Double Bass Mounting a preamp to the bass...

bassically_eli

bassically_eli

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Feb 7, 2010
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#1
I am currently using a Headway EDB-2 HE, which is great but obviously way too large to mount to the tailpiece or bow quiver like I always did with my Fdeck and LR Baggs. I miss having the controls at hand. Has anyone tried mounting a larger preamp like the Headway (which is still quite small in spite of it's plethora of controls) to the one of the bouts? Or maybe even the back? It would be particularly nice to have the mute switches nearby, but the other reason I am interested is that it would allow me to use a wireless connection from the Headway to the amp.
 
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#2
So it looks like your basic Headway EDB-2 HE is powered by lithium batteries and/or a power supply/charger. In that situation I'd guess it would be most convenient if the mounting allows easy removal.

On my DB industrial strength adhesive Velcro has proven to be very practical for that type of purpose. It mounts on surfaces without causing rattling, it works with various shapes and sizes, and it protects surfaces from scratches.

That said, my DB is powder coated and that finish is extremely resistant to damage. Industrial strength adhesive Velcro sticks more aggressively than duct tape and it may cause damage to fine wood finishes.

Here is the product I use (NFI).

Good luck with this! I can tell you for sure that wireless is wonderful!
 
#3
Oh right, 3m Dual Lock is what I was thinking of using, looks equivalent to the industrial Velcro. I have an old German flat back that is my main gigging bass for now, and the previous owner beat the hell out of it, so not too worried about the finish haha. However, that might be a concern with other basses like my Eastman hybrid, which is still pristine.
 
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#5
Jeff Kissell said:
What about on your belt?
Click to expand...
Ummm no way haha. The EDB is a little big for that, plus that would mean that I potentially have two cables (one for the mic, another for the pickup) tethering me to the bass. Good chance I would pull the bass over at some point, and quite possibly, I could fall over with it.
 
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#6
A few observations maybe worth mentioning...

I'm using a stereo piezo system feeding into an onboard pre-amp (much smaller and simpler than yours). Plus I have a mounted mic. The point being, I have relatively short cables running all over the place on my DB.

Once a pickup system and a pre-amp is mounted, the next worry is that the cables don't rattle. Some of them I use double-face M/F Velcro to secure, some of them I use zip ties to secure, and some of them I just snake through various points on the tailpiece, under the fingerboard and elsewhere on the DB to secure.

I'm very lucky to have a weird but very functional custom A-frame tailpiece, made by one of the Deuce Bridge builders, and equally off-the-wall looking as their bridge is. This tailpiece provides me with places to mount my 3 plug sockets, in addition to acreage on which to route and use up extra cable. Doing all of this with a standard tailpiece might be a lot more challenging.

In my situation, I also mount my pre-amp on the back side of my bow quiver. It's a small, simple K&K Dual Channel Pro ST, and the mounting is extremely solid, necessary volume and blending knobs are easily accessible, and I can also easily pull the back off the pre-amp to change batteries or settings inside the box.

Looking at the Headway EDB-2 HE, I'm hugely impressed with everything it offers, but it's a huge piece of machinery. It makes me wonder if perhaps a lighter, simpler, more mount-able pre-amp might be a better answer, and then going wireless from that into your Headway, or perhaps even going wirelessly directly into your amp or FOH. Personally, having had only 2 knobs to worry about on-board my DB has been distracting enough.
 
#7
My first thought was to buy a Headway EDM-1 for when I use the pickup only. My mic mount broke recently, so last night I used a wireless dongle for the pickup and put Headway on my amp. That was a nice setup and the sound wasn't bad in spite of missing the mic, but it was low volume in a small room, so I the acoustic volume of my bass significant. Amp was a PJB Double 4 (which is tiny).

