Re: Cool, Affordable, Contact Mics from bass Yogi Uccello

[Steve Uccello <stevebassbird@yahoo.com>]

Ace, Wow, you did your own bridge install-that's a hard job! Sounds like a cool bass-just needs some love.  If you're on a small budget and want to get into slapping upright, here are a couple links that might help:

Strings:
http://www.gollihurmusic.com/product/1858-STRING_SET_INNOVATION_SILVERSLAPS_140SLP_SILVER_SLAP.html

http://www.gollihurmusic.com/product/1859-STRING_SET_INNOVATION_GOLDENSLAPS_140GLP_GOLDEN_SLAP.html

Pickup:
http://www.gollihurmusic.com/product_details.cfm?ProdID=1309

Here's pretty cool talk bass forum relating to cheap finger board repair:

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-66028.html

As far as using Crank's piezo contact mics on upright bass, I'm not sure how it would sound, if I were to put one on my upright bass I would go for either the front or back surface of the bridge and try to clip it on firmly (def needs experimenting) you could probably find some light weight, small, clips at your local hardware store, or some kind of U shaped clip would work, may be. I would imagine you could then plug it right into looper/mixer/amp.  On the drum in my video, it was plugged into a little tiny mixer then to the looper.

 In regards to why Jaco put epoxy on his fret board, I think it was to fill the fret slots, no need on an upright. Usually a really beat finger board can benefit hugely from a re-plane by someone who knows their stuff, but if you're the DIY type, you could look into sanding, acrylics, dyes, ect. to revitalize the finger board.  I don't know much in that department.  Also, if you want lower tension, the first thing is to lower the action, and make sure the nut is not to high. Another thing you might need to do is 'crown' the bridge, basically round it all out so the string troughs do not have corners on either side, this lets the string move around the bridge and lessens any 'stiffness'.  Aside from structural/setup issues, all you can really do is get light tension strings to increase playability.  And lastly, preamps are nice, especially if you're playing into a pa w/ no bass amp. Not always necessary depending on how your amp sounds alone, though.  Here's a link to a few preamps over at the bass store: Lemur Music.

http://shop5.mailordercentral.com/lemurmusic/Upright-Bass-Preamps--EQs/products/59/

Good luck and keep me posted!




--- On Fri, 2/12/10, Ace Ovil <aovil@wfubmc.edu> wrote:

From: Ace Ovil <aovil@wfubmc.edu>
Subject: Cool, Affordable, Contact Mics from bass Yogi Uccello
To: Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com
Date: Friday, February 12, 2010, 8:57 PM

Hey Steve,

Thanks for the awesome link. Hooray for $20 piezos.  You offered some assistance with bass last time we chatted , so I assume you are happy to share your wisdom. Thought I would take you up on it.

I was thinking of sticking one of those piezos on my new (to me)upright and I figured you might have some pointers being a bass demi-god and all. The brand of the bass is engelhardt.  It’s a student type bass I think and is made of some kind of laminate. I can’t afford a real carved one unfortunately.  The fretboard is definitely not real ebony. Looks like dyed basswood, poplar or whatever the dirt cheap white tonewood du jour was when they made it.  

I installed a  maple despaux bridge with the little  aluminum height wheels on it and  I invested some serious time and effort into getting the curvature of the bridge to match the top of the bass. The book I have on bass setup really stressed making good contact between the wood pieces. It’s actually pretty amazing how much of a difference something that simple makes. The bass is significantly louder now and I can really feel the vibrations up the neck which was not the case when I got this poor abused instrument.  

About the fretboard though, do people epoxy these like jaco did with his J bass? Is there a good reason to do this? I’m also really unhappy with the strings that are on it, but this may simply be because I am not all that used to uprights. The tension seems quite a bit higher to me than most uprights I have tried though and they are REALLY squeaky. I use roundwounds on my Jazz bass and they don’t sound nearly as “catlike” or feel as . Could you maybe recommend a set of strings for a noobie that are good for pizzicato and some rockabilly slap bass ?( I would like to try my hand at this because it looks insanely fun) .

Upright strings are pretty pricey so I would prefer to keep the experimenting to a minimum if possible but I’m okay with spending a little more to get the right set.

If I mount one of those $20 piezo mics you recommended, does it have to go between the bridge and body, inside the f-holes, by the tailpiece or somewhere else? Are these types of mics sufficient to plug the upright into my amp or into the mixer and looper directly? My amp is an 83 rivera era bassman 20 tube amp. 18 watts all tube 1x15. Not very loud but KICK ASS bass tone (with my electric at least) so I use the line out from it into the board. It sounds MUCH better and richer than going direct to me.

I have noticed that all the jazz players I like to watch use some sort of a preamp, is this necessary? Also, how do I go about getting those awesome finger and slap sounds from the fretboard?  I don’t imagine the piezo  would pick those up, correct?

Sorry about the length of this thing and thanks in advance for your help.  

Ace

 

P.S. I’m replying to the whole list just in case there are any other upright loopers who might benefit from the discussion too.

 

From: Steve Uccello [mailto:stevebassbird@yahoo.com]
Sent: Friday, February 12, 2010 5:36 PM
To: Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com
Subject: Cool, Affordable, Contact Mics!

 

Hey Loopers!

Steve Uccello here just letting you all know about these really cool, affordable, durable, and great sounding contact mics I found online. They are made and sold by Noise artist 'Crank Sturgeon' he's based in Maine (USA) They are very inexpensive (around $20!!) and they work great. These mics are perfect for 'found sound' or acoustic artists who might not want to invest tons of $ into pickups on every instrument, (I used to just use a conventional mic but got tired of external sounds bleeding their way into my loops). 

  Here's a little video of an improv jam I did yesterday just to see how the mic sounded on a recording.  I'm using his 'Plug Ugly' mic on a little frame drum (a Pakistani made Pandiero ;) A little 'quake hold' gum and it's good to go!

Hope you enjoy:

http://vimeo.com/9397598

Here's a link to Crank's website (he's very nice & sends 'em out fast!

http://www.cranksturgeon.com/PIEZOCRANK.html

Be well everyone-