:00 and suddenly warm and full. I wasn't using my hpf.

As for feedback, I've honestly never had a problem with feedback on jazz gigs, except with the Erhlund and Stat-B, both of which are (sort of) mics. I haven't had any hint of feedback with the Yamahiko, Full Circle, or Lifeline. Then again, I don't play Rock-a-billy or anything that I think might cause that issue.

My message to lurkers and USD vs JYN followers is that, single element, regular cable it's the best pickup I've ever used. It's not plug and play with no thought like the Realist, but it's close now that I'm used to it and it's a better pickup.

Mine is also

 

[TroyK]

Big boomy room yesterday, played on a hardwood floor, little bit of shaping the midrange via my eq and adjusting the hpf and beautiful, warm clarity and stable volume response through the register. 100% rock solid pickup.

I did do something stupid and took my EA Wizzy 12 extension cabinet to run along side my iAmp Wizzy 12 combo, which I had never done with DB or for a jazz gig before. I knew it would be an easy load in and a big room, so I thought "why not?" Obviously way overkill for the type of gig I had, but it was glorious! I could have played equally loud with just the combo, but I was just bathed in bass. It sounded like I just standing and playing my bass, but that it was filling the room all around me. I can't get used to that, because, you know...I can't be bringing a stack with me to jazz gigs.