Pickups grrrhhh

[bassadder]

Hi Guys

Just had a call from my luthier and my bridge has gone south again due a couple of things the adjusters and the pickup he installed last year So I'm bombing off both the adjusters and the pickup and having a new bridge fitted on my old French bass with no adjusters or pickup.

I've used just about every pickup out there Realist 4 times, Wilson, Schertler Stat B, Accusound, Erland, Vecktor etc and have now been disappointed by them all so I need to ask if anyone has an Underwood kicking around I could borrow. I know it's old technology but there's no drilling or fitting and it comes off with no trouble.

Cheers

Laurence

[Gareth Hughes]

Hey Laurence -

I hear you - pickups are not our friends. Or at least I wish I could get on with them a little better.

One cheap alternative to have lying around is a Hurley Virtuoso pickup. They're $40 on eBay, about $7 to post, and they sound pretty good for a wing slot pickup. A lot softer sounding, way less mid heavy than the Schatten I have and the K&K's I've had in the past.

[bassace]

Laurence, I've just done you a long post but it has scrambled, probably because I included a rude word.

Anyway, in short, I never did like the FS for its sound, flimsiness and resistance to breakage. I've just seen and heard a BassBalsereit pickup mounted on a Martin and I'm very impressed. You need a luthier to drill the correct tapered hole through the bridge (Martins can do it if you send them your bridge) and it takes less than a minute to stick the pickup in each time. Another advantage is that you don't need to compress the wing slots and choke the sound, however slight. Thomanns list the pickup at approx £190 and there are also some very expensive active versions that you don't really need. You can easily rotate the pickup by up to 90 degrees to brighten up the sound.

I hope to try one soon but, as I said, I'm initially very impressed.

[LarsTimm]

mic?? :-)

[bassadder]

Hi Roger

The BassBalseriet pickup is the one coupled with the adjusters which has warped by bridge legs twice I agree it sounds great mines the phantom powered one with the pre-amp in the XLR RRP £ 450.00 but it's the second time it's happened it less than a year. So it's going to be up for sale on here.

I thought an Underwood would be a good stop gap I have an Avalon U5 which makes everything sound better which will help with sound.

It's a pity I didn't have it when I had a full circle but having done a couple of albums with the full circle bonk I had to get rid of it.

Any help would be great.

Cheers

Laurence

[geoffbassist]

Hey Laurence. I have a feeling you will hate the underwood. I used to have one and didn't like it.
I know there's a lot of guys who do, but I still think its a choice of FC or realist. . Shame pickups are such a massive hassle.
I use FC, but would prefer something removable.

[Clarky]

I have a Rev Solo 2 that I recently bought from PaulKing but which, TBH, doesn't sound any better on my Kolstein than the Planet Wing which was already installed. You are welcome to borrow that if interested, Laurence? Would be end of next week as I'm typing this out of the country and not back in blighty until Tuesday.

[Mr Bassman]

I've got one attached to a bass at present, if you cant find one elsewhere I might be able to live without it for a while.

Underwoods are great with the right preamp.

I'm not saying they're the best, and they suit some instruments better than others, but I find if I'm struggling to find the right pup for a bass a trusty old Underwood will usually do the job.

I find the Bassmax is an easy fix and works well without a pre amp.

[bassace]

[quote name='bassadder' timestamp='1333730755' post='1605866']
Hi Roger

The BassBalseriet pickup is the one coupled with the adjusters which has warped by bridge legs twice I agree it sounds great mines the phantom powered one with the pre-amp in the XLR RRP £ 450.00 but it's the second time it's happened it less than a year. So it's going to be up for sale on here.

I thought an Underwood would be a good stop gap I have an Avalon U5 which makes everything sound better which will help with sound.

It's a pity I didn't have it when I had a full circle but having done a couple of albums with the full circle bonk I had to get rid of it.

Any help would be great.

Cheers

Laurence
[/quote]

Laurence

The BB I saw didn't go anywhere near the adjusters. Bit puzzled.

R

[lockpicker1969]

[size="3"][color="#000000"][font="Calibri"]I have just put the Hurley Virtuoso pickup on my db which TPJ kindly borrowed to me. Up to now i am very happy with it , happy enought to order one from the USA at $53 including p&p.[/font][/color][/size]
[size="3"][color="#000000"][font="Calibri"]i have only been playing db a few months and i havent giged it yet but when i do ,which will be in a few weeks time, i will be typing up a reveiw on this pup. [/font][/color][/size]
[size="3"][color="#000000"][font="Calibri"]The previous pup i had on was a schaller mag which seemed ok but i couldnt use it with my inovation RBs and i havent giged that one either.[/font][/color][/size]
[size="3"][color="#000000"][font="Calibri"]The idea was to pass these Hurley Virtuoso pickups which TPJ kindly borrowed to me around the forum. When mine arrives i will be taking these back to TPJ. maybe he would lend you them [/font][/color][/size]
[size="3"][color="#000000"][font="Calibri"]Hope this helps.[/font][/color][/size]
[font="Calibri"][size="3"][color="#000000"]Richard[/color][/size][/font]

[bassadder]

Thanks for all the advice and offer of the pickups I'll be in touch when I get the bass back.

The BB wasn't mounted near the adjusters but the combo of BB adjusters the downward pressure on my bass anyway has caused the legs to slay out ward and caused all the trouble. So I'm going to try something else.

The Realist was fine it broke that's 3 that I've had that's done that.

So it's time to get something none invasive that at least works and use it with my Avalon U5 to get a decent sound, I know Marc Johnson uses one inbetween his pickup and Acoustic Image amp.

