daflewis Posted September 16, 2012 Share Posted September 16, 2012 Hi Clarky, Mine is in very similar condition, so I guess it could be... The other thing I can think of might be that they made those flat backs with very thin tables to help them resonate right from the off - that could be why you're getting too much bass most of the time? Just a thought... As mentioned, I'm happy to get together if it would help - I work in Victoria in the evenings so I'm not too far away from you... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timbass Posted September 16, 2012 Share Posted September 16, 2012 For what it is worth, as I am no expert, I have experimented with pickups with the following results: Piezo - bridge wings mounted: I hated the clicky treble sound and loads of feedback Schaller mag pickup - nice and mostly feedback-free, but lacking DB character and not much good for arco [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/akg_c411ph_mikro.htm"]AKG C411[/url] condenser contact mic stuck to the belly below the bridge - very nice, great for arco but slight feedback. Mixing the AKG C411 and [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/schaller_kontrabasspickup.htm"]Schaller[/url] gives a great balanced, true sound in my opinion and feedback is rare. I tried the Headway EDB-1, nice mixer but not enough features to put compression on the Schaller channel. So I saved up for a [url="http://www.bose.com/controller?url=/shop_online/speakers/portable_amplification_systems/accessories/l1_tonematch_acc.jsp"]Bose ToneMatch[/url] mixer and haven't looked back. Sounds great through Phil Jones Suitcase and Bose L1 P.A. against loud drums, Hammond and vocals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassace Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 Well done, Tim. You've thought out of the box on this one - not the obvious route for most - but, as you say, you've got good results. I'm sure there are plenty of innovative solutions out there but most of us stick to the 'mainstream'. By the way, I'm quite happy with a bridge wing piezo but it needs a bit of tone shaping to get a polite sound out of it. And I didn't like the Headway either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daflewis Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 Hi Tim, Checked out some YouTube of the L1 system - looks really interesting - you've obviously had good experience with it, is it the holy grail for db? Or perhaps somewhere close... (I love my suitcase too!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huge Hands Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 [quote name='thisnameistaken' timestamp='1346774887' post='1793048'] Still fiddling! .... With blobs placed all the way out at the corners ... somewhere between the F hole ... about an inch or so south of the bridge,....but I've spent the last hour just experimenting with putty ....... [/quote] This thread is a Finbarr Saunders dream! Fnarr! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thisnameistaken Posted September 19, 2012 Author Share Posted September 19, 2012 Think I'm changing my mind about how I'm doing this. I've got the Ehrlund preamp mounted behind the tailpiece at the moment using a zip-tie through the A and D string holes and a big wodge of foam to pad it, but I think it's sucked some life out of my A and D strings. :/ So now I'm thinking the only alternative is to not mount the preamp on the bass itself, but I've got the original cable on my pickup (terminating in a male jack) so it's not ideal. I do want to leave the pickup on the bass permanently, but I don't want to have to run this thin wire off the bass to the preamp. I think what I really need is the wire shortening and terminating in a female plug. Such a skinny wire though, I'm going to have to find a hexpert to do it. I certainly wouldn't want to have a go myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoffbassist Posted September 20, 2012 Share Posted September 20, 2012 If I was using one I would much prefer a shorter cable than supplied and a female plug but wouldn't want to do it myself. If it was a bit more straight forward I'm sure more people would try them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoffbassist Posted September 20, 2012 Share Posted September 20, 2012 I'm sure a trail version sent round bass chatters would sell a few if it's as good as it seems. I would love to try one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
