PICK UP for UPRIGHT

[Boomtwang]

HELLO is anybody home ?? It has been quite awhile since I was on this site or even viewed it ...Hope everybody is OK ...Well for starters THE BUFFALO BILLS BEAT DENVER TODAY ...OK back to Music , I will be investing in a Pick up unit for my upright , keep in mind this is for recording studio only no live gigs ...Any suggestions ...THANK YOU

[sevenyearsdown]

You have things backwards.

I don't recommend using a pickup to record upright bass. It will sound like dog shit, or like a bass guitar. Any microphone is going to sound better than a pickup. Even a '57 on a stick will sound better than a pickup. The only reason to put a pickup on your upright is to amplify it for gigs.

I would recommend you join talkbass.com and browse the double bass forums, as you will get much more information on the instrument there then you'd ever get here.

[crentist]

Thumb's

[Boomtwang]

Your suggestion is right on , thank you Seven . Initially about six months ago I laid down a very cool self acoustic instrumental Drums & Upright on my previous recorder . So recently I attempted another acoustic / electric bass /Drums on the newest recording gear . Just as before I positioned the 57 about 6 -7 inches from the F-hole which gave me a awesome mix , However this method did not work on the latest recorder please keep in mind just reading about pickups ( bassplayer mag ) I over reacted and almost made a purchase then I had this feeling I 'd best run this by you Seven and guys & gals members of WNYmusicians and glad I did . So at this point I will try various mic's and positions ....I appreciate your input ( with nice pun .. )

P.S. I like Talkbass yet It feels more personal coming on WYNmusician and easier for my lazy head

[sevenyearsdown]

You would be better served getting a cheap and dirty microphone preamp like one of those Art Tube things to have some control over the mic gain before you send it to a board or whatever you're recording to. I use one occasionally for simple stuff. It's a great piece of gear for 50 bucks and some bedroom recording.

Experiment with where you place the mic. If you have condensers, you can put them pretty much anywhere in the room and get some very different qualities.

I recently wrapped a 57 in Auralex and stuffed in my tailpiece to do some tracking for an online collaboration. Conventional wisdom would tell you that it's not a proper application for the pattern on a 57, but it works just fine.


You can suspend a 57 from the bridge with rubber bands and mic the top:
https://www.talkbass.com/threads/poor-m ... st-6456075

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-audi ... mic-preamp

[Boomtwang]

Seven your advise is above and beyond , As soon as I re-record with this latest recording gear I will get back to you ...Your diagram photo is very interesting showing yet another way of mic' ing up a upright ..Thank You

[Boomtwang]

Hey Seven hope yer good , sorry about the delay 1st excuse is what happened in Vegas on Oct. 1st ...That really messed up my music mode , then to get back in the groove I purchased a set of Rotosound FM 66 Funkmaster 30 . 50. 70 .90 ...Well that became a whole new three week session for me because I tried the Funkmasters on four other basses , The Squire fretless Jaco bass won the new strings which lead me into another recording direction which became a very funky original in it's infancy stage . I still look foreword trying out your method on my UPRIGHT ..Also I have been doing some minor research on a bass effects pedal so far I'm getting close on getting the Ampeg Classic Analog Bass preamp and also the Sadowsky SBP -1 ... IMO it seems a bassist is always looking searching for that certain / unique tone that fits their personality for that particular tune or time of moment .. So if you or anybody would like to give some pointers on String gage , or effects pedals please give me a shout ..Thank You and Seven I will get back on that UPRIGHT soon ...Peace out everybody

[Boomtwang]

Oh SEVEN ...! Yup I finally used your posted method Mic'ing up the UPRIGHT , It took me time to rig it up and I'm still fine tuning my dial ins , It actually made the upright a better quality sound ( made in China ) I also use a bow at times and that was more impressive than plucking . So thank you again ...On a unrelated note , I spend a lot of time out of state and don't follow this site as much yet even in the past on a normal schedule I noticed many post and forms with personal opinions ect. Now it is completely DEAD ..! what happened ?