davebass66 Posted April 19, 2011 Share Posted April 19, 2011 So, last night I played my first gig with an upright bass.... I've owned it for about 6 weeks, but picked it up quite quick and feel very comfortable playing it... It was only for a couple of songs during my original set but they were quite involved parts so feel quite proud of myself..... Anyway..the point of this post was the sound issues I encountered... The bass is nothing amazing, it's a Stentor solid top that I spent £950 on, it sounds great unplugged.....I decided to spend extra for the pickup and bought a realist, which again sounded great during practice at home and the rehearsal.. When I got it on stage I encountered some amazing feedback and resonance issues!...I'd read about these on some other posts which is part of the reason I spent on the pickup.... I ended up tying a towel really tight around the strings behind the bridge but the sound guy still had to do some serious eq frequency cutting to sort it out. He also ended up using an XLR splitter from my amp so he could have separate channels for upright and electric. (this seemed like a really good idea but was inevitably the last idea he came up with)! Anyway, I was just wondering if you more experienced DB players could shed some more light on how to get around these issues as I will be doing quite regularly from now! Any advice will be much appreciated! Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarky Posted April 19, 2011 Share Posted April 19, 2011 Hi Dave, very similar to the problems I had at our last gig on a really boomy wooden stage. This may help a bit [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=131128"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=131128[/url] I am going to try foam plugs in the f-holes (sounds like something that happens in a gimp movie!) and, failing that, switch to a mag pickup from a piezo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doddy Posted April 19, 2011 Share Posted April 19, 2011 The feedback issue is the reason why,if I know it's going to be loud,I take my electric upright. Blocking the f-holes up of the bass,the same way as acoustic guitarists often cover the soundhole-this should help to eliminate at least some of the feedback problem. Also try to stand out of a direct line of either your amp and especially the monitors. What I always do when I'm doubling is run both the electric bass and the upright through an A/B box- usually the Boss LS2 so I can match the volumes. I also run the upright through an EQ pedal too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davebass66 Posted April 19, 2011 Author Share Posted April 19, 2011 Cheers guys, Doddy, the eq pedal sounds like a good idea, the splitter was for the benefit of the front of house rather than me so I'm not sure if the A/B would help? As far as taking out the EUB, I used to own one, but it just doesn't come close to the sound of an acoustic imo.... Will check out the foam plugs for the F holes, seems a bit of a shame though doesn't it?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassace Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 Dave First of all, the Stentor should be OK as it is an 'unremarkable' bass. By that I don't mean to diss the bass but to point out that it has a neutral, not too bright acoustic. Sorry to spoil your party but the Realist is not a particularly good pickup if you want to crank the volume up. I have no experience of mags but an Underwood or Bassmax should do the job. Then a preamp will help a lot; a Fishman Platinum Pro or just a Fishman Pro which is the one I've used for ten years. The preamp will do a better job of matching the pickup impedance to the amplifier, has a good four-way eq and a phase reversal switch which, on a good day, will go a long way to killing the feeback. Sometimes simply cutting the treble does it. I haven't tried the foam plugs but they seem like a good idea. Good luck, in time you'll get the right gear and experience and will be a DB guru. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teej Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 [quote name='bassace' post='1205511' date='Apr 20 2011, 09:02 AM']Dave First of all, the Stentor should be OK as it is an 'unremarkable' bass. By that I don't mean to diss the bass but to point out that it has a neutral, not too bright acoustic. Sorry to spoil your party but the Realist is not a particularly good pickup if you want to crank the volume up. I have no experience of mags but an Underwood or Bassmax should do the job. Then a preamp will help a lot; a Fishman Platinum Pro or just a Fishman Pro which is the one I've used for ten years. The preamp will do a better job of matching the pickup impedance to the amplifier, has a good four-way eq and a phase reversal switch which, on a good day, will go a long way to killing the feeback. Sometimes simply cutting the treble does it. I haven't tried the foam plugs but they seem like a good idea. Good luck, in time you'll get the right gear and experience and will be a DB guru.[/quote] Absolutely, what the man said. I use exactly this, an Underwood through a Platinum Pro, and have not experienced feedback problems since taking that step. They've just disappeared completely to the extent that I'd really forgotten that they were ever an issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobVbass Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 As the official psycho loud player I have only two words to say..... You know what they'll be ...... Magnetic pickup! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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