Putty for contact pickups

[Beer of the Bass]

Since my current project is a low volume acoustic thing with a large chunk of arco playing, I find myself abandoning my piezo pickup (a Rev Solo II) and using my AKG C411 contact mic for most gigs. This attaches to the top of the bass with black sticky putty which was supplied with it. If I leave the pickup on, the putty has a habit of creeping, spreading out and making a black sticky mess which is a pain to remove. Is the expensive Schertler putty (I think this is the stuff you get with the Ehrlund) any better, or are there any other products which might do a better, cleaner job of this?

Edited March 25, 2014 by Beer of the Bass

[daflewis]

Hi Beer,

As you probably know, i deal for Ehrlund, and their contact mic uses ordinary staedtler white-tack. The old blue-tack of years ago used to leak oil and could cause damage to varnish, but Ehrlund say that that's no longer the case and they've tested the white-tack and found it to be inert. I've certainly never had any problems.

I do have a cellist friend who has reservations, but then again, his cello is worth well into six figures!

Hope that helps.
Daf

[Beer of the Bass]

Ah, for some reason I though they used this stuff, which is insanely priced for a small blob of putty!
[url="http://www.themicstore.co.uk/problem-solvers/schertler-adhesive-putty.html"]http://www.themicstore.co.uk/problem-solvers/schertler-adhesive-putty.html[/url]

If the ordinary white-tack does a reasonable job, I'll try some of that.

[daflewis]

yeh, i borrowed a schertler off crkelly to compare with the Ehrlund so i got to try some of that putty - very soft in comparison.... i tried it with the Ehrlund too and it didn't seem to make any noticeable sonic difference.

[Beer of the Bass]

I think the softness is what annoys me about the AKG putty (due to the spreading and creeping), so perhaps I won't try the Schertler stuff. The AKG stuff is great for temporary use, but less so if it's on for more than a few hours.

[gypsyjazzer]

I play guitar and bought a Schatten gypsy guitar pickup. It attached to the underside of the top with putty. I found the putty excellent-very plyable--more plyable than Bluetack. The pickup stayed in place. www.schattendesign.com

[Happy Jack]

For some reason, I keep getting mental images of someone carefully winding copper wire around a blob of putty ...

[Apeneck Sweeney]

I've managed to lose the putty that came with my Ehrlund and google is not proving to be my friend. We have UHU white tack at home but I'm not convinced on it's lack of oil as it's left marks on the walls where my wife put up some of my daughters pictures. Maybe it's different with varnish - I don't know. I can't find any Staedler white tack on line. Does anyone have a link for somewhere I can get some, preferably in the UK.
Thanks.

[JoeEvans]

Pure beeswax is the best thing I've tried. You can hold it in your hand for a while and it goes soft enough to mould, but then it sets nice and hard and sticks well. And you can just polish out the smears.

[Apeneck Sweeney]

Found it. It was in the safe place I put it .....and consequently forgot.

Beeswax sounds interesting Joe.

[JoeEvans]

Accordion reeds are stuck down with a blend of beeswax and rosin. If you wanted to mount a pickup semi-permanently, you could probably do worse than to experiment with that idea. Melt down the wax and shave in some rosin, then maybe smear it onto the base of the pickup when semi-set, stick it onto the bass and let it harden off?

Edited June 27, 2015 by JoeEvans

[alyctes]

[quote name='JoeEvans' timestamp='1435339629' post='2807934']
Pure beeswax is the best thing I've tried. You can hold it in your hand for a while and it goes soft enough to mould, but then it sets nice and hard and sticks well. And you can just polish out the smears.
[/quote]

That's an excellent idea. Thanks

[timbass]

I find that the black putty with the AKG 411 contact mic only spreads if you use too much. It only needs to be about 1mm thick covering the base of the mic unit.