Pickups

[neilp]

Hi All,
Excuse my ignorance, but I have never played a double bass amplified, and I've just been booked to play for a schools performance of Les Mis and they want amplification.

I'm looking for a reasonably priced pickup which can be mounted and removed without difficulty. Most piezos need a preamp too, no?

All advice gratefully received

Neil

[Beer of the Bass]

It's probably best to start by asking a couple more questions about what your application is. Will you be running through a bass amp or straight into the PA? Is there a lot of arco in the set or mostly pizz? What sort of ensemble will you be playing in - any drums or other loud instruments?
For mostly pizz work with a backline amp, some kind bridge wing pickup is the most obvious choice. There are lots out there - check the classifieds first. If you're using the GK gear listed in your signature, a lot of them will sound fine plugged straight in without a preamp. But almost all bridge wing pickups sound less natural or even a bit harsh with the bow. They also often need the wing slot on the bridge to be enlarged slightly to fit them, though they're easy enough to fit and remove once that has been done. The cheapest workable bridge wing pickup would probably be one of these: [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/J-tone-Big-double-Bass-Pick-up-/201498506263?hash=item2eea3f3417:m:mMv8R28HOczqgXmXPBsADZw"]http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/J-tone-Big-double-Bass-Pick-up-/201498506263?hash=item2eea3f3417:m:mMv8R28HOczqgXmXPBsADZw[/url]
Piezo pickups that fit under the bridge foot are usually a bit more tolerable for arco use, like the Realist or Shadow SH965.
If it's not a high-volume setting and you want a more natural arco sound, other options might work better. I like my AKG C411pp contact mic, especially when running direct to PA, though it needs a mic preamp to run into a bass amp. Or there are a few dedicated bass mics, though they can get quite expensive.

Edited May 30, 2017 by Beer of the Bass

[Ajoten]

Rather than start new thread I'm going to chip in here.

I currently have no need to amp my bass but would like to experiment anyway. In a very very cheap way.

Has anyone had any success with a £10 transducer or tie clip mic thing?

[Lazurus]

Thumbs up for the J tone range, very affordable and do the job.

[SubsonicSimpleton]

[quote name='Ajoten' timestamp='1508930029' post='3395394']
Rather than start new thread I'm going to chip in here.

I currently have no need to amp my bass but would like to experiment anyway. In a very very cheap way.

Has anyone had any success with a £10 transducer or tie clip mic thing?
[/quote]
I have the J-tone that Beer linked in the post above yours, which I would recommend as a reliable low budget solution that punches above its price point. If you want to go the DIY/ebay route with cheap mics/transducers, do it because you are curious and be willing to lose any money you spend - there was some buzz on talkbass about using cheap radioshack lav mics some time back, but some people reported success and some total failure (in about equal measure IIRC), it is impossible to know precisely why there was such variance (QC issues, differing volume levels, bad gainstaging, bad amp placement etc etc), so best to treat it as a gamble.

[bassace]

Just to chuck another PU into the mix, I have recently fitted a Kremona KNA pickup. It’s cheap as chips - £56 when I bought mine - and very slim. I doubt whether any wing slot enlargement would be needed. I still prefer my Lifeline to give the old school mellow sound that I like but last week I was playing on a thick carpet that completely killed my amplified sound. So I plugged in the KNA and it saved the day with a clear sound. So I keep it in the E slot, just in case.

[Ajoten]

I'd be foolish not to give that a go really.

[tinyd]

Another vote for the J-Tone. There are without doubt more natural-sounding pickups out there but the J-Tone gives me a usable, consistent gigging sound every time I use it with virtually no feedback.

[JPJ]

I’m using J-Tone Reds in the wing slots on my KK Baby Bass to blend in with the magnetic pickup. I found the mag pickup either too dark or too thin on its own, adding the J-Tone Reds and blending the two with a headway EDB-1 gives me a realistic DB sound.

Happy to recommend the J-Tones

[Blartfactor10]

J-Tone, all the way, a great pickup, it should be selling for much more. As with all Piezo Transducers a good fit in the wing slot matters, its really easy to file/sand too much wood away. Take time to open up the wing slot with sandpaper taped to a steel rule, the fit should be tight so as it stays in place but not so tight as you cant move it. A pre amp will make a transducer sound much better, loads on the market, some with bells and whistles but I'm happy using my simple FDECK. https://sites.google.com/site/hpftechllc/home/hpf-pre

[surdopickups]

all the piezo need the preamp;
due to the high impedance of the piezo sensors, the preamplifier is needed to improve sound quality.

 

[NickA]

I've got a realist sound clip that clamps on to the bridge (no fitting required) it has a built in volume control and plugs straight into the "passive" input on my PJB amp (4.7MOhm input impedance) without needing a pre-amp.  A mate told me it would be even better with a pre-amp but his profferred amp a) kept cutting out due to a loose battery and b) made no audible difference.  Possibly depends on whether your amp was designed to take a piezo directly or not.

Set up properly it really does sound "like a bass only louder" .. which I appreciate is not what everyone wants.  Downside of the realist is that it's hard to exactly replicate the position, counter-weight, clamp tightness.. . all of which affect the tone and the occurence of feedback.  Oh and the price - (it had to be a birthday present)

Edited November 24, 2017 by NickA
extra info