endorka Posted September 20, 2012 Share Posted September 20, 2012 I've been using the Ehrlund pickup & preamp for quite some time now. I ordered mine direct from the maker since that was the only option at the time, but going to Daf Direct sounds far more convenient, not to mention cheaper! My original motivation was for a superior live arco sound, and it certainly achieved that. I've also used it several times for studio work, usually in conjunction with a microphone. Recording engineers have been universally impressed with the sound quality, as their expectations of pickups are inevitably a nasal piezo sound. As these recordings become available I'll try to post links to them. Jennifer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thisnameistaken Posted September 20, 2012 Author Share Posted September 20, 2012 [quote name='geoffbassist' timestamp='1348146238' post='1809981']If I was using one I would much prefer a shorter cable than supplied and a female plug but wouldn't want to do it myself. If it was a bit more straight forward I'm sure more people would try them.[/quote] Yeah it's not the easiest thing to rig up, really. I've decided that rather than mess with re-soldering the cable, I'm going to attach a female-to-female jack coupler to my tailpiece (just using a velcro tie for now) so I can leave the Ehrlund's male jack in one end and plug in the preamp (which I'll be removing from the bass) when I need it using a regular male-male jack cable. It's a shame I have to remove the pre because it's small and light enough to mount on the bass easily I just can't find a way to do it without inadvertently damping one or more strings. :/ Still, it's more important that I get a good sound and I've got plenty of little pockets for storing a small preamp. It's way lighter than the FIshman I take everywhere anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thisnameistaken Posted September 20, 2012 Author Share Posted September 20, 2012 Jennifer have you gone all Blue Peter with rigging the thing up semi-permanently or do you just tack the mic on to your bass when you've got recording to do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timbass Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 [quote name='daflewis' timestamp='1347875192' post='1805900'] Hi Tim, Checked out some YouTube of the L1 system - looks really interesting - you've obviously had good experience with it, is it the holy grail for db? Or perhaps somewhere close... (I love my suitcase too!) [/quote] I like it loads, because it has a clean, wide frequency response, tons of head-room with 750W RMS each side and feedback much reduced. We play with it behind the band so we don't need monitors and it sounds the same at the back of the room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarky Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 Update from me: I tried for hours to get a good sound with the Ehrlund on my old German flatback and it simply wouldn't work, no matter what I did with putty, p/u placement, air gap etc. I decided to throw in the towel and Daf very kindly let me return the pickup for a refund. Please don't let my experience put you off, however, as the vast majority of Ehrlund users (witness those eulogising on the TalkBass thread) seem very happy - and furthermore it worked on my (mainly non-gigging) Kolstein. Just sod's law for me I suppose that my gigging bass is an awkward old b*gger! Despite its shortcomings I will be sticking with the Full Circle on that bass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thisnameistaken Posted September 27, 2012 Author Share Posted September 27, 2012 That's a shame Clarky although I guess not a big problem if you're happy with the sound of the FC. For me I'd had enough of piezos so I am very relieved that the Ehrlund works well on my bass! I'm keeping the Realist on it just to be belt & braces about it, but the Ehrlund sounds a million times better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timbass Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 [quote name='daflewis' timestamp='1347875192' post='1805900'] Hi Tim, Checked out some YouTube of the L1 system - looks really interesting - you've obviously had good experience with it, is it the holy grail for db? Or perhaps somewhere close... (I love my suitcase too!) [/quote] I really like the Bose L1. IMO it gives as true reproduction of subtle audio. It sounds as loud at the back of the room as 3 feet away (line arrays do that) and the bass lacks the boomy monotone that most bass speakers seem to produce between 40 and 100 Hz. If I play a passage of classical music through my expensive AKG headphones and then play it through the Bose L1, they sound very similar. Our band plays with the 2 Bose L1s behind us all, we hear exactly what the audience hears. The 750W (unverified by Bose, but popularly known) gives lots of headroom playing to audiences of 300. For the first couple of gigs with the L1s, our Hammond man brought his Roland amp to gigs, he no longer doubts and revels in the round sound. I would recommend trying the L1 in a studio setting, playing a range of music and styles through it. 2 x B1 per L1 is important for bass. Expensive but well worth it. I have built and operated a number of PA systems and so far the Bose is the best for my needs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thisnameistaken Posted November 26, 2012 Author Share Posted November 26, 2012 My Ehrlund had its first attempt at keeping up with a drummer today, in a too-small rehearsal room so my bass was positioned half-way between my amp and a guitar amp. Guitarist of course was too loud because he's a guitarist. The mic really surprised me. I did struggle a little with feedback but it was because the guitar amp was pointing at my bass and only about 3 feet away - it was the guitar causing the feedback not my bass. Still it managed to be loud enough to be heard, I could hear myself clearly all the time and it was just a brilliant feeling compared to struggling with various piezos over the past couple of years. And I realised once I got there that I hadn't auditioned the position that I'd mounted the mic - I'd taken it off to find a better way of dealing with the cable and then just stuck the mic back on without testing it, so it wasn't even the best sound I could have got. Good stuff! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
