thisnameistaken Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 I've got a bassmax in my bridge, and I often wondered if it was a bit broken because it doesn't sound very good. Anyway another bassist - well, someone I know who's got a bass but doesn't really play, took a sort-of tutorial course with a group that culminated in a set tonight as part of a larger gig - called and asked if she could borrow my pickup, so I fitted it for her and gave her my Plat Pro and explained how it all worked, and I saw her play tonight and my god her dirt-cheap battered old ply bass sounded rich as buggery! Gutted! I'm tempted to tell her to keep it. There was another DB player in the same group and for one tune they were both playing together, and her tone just smashed his. I suppose I've now come to appreciate that not all pickups work on all basses. The guy who sold me the bass told me he had a realist on it before and it didn't suit it, so I suppose I'm looking at a Full Circle next. Thought it was worth posting as a case study if nothing else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rikodriko Posted June 20, 2011 Share Posted June 20, 2011 unlucky dude! Ive got an amzing bass with an amazing tone, and was recommended a realist - so i bought one and my amplified tone is muddy, and nasal and the output is so low that its almost unworkable... All the reviews on the realist say that its the best pickup EVER for DB, but is just dont work on my nice (non ply) DB... recently just bought a schertler Dyn-B contact mic and preAIII preamp system on ebay and im super happy with the results - im closer than ever to replicating my unamplified DB sound - now just gonna buy a EA wizzy speaker and i think ill be sorted then. So - to cut a long story short - you are right not all Pickups work the same on DBs - experimentation is the key - but thats time effort and money... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TPJ Posted June 20, 2011 Share Posted June 20, 2011 I'd pop for a Full Circle. Not cheap but they are reportedly more consistant with all types of bass, expensive to cheap. I've used a Fishman bp100, Upton Revolution II, BasMax and the FC. I liked the tone of the Upton best but it was fiddly to get and keep in the sweet spot. The Bassmax was very bassy and needed taming. The FC is very usable with a good solid tone. One of the downsides is that the piezo wheel wants to be a certain direction for best results which means your action height may need to change. I'm sure if installed by a luthier you can get it right. If it aint right for your bass you can get good second hand money for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdstrings Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 [quote name='rikodriko' post='1275580' date='Jun 20 2011, 09:43 AM']unlucky dude! Ive got an amzing bass with an amazing tone, and was recommended a realist - so i bought one and my amplified tone is muddy, and nasal and the output is so low that its almost unworkable... All the reviews on the realist say that its the best pickup EVER for DB, but is just dont work on my nice (non ply) DB... recently just bought a schertler Dyn-B contact mic and preAIII preamp system on ebay and im super happy with the results - im closer than ever to replicating my unamplified DB sound - now just gonna buy a EA wizzy speaker and i think ill be sorted then. So - to cut a long story short - you are right not all Pickups work the same on DBs - experimentation is the key - but thats time effort and money...[/quote] Very true about pickups all suiting all basses. The same thing goes for strings. A friend of mine did a test on a Realist to see how it responded to different frequencies and found that it doesn't really 'do' the higher frequencies. I can't remember the exact data but it seemed to have a very marked roll off of the higher frequencies. That said, I use one and have used it on many basses (both my own and when playing on hired instruments) and haven't ever encountered a problem with the sound. Also I had excellent customer service from them! I believe that the output of the realist is actually quite high -(it seems to put out more level than my musicman bass guitar). Is it possible that the Realist you had was faulty? I have heard that they can deteriorate with age and I had one which stopped working properly (but still sort of worked) after an idiot sound engineer sent phantom power directly into it... grrrr! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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