Pickups & Mics for Upright Bass:  Pickups

Bass Master Rockabilly PLUS Upright Bass Pickup System

Manufactured by: K&K Sound

"Rockabilly/Country Slap Special"
Bass Master Pro RB PLUS
Double Bass Pickup — The PLUS model is the latest K&K Rockabilly Pickup system

Back in 1998 I talked with a lot of Rockabilly players about helping them to get THE SOUND. There was nothing out there that could deliver both a strong, feedback-resistant bass signal AND that retro or psychobilly-style fingerboard slap sound. Everybody had all kinds of stuff, expensive bits and lots of wires hanging off their basses trying to get the sound.

As a longtime bassist myself, I concentrated on coming up with an "out of the box" solution, and came up with a concept for a new pickup system using K&K Sound's compact two channel preamp and excellent transducers. Dieter Kaudel of K&K Sound responded with prototypes, and we came up with the first pickup system specifically created to serve the need of Rockabilly, Country, Bluegrass, and even Jazz players who need to convey the slap and other fingerboard sounds -- complete with commanding bass signal. This custom creation combines the strong, established Bass Max wing pickup with a unique fingerboard transducer, letting you EQ them separately and mix their output using a tiny two-channel preamp.

• The first component is the Bass Max wing transducer, for a powerful and distinct bass voice, with plenty of mids to cut through the mix.
  
  
• Your fingerboard slap is distinctly delivered by a purpose-built transducer, designed to be taped to the back side of your fingerboard near the top neck joint. This specially-shaped full range pickup can fit flush into the curvature and will capture as much of those percussive and warm sounds as you like. As I experimented with our prototypes, I found fascinating differences in tonal responses and resonances depending on the location of the transducer; tonal variations were apparent when placing the pickup above, at the edge, and below the area where the back of the fingerboard transitions from straight to scooped out. Extra tape is provided so you can experiment, and achieve exactly the type of response you want - from that Bill Black click to a fat thunk. Complete instructions and advice are included to help you find your own personal sweet spot! Once in place, a length of cable runs down the back of your fingerboard, through a piece of foam in the center of your bridge, joining the Bass Max at a three-conductor output jack held between a pair of strings.
  
  
• A high quality five-foot three-conductor cable is provided to convey the individual signals of each pickup to the preamp.
  
  
• The special Two Channel Preamp (included) has a belt clip, for easy availability and balancing on the job, and it measures a mere 3.5 x 2.9 x 1.3 inches. Some guys even attach theirs to the bass' tailpiece along with their wireless! (see mounting kit below) This tiny 10 ounce preamp has separate bass, midrange, treble, and gain trimmers on the inside for each channel, with volume controls on the outside. This lets you fine tune the nature of the response you want from each pickup, and then dial in just the right balance of bass signal and slap sounds. The special output options let you blend the two transducers to one output, or send the EQ'd and matched signals to separate outputs for independent external effecting or multiple amps. (See below for details).

The specialized preamp expands your output options; when you use the regular output jack, both the Bass and Slap transducers are mixed to that single output. However, when you plug a second 1/4" cable into the center jack, the Bass pickup emerges from one and the Slap from the other, allowing you to send the slap to another device, like guitar amp with reverb for special effects, to the PA board, or another amp... whatever you like. Here are examples:

• Option #1 - the preamp acts as a blender, with two completely separate sets of bass, midrange, and treble controls, and volume controls for mixing the Bridge Bass transducer and the Fingerboard Slap pickup sounds. The mono output on the left goes to your amp, PA, etc.
  
  
• Option #2 - the preamp acts as a stereo preamp, with two completely separate sets of bass, midrange, and treble controls, and volume controls, with separate outputs for the Bridge Bass transducer and the Fingerboard Slap pickup. Back in the day, before such systems existed, players would use two separate pickups, one for the bass sound and a second transducer or mic for the fingerboard slap sound. Since few bass amps have two channels, they'd often use a second, smaller guitar-type amp with reverb for the slap alone, or send it to the PA. You can emulate this, or if you want, send the separate bass and slap signals to a PA board where your PA tech can balance the two.

   

Bass Master Rockabilly PLUS
Complete instructions are included to help you optimize the pickup system to best suit your personal style. This is the Bass Master Rockabilly PLUS system.

The original "Bass Master Rockabilly System" with the two channel EQ and single output has been discontinued by K&K Sound.

Note: If you play styles other than Rockabilly, I'd recommend the Bass Master Pro rather than this dedicated system- it will give you slap as well as a wider range of tonal character for other types of music. Bob

Product Options: The Bass Master Rockabilly PLUS Pickup System includes the Bass Max and Rockabilly transducer set wired to a stereo string-mount jack, a six-foot stereo (TRS) cable, and the K&K two channel preamplifier with volume, overall gain, tone controls for each channel, and mixed output. The Transducer Network includes only the pickups, wired to a single TRS string-mount jack; if you already have a Dual Channel Pro ST preamp, or another preamp (like the DTAR Solstice, K&K Sound Quantum Blender, or Raven Labs preamp) you can purchase the pickups without having to buy an "extra" preamp. Click here for the transducer only version of this item. You can also "upgrade" the preamplifier that comes with the Bass Master Rockabilly PLUS: The K&K Sound Quantum Blender features two fully independent channels with specially tailored powerful 3-band EQ, phase reverse switches, gain and volume controls. Mixed output options in both active-balanced and 1/4" line-level format, individual outputs, stereo and mono inputs, and effect loop. The Radial Engineering PZ-Pre is a powerful and flexible acoustic preamplifier, built into a heavy-duty floor pedal unit. Featuring a parametric EQ, notch filter, high-pass filter, phase revers, mute switch, effects loop and more! Multiple outputs make it a flexible performer, and it is built like a tank. The DTAR Solstice is a high quality and extremely versatile two channel preamp mixer, brought to you by the collaboration of Rick Turner and Seymour Duncan. Its broad feature set allows you to blend virtually any type of sound source. The low-noise hybrid circuitry and internally adjustable gain from 0 to 24db make it suitable for both live and studio use.

Bass Master Rockabilly Separate Components

For the ultimate "everything's included" Rockabilly Pickup set, check out the Bass Master Rockabilly Plus main page; if you already have a bass pickup that you prefer, each piece is also available separately for your convenience.

Bass Master Pro Upright Bass Pickup System

The Bass Master Pro Combo combines the K&K Bass Max and Double Big Twin pickups, allowing you to mix them using a tiny two-channel preamplifier. With two distinctly different pickup "sounds", it makes for a flexible choice.

Rockabilly Fingerboard "Clicky" Transducer (Pickup) for Upright Bass

Your fingerboard slap is distinctly delivered by a purpose-built transducer, designed to be taped to the back side of your fingerboard near the top neck joint...

Double Bass Max - special order

This system is similar to the Bass Master Pro, but a second out-of-phase Bass Max replaces the Double Big Twin transducer...

Two Channel Pickup and Mic Sets (w/o Preamp)

These are the pickups and mics normally sold with the Bass Master Pro, Bass Master Rockabilly, and Golden Trinity setups. If you already have one of the preamps from one of these systems, you can purchase the transducer/mic sets separately...

Power Supply: K&K Sound adaptor for small preamps

This power supply is specially designed to be used with the 9v-powered preamps from K&K Sound, like the Pure Preamp, Dual Channel preamps, etc.