Upright Bass Gear Nerdfest

What happens when bassists get together to discuss equipment.....

12/10/00 was the first upright bass gear nerdfest. I was prompted to organize it as I was in the process of changing my bass setup. I wanted to compare different pickups, etc. I thought that other bassists would also be interested - and that we would all learn more if we could compare several bass setups.

My student Paul Clanon offered to host the event at his home - a very generous offer.

Initial response was good, but fell off as bassists had gigs conflicting with the event, not surprising given the demands of the holiday season. The morning of the event, I thought that I might wind up just giving a Paul a bass lesson if nobody else showed.

The morning of the event, though, bassists Dennis Calloway called and said he could come, and that he had invited "Terry" (I didn't catch the last name), a writer for Bass Player magazine. Terry also plays electric bass for Queen Ida. Dennis plays electric bass for several San Francisco area Zydeco bands. While we were awaiting Dennis and Terry, Fred Randolph, a local bassist who works with many different bands, including Full Spectrum Jazz Orchestra, called for directions. And so, we were off to an excellent start, as we now had five bassists, four basses, and four distinct bass setups.

Fred had a Rick Turner and a Realist pickup on his bass, and ran them through a Raven Labs Pro Master Blender into an SWR Workingman's 12. The bass was a 3/4 Czech bass, nicely set up, with excellent natural sustain and a big fat low F.

I had a 7/8 Mexican bass, with three separate setups on it - a Realist, a Fishman, and a K&K Bass Max I fitted to it fir the day, having pulled it off my other bass. I had a Sansamp Bass DI, which I often use as a preamp, running to a small Carvin amp (100wats, 1 10") or to my other rig, a circa 1978 Walter Woods amp (approx. 100 watts max) and an early (Eden Labs-built) SWR Goliath Jr. cabinet. Denis brought a bass without a pickup and a Walter Woods Amp running through a Flite cabinet.

Fred felt that his Realist pickup had lower output than mine did. I couldn't speak to that, but was impressed by the tone he got. I found that I was able to get the tone I liked very well running my bass, with both my Fishman and my Realist, through the Raven Labs blender, into my Walter woods amp and SWR cabinet. Fred's bass was a sweetheart, though, with much more sustain than mine -

The general opinion seemed to be -

The Walter Woods with the SWR Goliath was a nice sounding combination, and the Raven Labs Bass Blender really seems to be a nice piece.

Both Realist pickups seem to be lower output than the other pickups sampled - which is generally not a problem for me, as I normally am running at low volume setting on my amps.

The Realist seems to be the best arco pickup. It's expensive at ~$175, but is probably a good investment for the serious (or picky) bassist who often plays arco and/or likes a "darker" sound.

The Fishman has nicer high-end response than the Realist, but sounds terrible for arco, and lacks the low-register quality of the Fishman. They seem to cost ~$85-100.

The K&K Bass Max has a tone between the Fishman and the Realist. It seems a good value for the money at ~$79.00.

The Rick Turner pickup sounds very good - but requires major surgery for installation, as the pickups were mounted into four separate slots cut into the bridge.

I plan to buy the Raven Labs blender, which Fred Randolph estimated cost around $200.00, and use it to blend my Fishman and my Realist.


The other conclusion was that it was a lot of fun for all concerned. I felt a lot more informed about pickups afterwards, and I may do another nerdfest in the future.