Paddy Morris

Nice. What a great thread.

Unfortunately, yours sounds exactly like the one I had that was broken. Sorry to say it. After a lot of disappointing and expensive experimentation I settled on a yamahiko (Japanese Fishman-type) and an Ischell C3 contact mic. Between the 2 of them you get the character of the instrument. If I were going for just one then I'd recommend the Ischell for you, because one of the mounting options gives you a 'realist' sort of less bright sound. Or just get another Realist, with a view to renewing it every so often.

These sound like we electro-mechanical noises to me. If they were to do with clipping at the front end of a preamp, they would have more pronounced HF component. The piezo sensors on Realists don't last forever, because over time the massive pressure of the bridge foot down onto the pickup crushes them. Someone gave me one to fix a few months ago and, after trying all the things you are trying now, I gave up and he had a fishman fitted. I hope I'm wrong and you get it working. By the way, that's a lovely arco tone on your Røde recording. I think you deserve a better pickup.

You won't regret it. And actually used is slightly better because they seem to like a bit of 'running-in' Don't be afraid to show it some bass EQ either. Unfortunately the accuracy of my Super Mini showed up a whole load of other flaws with my bass / pickup / preamp, which I had previously been able to ignore. Hopefully with your Clarus you won't have that issue.

Consensus elsewhere seems to be Innovation Orchestral.

Can anyone identify these strings? I had a look on the Golihur chart and nothing obviously sprang out.

Excellent review marred only slightly by no picture of the slumbering pooch.

Theres a Barefaced used BB2 on reverb right now. Get it to try, and if it's not for you then you'll most likely be able to sell it again for what you paid.

Report back. Spread the knowledge. String matrix is a great resource.

That's exactly what the BF cabs give you. Light, compact, hifi, loud. But VERY expensive. You do see them come up second hand though. I think your idea with the TC208 is probably a good option too.

I would hold out for a used Barefaced Super Mini. Particularly if you can't hear your own notes when playing, which has been a problem for me too. Very light, loud enough, pairs nicely with your BAM. But most of all, you hear the note cleanly.

Do you think maybe it's a knock-off, and not a genuine Shadow?

This is exactly what I did @NickA thanks for suggesting. A gnome with a BF Super Mini. Perfect.

Yes agreed. Too much choice.

Definitely do it yourself. It's easy, and you'll most likely do s better job than whoever made the harness.

BTW I just googled the Safran Iris. What an amazing looking instrument. Post some sound files once you've got your pickup sorted.

I tried one for a bit. It was very like an Underwood. Had the same sort of muffled quality the Underwood and DG Copperhead have. Some very respectable players go for that, but it wasn't for me. I have a big mariachi guitarrón, and eventually I put an Ischell C3 on it. Sounds mint. Don't know if that would work for you?

Hi Pete Yes, when they turned up they were normal weichs in weich packaging. Maybe just an acknowledgement by Thomann that Brits speak no language but their own? They took a couple of weeks to arrive. Patrick

That's interesting Joe, thanks. I might see if he'll have a look at it then. Also I don't think the nut has ever been set-up for the thicker, low tension strings I tend to use, so I wonder if maybe the A is it bit tight in the slot. It arrived with thin Chinese steels on it. Part of it is, the guy builds £10,000 basses and I'm slightly embarrassed by my plywood and car body filler box!

I had a bit of a search for this but couldn't find a result, so apologies if it's been covered in depth. What is the effect of a sound post tweak? I took the nicer of my 2 cheap basses to the excellent luthier who did the initial set-up for me, to get bridge adjusters fitted. He was going to 'tweak' the sound post too. In the end he said it didn't need it. So I still don't know what the effect would have been. My other bass, a cheap plywood slapper which I love dearly, has never had a proper set-up and has always been slightly quiet on the A string - this has been true regardless of the various string setups I've had on it. It might just be the limitation of a cheap bass, but I'm now wondering if a soundpost tweak might improve the situation?

Very neat indeed.

3rd vote for Spiro weichs. Growly sound, easy on the fingers. For some bizarre reason they're cheaper on Thomann than anywhere else to buy in the UK. No good for slapping though.

Very neat looking set-up. Do we get a close up of the pedal board? Always good to see what other players are up to.

Definitely. My bass with Spiros = blisters after a long gig. My slapper with guts and EP slaps = no blisters after an entire weekend of playing.