DorsetBlue Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 Okay, as per my other post - I am now suddenly a DB owner. I am hoping to play it soon during some of my band's practices, when we do acoustic ones (currently without a drummer, so the volume can be a bit lower). However I would like to get a pickup/s for the bass in the near future. The band is a 50s/60s rock and roll band, so the DB will fit in nicely with the 50s songs (Buddy Holly, early Elvis etc). However I would also like to look into playing the DB Rockabilly slap style in the future (luckily I have a colleague who used to play Rockabilly bass, so I will be talking to him a lot). So two questions: 1) Pickup/s. My colleague used to have a two pickup set on his old bass, along with a lowered bridge (which seems the normal from what I have read, one for the click and one on the bridge). The K&Ks seem to have quite a following but the £200 for those would have to wait a month or two, after the Xmas expenses. Is there a set that could have the click pickup added later, so I can cover the rock and roll requirement cheaper in the nearer future? Should I buy a cheaper pickup for the moment and replace it for a rockabilly set later? 2) Left handed. Ah yes, I play electric bass left handed. I tried for hours to play the DB right handed, just couldn't do a thing. The instant I changed to left, I was playing reasonable walking bassline nearly straight away. Now I was doing this by playing 'upside down', so haven't changed the stringing (I can do this pretty easily on an electric bass, when I play on my daughters right handed P bass upside down). Does anybody else play like this, or should I look to change the strings around (which would require a new nut to be cut)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilp Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 No experience of this, but just by intuition I would say changing strings around would be a mistake. The soundpost and bassbar would then be in the wrong places, which I would have thought would cause problems with both sound and structure. If you can manage it without swapping, I would! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bornagainbass65 Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 K&K bass max pick up is less than 90 quid on Thomann, and Shadow sh965 pick is 100 quid. I've got the Shadow on my cheap EUB and it does the job. I'm guessing that it wouldn't cost a fortune to get a luthier to make your bass properly left-handed. Probably worth getting the fingerboard shimmed at the same time. Something to save up for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarah thomas Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 You might look at J tone pick ups - http://basschat.co.uk/topic/107646-j-tone-electronique-db-pickups/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DorsetBlue Posted January 12, 2016 Author Share Posted January 12, 2016 [quote name='sarah thomas' timestamp='1452526396' post='2950810'] You might look at J tone pick ups - [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/107646-j-tone-electronique-db-pickups/"]http://basschat.co.u...que-db-pickups/[/url] [/quote] Very interesting, I will send the guy an ebay message and see what he recommends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beer of the Bass Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 [quote name='sarah thomas' timestamp='1452526396' post='2950810'] You might look at J tone pick ups - [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/107646-j-tone-electronique-db-pickups/"]http://basschat.co.u...que-db-pickups/[/url] [/quote] I have a J-Tone pickup, mine is the single element, rubber sleeved model, and I would quite cheerfully recommend them to anyone starting out. It's not the last word in realistic acoustic sound (no bridge wing pickup is), but it's a good solid, balanced sound which is feedback resistant and I like it better than some other more expensive bridge wing pickups. It's not especially finicky about input impedance and sounds fine straight into the 1Mohm input of my GK MB200. I've no experience of the clicky models, as slap is not my thing. I do think his jack mounts are a bit inelegant though - I use one of these with mine; [url="http://www.kontrabass-atelier.de/pickups_e.html#clamp"]http://www.kontrabass-atelier.de/pickups_e.html#clamp[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iiipopes Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 What has been said above: don't change the strings, because the relationship of the bass bar and sound post to everything else is critical to get a good tone and structural stability out of the bass. I have had the best experience using a Fishman Full Circle with a buffer preamp for the jazz/dance bands I play with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spencer.b Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 I wouldn't worry too much about a clicky pickup to start with , it's quite a specific sound and bare in mind they didn't have them in the 50s 60s changing a bass to a lefty is a big expensive job, taking the front off making a new bass bar etc. plus you couldn't play another bass if you had a gig with a house bass, I'd stand on the other side if you can pickups are an absolute minefield , one pickup may sound great on one bass but not the next, my advice would be don't get too caught up in it to start with Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeEvans Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 You could always wrap an SM57 in foam and tuck it under the bridge? That would probably produce a respectably fifties sound with plenty of thump, click and slap. Cheap, too, if you can pick one up on eBay. Or I think some people do cunning things with elastic bands to suspend the mic in the hole under the bridge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DorsetBlue Posted January 25, 2016 Author Share Posted January 25, 2016 Right, the latest. Took the DB to my band's practice last Thursday and had a good time with it, although my hands cramped up after a while. I had a few issues though: 1) The J-Tone pickups are picking up a lot of feedback at quite a low level of volume. I played with the EQ a bit on my BH250 to try and temper it a bit but never quite managed to find a tone I was happy with over all of the four strings, as well as keeping the feedback under control. 2) The worst string being the E. Could not get a tone I liked at all, it was either "Electric Bass" sounding or Woolly but with no projection. The strings are a metal flatwound type, with quite a high tension (or that is how they seem to me anyway). Would love a mellower sounding E with more projection. So am I looking at different strings and/or more EQ experimentation. I have a B3 available as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRev Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 Are you using a preamp to buffer the impedance of your J Tone pickup? If not, that could be part of the cause of your electric/wooly tone and feedback issues. As for strings, Innovation Super Silvers are nice low tension strings, or, for a bit more money, you can't go wrong with a set of Thomastik Spiro weich. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SubsonicSimpleton Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 Might be worth checking the fit of the pickup in the bridge wing, some piezos are very picky about how they are positioned and how tightly they fit into the bridge wing slot. Some good info on dealing with feedback here http://www.talkbass.com/threads/stopping-feedback-in-loud-settings.413725/#post-5450657 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DorsetBlue Posted January 27, 2016 Author Share Posted January 27, 2016 [quote name='TheRev' timestamp='1453759105' post='2962581'] Are you using a preamp to buffer the impedance of your J Tone pickup? If not, that could be part of the cause of your electric/wooly tone and feedback issues. [/quote] Not strictly speaking no. I was running it through my B3 before the head but only as a tuner and a compressor. The guy from J-Tone said the impedance of the pickups meant that they did not 'need' a preamp. I will read the feedback thread mentioned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 [quote name='DorsetBlue' timestamp='1453741321' post='2962340'] The strings are a metal flatwound type, with quite a high tension (or that is how they seem to me anyway). Would love a mellower sounding E with more projection. So am I looking at different strings and/or more EQ experimentation. I have a B3 available as well. [/quote] Welcome to wonderful (and bloody expensive) world of DB string experimentation. Try searching this bit of the forum for numerous very helpful posts in the past by Clarky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DorsetBlue Posted January 27, 2016 Author Share Posted January 27, 2016 Would it be worth just changing the E for a Super Silver for the moment or would that cause problems with mismatched tension on the neck? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spencer.b Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 it wouldn't worry the neck, you often see different strings to suit a certain bass, i've had all sorts of combinations of steel , gut and synthetic over the years Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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