Soapbar in an EUB

[Dave Vader]

So, I am now officially quite fond of my Harley benton EUB, but the piezo pickup does a good line in unexpected WHUMPH! noises where you are least expecting them.
I have a couple of old Kent Armstrong humbuckers lying about, and I was thinking I might sort out some kind of rig to mount one of them on the EUB. I want to use this and the piezo, preferably on some kind of blend circuit, or maybe just switch between the two.
The thing I'm wondering about is whether to put the switch in before or after the preamp, as I have always run the KA passive, and it's plenty loud enough on a normal electric bass. But it might be interesting to hear how it reacts with the (cheap and nasty) HB preamp in the bass.
Any ideas chaps? Or shall I just go the old fashioned way and try one after the other...

[iiipopes]

The wiring is not the issue. The issue is the crown radius of the fingerboard of the EUB. The D and A strings will be too far off the pickup, and the E and G strings too close.

If you want a magnetic pickup on a double bass or EUB, the standard application is now the Krivo pickup:
[url="http://www.gollihurmusic.com/product/2435-KRIVO_HUMBUCKING_MAGNETIC_UPRIGHT_BASS_PICKUP_INCLUDES_FREE_JACK_MOUNT.html"]http://www.gollihurm...JACK_MOUNT.html[/url]

Also, if you want to run both a piezo and a magnetic pickup on the same instrument, they will both need their own separate onboard preamp to buffer the different outputs in both level and impedance, if you'r thinking about combining them for a single out to an amplifier.

Edited September 25, 2012 by iiipopes

[scojack]

I'd say the Schaller is more widely used than Krivo TBH. Check out Framus Triumph EUB.
Seen it done with Precision split pups mounted at an angle ..to compensate for the fb radius .

You can buy a preamp that will with buffer and blend a mix of mag & piezo
(piezo has a higher impedance and requires a buffer circuit of some desrciption).

Aaron Armstrong in makes a tasty DB mag pup in the UK.

[url="http://www.armstrongpickups.co.uk/double-bass-pickups/"]http://www.armstrong...e-bass-pickups/[/url]

You will also need metal strings.



IanM

Edited September 25, 2012 by scojack

[derrenleepoole]

The 'whump noise' you're describing, is it not simply a stray [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf_tone"]wolf tone[/url] perhaps, controlled by a simple dampener?

[Dave Vader]

Thanks all, forgot the radius, i have two, I could angle them like a split P...

And i think the whump is in fact a loose jack socket, just spotted it last night. Still interested in trying it though, might have an old P somewhere...

[Lord Sausage]

I thought you meant something completely different with Soapbar

[Dave Vader]

[quote name='Lord Sausage' timestamp='1348603816' post='1815940']
I thought you meant something completely different with Soapbar
[/quote]