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Double Bass Yamahiko Double Bass Pickup

#861
I have been comparing the Yamahiko against other pickups lately, and on my bass at least, I notice it has more of an exaggerated bass response (no matter which configuration, and especially on my E string) than most others, that I am not crazy about. To counter this I have used a lot of HPF but then the other strings sound thin. Lately I have been using Vic's pickup more often (on the G side) and can get a surprisingly natural sound, along with the Red Eye preamp.
 
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#862
TroyK said:
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.
Click to expand...

My experience with the Yamahiko is similar. I find myself making bolder choices than I would have in the past because it sounds so good. My "big" cab is a MAS 28, and it sounds glorious anywhere I want to haul it. However, the MAS 16 sounds equally as good and fills space so much better without getting as dark as the Realist used. So it has fundamentally changed the way I think about my sound when planning gigs and I bring bigger or smaller cabs than I used to (depending on the room) because they just sound so great where before they might have been too boomy or being overpowered and muddy.
 
#868
Chris Fitzgerald said:
All of you Yamahiko lovers...the single element goes on the bass adjuster, yes?
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That's how I have mine. I'll bet that this choice will turn out to be bass specific. I was a little worried that it would be E string heavy but on my bass, it's not.
I'm probably about 6 or 7 gigs in on this thing- Everything from a ballroom gig, restaurants, and a loud gig plugged into a HPF-Pre into a backlined Ampeg amp (with something called the Scrambler in the controls, ugh).
It's been consistently great for me.
One of the most interesting things for me is a certain clarity and sustain in thumb position that I have never had while amplified. The Full Circle amplified TP in a very plunky way on my bass.
 
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#869
After months of thinking about, then a couple months of waiting while the order came and my luthier installed it, I finally got the Yamahiko up and running on my bass. I went with the TRS version and it sounds great. I was happy with the Realist but wanted something a little less fiddly and this is definitely that. I wouldn't say it sounds better but I am just as happy with it and I definitely prefer the way it is installed. I am slowly adjusting to how the envelope differs from the Realist but so far I dig it. This pick up definitely likes much higher piezo impedance than I am used to and sounds good with 10 or 20 m which is unusual. It is very very clean and dynamic which I love. After a/bing all the various combinations running both sides separate seemed to work best.

I will make some audio next week.
 
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#870
crd said:
After months of thinking about, then a couple months of waiting while the order came and my luthier installed it, I finally got the Yamahiko up and running on my bass. I went with the TRS version and it sounds great. I was happy with the Realist but wanted something a little less fiddly and this is definitely that. I wouldn't say it sounds better but I am just as happy with it and I definitely prefer the way it is installed. I am slowly adjusting to how the envelope differs from the Realist but so far I dig it. This pick up definitely likes much higher piezo impedance than I am used to and sounds good with 10 or 20 m which is usual. It is very very clean and dynamic which I love. After a/bing all the various combinations running both sides separate seemed to work best.

I will make some audio next week.
Click to expand...
I used a Realist also, but when I switched to Yamahiko, once I got used to it (volume, eq, etc) it seemed a bit more natural and organic to me. I also have a Krivo for outdoor concerts because of feedback, but then you lose the organic sound of the Yamahiko. IMHO
 
#871
The Yamahiko is pretty much the opposite pickup to the Realist. The Yamahiko.has the potential to sound much better, but it took me a few weeks of learning it and a gigs in different sized rooms to get there.

The Realist is a stable, mostly reliable pickup that is probably better than any other at easily getting a nice bass sound, but it is what is is and it's not versatile if you need it to be.
 
#872
crd said:
After months of thinking about, then a couple months of waiting while the order came and my luthier installed it, I finally got the Yamahiko up and running on my bass. I went with the TRS version and it sounds great. I was happy with the Realist but wanted something a little less fiddly and this is definitely that. I wouldn't say it sounds better but I am just as happy with it and I definitely prefer the way it is installed. I am slowly adjusting to how the envelope differs from the Realist but so far I dig it. This pick up definitely likes much higher piezo impedance than I am used to and sounds good with 10 or 20 m which is unusual. It is very very clean and dynamic which I love. After a/bing all the various combinations running both sides separate seemed to work best.

I will make some audio next week.
Click to expand...

Yeah man.
 
#873
crd said:
After months of thinking about, then a couple months of waiting while the order came and my luthier installed it, I finally got the Yamahiko up and running on my bass. I went with the TRS version and it sounds great. I was happy with the Realist but wanted something a little less fiddly and this is definitely that. I wouldn't say it sounds better but I am just as happy with it and I definitely prefer the way it is installed. I am slowly adjusting to how the envelope differs from the Realist but so far I dig it. This pick up definitely likes much higher piezo impedance than I am used to and sounds good with 10 or 20 m which is unusual. It is very very clean and dynamic which I love. After a/bing all the various combinations running both sides separate seemed to work best.