endorka Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 [quote name='thisnameistaken' timestamp='1348152399' post='1810084'] Jennifer have you gone all Blue Peter with rigging the thing up semi-permanently or do you just tack the mic on to your bass when you've got recording to do? [/quote] A bit of both. Attaching & detaching the pickup is no bother, and I have the sweet spot marked out with masking tape so I can find it immediately. The long cable is a bit more fiddly, so I have a bunch of velcro cable ties attached to the tailpiece I use to route it down there without actually touching the tailpiece and going "microphonic". It only takes a couple of minutes to attach or detach; if I know I won't be using it for a few weeks I'll remove it, if I know I will be using it for a few weeks it stays on. Jennifer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daflewis Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 A useful tip regarding the microphonic lead... If you loop a section of the lead you'll find that the wire in the loop and after it is no longer microphonic. Weird! - but very useful... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
endorka Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 Thanks Daf, I'll try that out. Jennifer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarky Posted January 20, 2013 Share Posted January 20, 2013 First gig with the Ehrlund and it couldn't have been a tougher one to try it out on. We played a rock/reggae venue (Hootananny, Brixton) and the volume was absolutely at loud 'rock band' level. I had some initial horrible feedback problems in the soundcheck, not helped by the stage being a very large wooden box (about five feet high and as boomy as its possible to get). However, the soundman played around with EQ on the PA system and I stood a bit further back on stage (away from the monitors) and apparently the sound out front was excellent (one of our friends in the audience was a sound engineer). I reckon thats the toughest possible test passed then - most of our gigs are at nothing like that volume level. My rig was Ehrlund-->effects return of AI Clarus-->Crazy8 cab but I had to keep the volume level very low behind me on stage to help minimise feedback and I had to rely on the monitors to hear myself Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thisnameistaken Posted June 22, 2013 Author Share Posted June 22, 2013 Thought I'd bump this thread to say I had an amplified gig last night with a little trio and got a bunch of people coming up to me afterwards to say how good the bass sounded. Given that it was an amplified gig the Ehrlund pickup/pre has to take a massive amount of credit for that. And it managed it without me having to do anything, really. I think the Ehrlund might be the best bit of bass gear I've ever bought. It works brilliantly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoffbassist Posted July 1, 2013 Share Posted July 1, 2013 [quote name='thisnameistaken' timestamp='1371937254' post='2119938'] Thought I'd bump this thread to say I had an amplified gig last night with a little trio and got a bunch of people coming up to me afterwards to say how good the bass sounded. Given that it was an amplified gig the Ehrlund pickup/pre has to take a massive amount of credit for that. And it managed it without me having to do anything, really. I think the Ehrlund might be the best bit of bass gear I've ever bought. It works brilliantly. [/quote] .ughhh gas inducing post! I really need to try one of these.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daflewis Posted July 1, 2013 Share Posted July 1, 2013 Geoff, you have a PM... Hope you'll excuse the shameless plug!... But if anyone is interested in the Ehrlund, please PM me! Cheers, Daf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Bassman Posted July 1, 2013 Share Posted July 1, 2013 Daf, Do you have a demo Ehrlund you could pass round? There are a few of us up North that might be tempted if we could have a trial. ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daflewis Posted July 1, 2013 Share Posted July 1, 2013 Hi Keith, Funny you should ask that! I'd just PM'd Geoff to offer a tryout of my spare. It's actually out with someone at the mo. but I should get it back on 20th so I'll send it up to you then.(Geoff has declined for now - he may have a look later in the year.) if anyone else is interested in giving it a try please feel free to PM me. Cheers, Daf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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