[spencer.b]

I've been really suprised by how many of my gigs I can use my DPA 4099B without having to blend any pick up in.
I was expecting to use it for quiet jazz gigs but I've ended using it for big band, fairly loud quartet and quintet jazz gigs and a rat pack type function band.
Admittedley on a rock n roll gig it won't work
The down side of the mic actually being usable most of the time is now the sound of my realist does my head in, has anyone tried a K&K like the one being sold on here

[TPJ]

[quote name='lockpicker1969' timestamp='1333741919' post='1606065'][size=3][color=#000000][font=Calibri]The idea was to pass these Hurley Virtuoso pickups which TPJ kindly borrowed to me around the forum. When mine arrives i will be taking these back to TPJ. maybe he would lend you them [/font][/color][/size][/quote]

[quote name='bassadder' timestamp='1333742675' post='1606076']
Thanks for all the advice and offer of the pickups I'll be in touch when I get the bass back.[/quote]

Hi Laurence, it would be great if you want try the Hurley after Richard. The more players that try it and review it, the better. That offer goes to anyone else too of course.

[Mr Bassman]

I'm up for some testing at some point Tom.

[bassadder]

TJP many thanks for the offer

Spencer B I had a 4099B are great but I could never use it on it's own I have a big 7/8 bass and with that and blend from drums it was impossible to use it on it's own. I recorded a live cd with it last year and it still feedback until we built a make shift isolation booth.

What you plug yours in too?

I agree the Realist will do your head now. If Greg see's the post he might jump in and explain the Schertler Dyn B which uses and is very natural just takes time to get use too and costs around £ 650.00 now.

Cheers

Laurence

[gcordez]

Hi Laurence,

Ive still got my DYN-B, and i use it on about 75% of my gigs. Ive had it for about three years now and its been brilliant for me. It took a little getting used to at first, placement of it, how to eq it etc, but its pretty indispensable for me. I love how it comes on and off in seconds so it dosent bother my bass. Also, its brilliant when you have more than one bass and can use the same pickup,or touring and using different basses.

I know of a few people who have tried the DYN-B and really didn't like it, but one of the best live sounds I've heard is Reid Anderson who used it with blended with a Realist. It seems like it dosent get on with certain amps, i used to used an Acoustic Image and it couldn't get a good sound with the schertler. Ive got incredible results plugging direct into the back of the QSC K10, that sounded awesome.

So, it seems like the DYN-B is a bit of a moody bugger, but if you get lucky with the right bass and amp combination, its easily the best pickup option I've encountered.

[bassadder]

Thanks Greg sounds like a great pickup but a huge financial investment with the Schertler and QSC powered 10 having spent mega bucks already I'll leave that option alone for the time being.

[gcordez]

Totally agree. Im lucky enough to have a deal with Schertler and I traded a few things for the QSC. I couldn't imagine doing it in one foul swoop...

[bassadder]

I see Underwood have a new website also hear the Planet Pickups small in the wing pickup is ok anyone tried it?

[spencer.b]

I use my DPA with the headway QSC on a stand set up
I played at Ronnies a few weeks ago and they now have DPA for FOH and a TC for pick up , I was struggling a bit and after a few tunes muted the amp and found that although it was quieter there was more definition and felt easier to play I guess a lot of this down to the realist having no top end and me over playing cos of that
its weird how a bad sound gives the impression of the strings reacting differentley

Greg how would you describe the sound/frequency range of the schertler
ps greg I think I've met you at the corrie tap when I was playing with James Morton and Andy Sheppard

[bassadder]

I have to say I've been under whelmed by the Headway ever time I've tried it. It didn't work very well with the Realist and was really disappointed when I used it with the DPA but I think it was down to my bass rather than the gear. The DPA sounds great FOH though.

[spencer.b]

I know what you mean about the headway and realist together, I tend to put mine thru a sansamp into the other channel of the QSC
what else have you tried with the DPA for the phantom and eq

[bassadder]

It sounded the best in to an Avalon M5 but they are serious money I used it with an Acoustic Image Ten2 and it sound pretty decent but with bleed etc from the kit I ended up using more pickup.

So have you ditched pickups altogether? How good is the QSC powered 10?

[spencer.b]

I've still use a pick up sometimes, I tour with a rock band that are so loud the pick up barely works and sometimes on background functions in town where I can't be bothered to set the mic up I'll use the pick up.
The QSC sounds great , really suited to upright,and getting it on a stand above the body of the bass is key with the mic, really detailed true sound although I think I may need a new driver or recone as lately there's a bit of a buzz coming from the cone after cranking it up with the realist thru sansamp (probably to much low end) at a big band swing dancing gig. In hindsight maybe I should of gone for the K12

I would love to ditch the pick up but I guess it's a necessary evil with stage levels being so high these days and certain singers insisting on crazy levels in their wedges , I'd be worried turning up to gig without the option of plugging in but I do think the acoustic instrument pick up combination is flawed and like to avoid where ever poss

My bass is 3/4 german czech bass has a tiny bit smaller than average width bouts and I'm thinking of getting a bigger english/italian design bass do you think that will be harder to mic?

[bassace]

These recent posts re QSC have encouraged me to get mine out of the garage where it has been 'wintering'. I first rigged the DPA via a Headway and it sounded OK in my room at home. Reasonable volume level in a small room before any feedback. Then I connected to an Underwood via a Fishman Pro eq into the second channel of the speaker and that sounded very good too. There's no doubt that the K10 is a great bit of kit; even with just the Underwood it has a clarity in the middle and top where some decent bass amps could be a bit woolly.

As we all know, taking stuff to a gig usually produces a different sound from the home experience so I'm taking the rig to Botany Bay Jazz Club, Enfield tomorrow (Tue) evening. Anyone care to come for a listen/chat? Admission is £9 and the audience is a bit, er, middle aged. But bar prices are OK. We have an interesting line-up - two saxes, rhythm guitar/voc, piano, bass.