Pickups & Mics for Upright Bass:  Pickups

K&K Bass Max or Double Big Twin Pickup/Preamp Package

Manufactured by: Gollihur Music Combination Deal

K&K Sound
Double Bass Pickup/Preamp Combos

These package deals, put together by Gollihur Music, offer the convenience of one-stop shopping for your new pickup and preamp installation. Featuring one of K&K Sound's excellent pickups, coupled with the tiny yet powerful Pure Preamplifier. And we include a free preamp mounting kit so you can securely mount the preamp right to your instrument for easy access while playing!

Here is some condensed information on the Double Big Twin and Bass Max pickups; see their individual pages (linked below, in the "related items" section) for more detailed product info on each.



The Double Big Twin was my first K&K "love," and remains my personal favorite for string-oriented jazz play*, especially for the price, although the Bass Master Pro is a stiff competitor and is definitely also worth considering. There is an individual transducer for each string, so you can really fine tune response.

*let me just define which jazz: in this case I am talking the more modern style of jazz that emphasizes string sounds and clarity, not New Orleans or old-timey jazz-- for that bigger and thicker style bass, but still with plenty of definition, I'd suggest the Bass Max. Better yet, choose the Bass Master Pro for the widest palette of sounds from which to choose!

The first thing that strikes my ears with the Double Big Twin is its clarity and definition, but yet with body to it, not that typical thin piezo sound, and it's much warmer-sounding than others I've heard. I think the arco response is just wonderful and balances well with pizz, but results are probably dependent on the bass and bridge. A potential reason to consider the Bass Max, instead, is that if you get a pronounced scratchy style of arco tone due to your strings (like those Thomastik Spirocores, so wonderful for pizz but so lousy to bow), this pickup will accurately reproduce it. What you play is what you get.



The Bass Max is a compact unit designed to be wedged into the wing in the side of your bridge. It has two piezo elements in this single rubber jacket, sandwiched top and bottom, with material in between, so it senses the activity from both the top and bottom of the bridge.

The Bass Max is my most popular pickup, and rightfully so. It sounds great, with a full range response and is especially good for situations where you'd need to temporarily mount or switch the pickup between basses (a 30 second job). For the many different styles I play, I have come to prefer the Bass Max's versatile character; though the Double Big Twin is absolutely wonderful for those who specialize in straight-ahead jazz.

Compared to the Double Big Twin, the Bass Max is very clean, with the string sounds not quite as "defined" -- and that's not a bad thing, but a different one. It is still crystal clear, just not as 'stringy.' This pickup also has the same warmth, and that is generally unusual for piezos. It also has a smoother arco response than the DBT -- more bridge than string sound, since there is more wood between it and where the strings meet the bridge. Please consider that if your bridge is shorter than the usual style 3/4 size bridge, such as the type that has very long legs and a short top section, the Bass Max may not be the best choice. If there is a very short distance from the top to the bridge wing, there may be insufficient wood for the strings' sound to diffuse, and the sound of the two closest strings may be louder than the other pair.

If you lean towards bluegrass or rockabilly, or want a slightly thicker, more mid-rangy sound, I'd go with a Bass Max -- especially if you switch to arco a good deal. The Double Big Twin has a more "scooped", hi-fi style of sound (which I sometimes preferred for jazz on the Juzek), where the Bass Max had more midrange and a little less string.



Either package also includes the Pure Preamp, a perfect match to the K&K Pickups. Impedance buffering helps provide a more tonally balanced sound, and a specially designed EQ has a 2.5 octave midrange control centered at 2500hz plus bass (120hz) and treble (8kHz) controls. This very clean circuit has gain, active (+/- 20dB) bass and treble controls, an internal gain trim pot for 1x to 10x preamplification. Just a tiny bit over 8 ounces with battery.

The mounting kit includes a quality 12" cable with right angle connectors, a piece of vibration-isolating foam, a hook & loop strap, and illustrated instructions for quickly (and NON-PERMANENTLY) mounting the Power Pack Preamp to the rear surface of your tailpiece, putting the controls right where you can reach them - and making for a very clean, inconspicuous installation.

	All pickup, preamp, and system orders come with complete instructions PLUS a two page insert I've written. It includes installation advice and tips for getting the most out of your pickup and preamp. There are also comments for effectively evaluating your sound as well as suggestions for fighting the feedback monster if it rears its ugly head.

Preamp Mounting Kits for small K&K Preamps

A custom mounting kit for the K&K belt-clip style preamplifiers. Available in mono and stereo versions, includes a 1 foot dual-right-angle cable...

K&K Sound Bass Max Upright Bass Pickup (transducer)

The Bass Max is a compact, dual-transducer pickup unit designed to be wedged into the wing in the side of your bridge. Big sound, small price!

K&K Sound Double Big Twin Upright Bass Pickup

The Double Big Twin was my first K&K "love," and its very string-oriented sound can be just the ticket for modern jazz play where you want to favor fingerboard and string sounds...

K&K Sound 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.

Schatten Design RB-1 and RB-1A Player Upright Bass Pickups

The RB-1 Bass Pickup from Schatten Design is similar in concept to the popular Bass Max from K&K, and is available with or without a small on-board preamp...

Power Supply: K&K Preamp AC Adaptor for Compact Preamps

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