Thing is, it would be nice to just always have the EDB available. Then it's there if I want to use a mic, a pickup, both at once, or even two pickups like some of you crazy people :p . I think I'm going to test out the EDB-2 mounted to the lower bout just below the C-bout. The EDB-2 is much smaller than you might think from the pictures, btw. It's about 6.5" x 4".
 
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#9
Not mounted on my bass, but I put my Felix on a box stand...
kb_felix-png.300886
 
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#10
My setup since getting the Headway has been to either have it on the amp for DB only gigs or to put it on my pedal board for doubling gigs. Either works just fine, but the doubling gigs are a lot of gear to haul and setup, and ends up with a lot of cables lying around on stage. I'm interested in simplifying things, not bringing yet another stand just for the preamp.
 
#11
How may controls do you really need to get to on the fly? I've used belt clip preamps mounted to my bow quiver (K&K and now a Baggs Gigpro), but I'd say after I've first plugged in and got my sound, it's only the volume control I'll reach for during a set. With a larger preamp, I'd be inclined to just sit it on top of my amp and incorporate a volume pedal (or true bypass tuner for muting) for easy access.
 
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#12
Martin Beer said:
How may controls do you really need to get to on the fly? I've used belt clip preamps mounted to my bow quiver (K&K and now a Baggs Gigpro), but I'd say after I've first plugged in and got my sound, it's only the volume control I'll reach for during a set. With a larger preamp, I'd be inclined to just sit it on top of my amp and incorporate a volume pedal (or true bypass tuner for muting) for easy access.
Click to expand...
Really just the mute switches for tuning. I barely change the Headway settings between gigs. The problem with a tuner pedal with the preamp on the amp is that it requires two more long cables. If you place the tuner between the pickup and preamp, then it obviously doesn't mute the mic.
 
#13
bassically_eli said:
My setup since getting the Headway has been to either have it on the amp for DB only gigs or to put it on my pedal board for doubling gigs. Either works just fine, but the doubling gigs are a lot of gear to haul and setup, and ends up with a lot of cables lying around on stage. I'm interested in simplifying things, not bringing yet another stand just for the preamp.
Click to expand...
I agree with not bringing more stuff. For some reason I was thinking you were a singer, and so you'd already have the mic stand. Stools and chairs are already there at most venues, and lifting a small pedalboard on and off a stool once in a while seems like less work than figuring out a way to cyborg a bass.

If the headway FX loop only applies to one channel, then headway -> tuner pedal -> amp would work. But setting up one more cable is a trade off I am willing to make for the convenience of a mute pedal, and less work in my opinion than bringing and setting up a wireless system, keeping on top of batteries, etc. You can then use the same board for doubling or DB gigs, saving time because it's "grab and go" every time (give or take the battery thing). Of course this doesn't help if you're sending the headway to FOH.
 
#17
I appreciate everyone chiming in, but I don't understand why everyone keeps stating the obvious like: I can put my preamp on a stand, or on the amp, or on a pedal board :p . Yes, I know that my preamp can sit on my amp, and no, I am not going to mount it to my tailpiece. I just thought that someone else might have a clever idea like a special bass bib or big stretchy strap or who knows what, a giant magnet or something.

These are all fine solutions and more or less what I've been doing for the last hundred gigs or so since buying the Headway. The really obvious, simple solution is to just not fool with the mic, and sometimes that's totally fine, BUT sometimes the mic is really great too. However, doing things like connecting multiple cords from bass to preamp, then setting the preamp on a music stand on a crowded stage--well, that just seems like asking for someone to damage your gear IMHO.
 
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#19
Eli, you remember I made that box using a Bartolini pre to blend my Krivo and full circle that has an enclosure about the size of a deck of cards - volume tone and blend knobs. I affixed it to the back of the fingerboard and it works ok, but James is right - any weight you add anywhere (even in a bib) is going to dampen something somewhere. Then it’s just a question of “is it worth it…?”https://www.talkbass.com/threads/ba...ic-and-piezo-blending-modified-fdeck.1633804/
 
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