I will make some audio next week.
Click to expand...
Keithunem said:
I used a Realist also, but when I switched to Yamahiko, once I got used to it (volume, eq, etc) it seemed a bit more natural and organic to me. I also have a Krivo for outdoor concerts because of feedback, but then you lose the organic sound of the Yamahiko. IMHO
Click to expand...
TroyK said:
The Yamahiko is pretty much the opposite pickup to the Realist. The Yamahiko.has the potential to sound much better, but it took me a few weeks of learning it and a gigs in different sized rooms to get there.

The Realist is a stable, mostly reliable pickup that is probably better than any other at easily getting a nice bass sound, but it is what is is and it's not versatile if you need it to be.
Click to expand...
Just to clarify, you're all talking about the underfoot Realist? Either the copper foil or wood one? That is obviously a very different design concept. The Lifeline, OTH, seems a very similar concept to the Yamahiko.
 
#874
I am assuming that he meant the underfoot version and that is what I based my response on. I used that pickup for years and came back to it for a second run as well.

However, the pickup I replaced with the Yamahiko was the Realist Lifeline. It's definitely more like the Yamahiko or the Full Circle, but my comparison of those two is similar.

EDIT: It is also my opinion that all(1) pickups are fine and also all(2) of them suck compared to playing acoustic when you can get away with it or using a good mic when you have the right one, the right environment and the right support for doing so.

*1 a few of them are not actually fine, but all of the ones we're talking about for sure.

*2 that may be a little harsh. I don't think the Lifeline, Full Circle, or Yamahiko suck, but the former two revealed their drawbacks over time and the Yamahiko might at some point too, but so far, so good.
 
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#875
bassically_eli said:
Just to clarify, you're all talking about the underfoot Realist? Either the copper foil or wood one? That is obviously a very different design concept. The Lifeline, OTH, seems a very similar concept to the Yamahiko.
Click to expand...

Yeah - I am coming from the foil one under the bridge. First impressions of the Yamahiko is it is a little more 3d. I like the envelope a little better with the Realist but I think that is just from having used it for 15 years and I will adapt pretty quick to Yamahiko. The Yamahiko definitely has more sustain which is different and kind of fun but takes some adjustment in my left hand. I am glad I sprang for both sides. This could be just because I am playing on a five string but having both sides seems to sound much better than just the g or e side. When I get a moment I will make some proper demos because talk is cheap as they say.
 
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#876
crd said:
I like the envelope a little better with the Realist but I think that is just from having used it for 15 years and I will adapt pretty quick to Yamahiko. The Yamahiko definitely has more sustain which is different and kind of fun but takes some adjustment in my left hand.
Click to expand...
That's good to know about the note envelope and sustain. I've used both the copper Realist and the Lifeline, and I almost 'popped' for a Yamahiko last summer but decided to get a Headway preamp instead. I really like the note envelope of the Lifeline, and running it through the Headway gets me the best tone I've ever gotten from a pickup. Now I'm not quite sure if I'll pop for the Yamahiko at some point or not.
 
#877
crd said:
…
I am glad I sprang for both sides. This could be just because I am playing on a five string but having both sides seems to sound much better than just the g or e side.
...
Click to expand...
I play a 5-string too.

When I got the instrument the soundpost was very close to the bridge foot. I needed two sensor pickups (my first was a Shadow SH-950, bridge wing pickup similar to the Underwood) to get the same amount of volume on all strings.

Years later a luthier put the soundpost more away from the foot than before and from this time I could use single sensor pickups where every string is represented equally well. This includes a Yamahiko (on the bass side bridge foot).
 
#878
crd said:
Yeah - I am coming from the foil one under the bridge. First impressions of the Yamahiko is it is a little more 3d. I like the envelope a little better with the Realist but I think that is just from having used it for 15 years and I will adapt pretty quick to Yamahiko. The Yamahiko definitely has more sustain which is different and kind of fun but takes some adjustment in my left hand. I am glad I sprang for both sides. This could be just because I am playing on a five string but having both sides seems to sound much better than just the g or e side. When I get a moment I will make some proper demos because talk is cheap as they say.
Click to expand...
While the note envelope on the Yamahiko is not bad (using only one side is actually better for this) I think the Realist envelope is better. I have also been experimenting with the Stat B and that envelope is the best for me (apart from a mic).
 
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