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SECURE SHOPPING
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Pickups & Mics for Upright Bass:
Pickups
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Krivo Humbucking Magnetic Upright Bass Pickup (includes free Jack Mount) |
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Manufactured by:
Krivo Pick-ups
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 Krivo Pick-Ups is a small, homegrown company building handmade pickups in the USA (Portland, Oregon).
Their humbucking bass pickup is a very good alternative to piezo-based pickups for players who play in high-volume situations, or who have stage setups that are particularly susceptible to feedback problems. A magnetic pickup is largely unaffected by the sort of vibration that causes "rumbling" or "humming" feedback with piezo pickups, and also doesn't pick up sound out of the air, so it doesn't suffer from the "screeching" feedback that microphones often do.
 Krivo has developed (and continued to refine) this pickup over the last several years, and improvements have made it sound "woodier" and less electric, as well as silenced the noise levels and electrical hum. This newest model, first released in late 2010, features a special combination of ceramic and neodymium magnets for clarity, warmth, and much higher output than the original Krivo pickup. It also uses easily adjustable (hex wrench) pole pieces to easily achieve even string response. And the current pickup is virtually noise-free.
Since it's a magnetic pickup, no external preamp is needed, since most (pretty much all) bass amps are designed to accept magnetic pickup input with no additional "buffering" needed. A preamp certainly could be used, if only to provide useful tone-shaping - and a handy volume control on/near the bass - but it certainly isn't required.
What the heck are "Optimized Microphonics"?
For most magnetic pickups (for electric guitar or bass), "microphonic" isn't usually a good thing. It was more common in the old days - if something inside the pickup was free to vibrate (like windings that are a little loose), and was attached to the magnets in the pickup, it could vibrate in concert with sound waves that hit it. Because of this, on some old basses and guitars, you can shout into a pickup and actually hear your voice faintly through the amp, as if through a microphone - hence the name.
Nowadays, most pickups are fully "potted" (soaked/filled with epoxy, wax, or some other material) to prevent this sort of thing. However, Krivo - based on extensive "trial and error" development - specially hand-winds each coil with a controlled variation of both fused and loose windings. Each individual coil is then hand "sealed" (rather than soaked or potted) in a special mixture. Krivo thereby uses controlled microphonics to actually encourage a certain amount of this electro-acoustic effect, which (I can only assume) is what creates a less "sterile" or "electric" element to the sound.
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The drawback (usually) for magnetic pickups is that they usually sound more "electric" since they are getting their signal directly from the strings; they're not really putting the wood (and resonant cavity) of your upright into the sonic equation. However, Krivo has taken steps to provide a more woody, fat tone from the pickup. It uses wooden casing parts, custom "scatterwound" coils, and what Krivo calls "Optimized Microphonics."
(more info )
These features, and the pickup's overall design, all combine to create a tone that is less "electric" and a good bit more "organic" than one would expect from a magnetic pickup.
Side benefit: It also provides a bit more sound from the fingerboard, meaning that rockabilly slap players will even get a bit more of the fingerboard "click" sound that so many of them are after. And if you couple this pickup with a fingerboard transducer, your sound will really begin to click!
The big, round sound from the Krivo pickup can work particularly well for slapstyle, rockabilly, bluegrass, Latin music, and modern jazz. It's not the most natural sound you can get with a pickup, but it could possibly be the most natural sound you can get with a magnetic pickup.
- Entirely hand built
- Special Combination of Neodymium and Ceramic magnets for high output and clarity
- Premium Mogami cable inside and out
- High-quality REAN (by Neutrik) connectors
- Hand-fed scatterwound coils are fully Humbucking
- Proprietary "Optimized Microphonics" winding process picks up Slap fingerboard resonances while maintaining feedback resistance
- Easy non-invasive mounting with included 3M dual lock velcro and quick release jack mount
- Designed to match most ebony or ebonized fingerboards; profiled to match the curvature for an almost "seamless" look
- NEW! Includes Gollihur Music Tailpiece Mount for output jack
Note that these pickups are hand-crafted, and their appearance is, as such, pleasantly "imperfect."
 It's also important to note that you must use strings with considerable magnetic (ferrous) content in their core (not just their windings) in order to use a magnetic pickup like the Krivo.
| Strings reported to be GOOD for magnetic pickup use:
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Strings reported to be NOT GOOD for magnetic pickup use:
- Pirastro Obligatos (minimal metallic content)
- LaBella Supernils (no metallic content)
- All Innovation Strings (no metallic content)
- Gut strings (insufficent or no metallic content)
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Please email me with your own string experiences so I can share them with other players.
Custom String Spacing?
Krivo can custom manufacture their pickup to suit a smaller (or larger) string spacing; however, this is custom work and there is an upcharge for the hand-machining and finishing required for this. Additionally, there is usually 2-3 weeks of build-up time (depending on current production) and no returns can be accepted for custom pickups. Want to order one? Contact us directly for a quote. |
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$189.00
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Additional Photos of this Product
Simply "mouse over" the small thumbnail image to see the full-sized version.
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David Gage Realist Docking Station
 The NEW Realist Docking Station is a tailpiece-mountable jack solution for those who: a.) Don't like string-mounted jacks, and b.) Would like to add a volume control on their bass...
$89.99
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Schaller Magnetic Upright Bass Pickup
If this isn't the classic magnetic upright bass pickup I don't know what is! If you've ever seen one of the early (and reissue) Framus Triumph electric upright basses, you'll see a shiny Schaller on it...
$129.00
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Jargar Upright Bass Strings
Jargar bass strings are handmade in Denmark; they are a steel string with a decidedly non-metallic tone - darker, almost gut-like, with an "easy-on-the-hands" feel. Available in Medium, Forte (Heavy) and Dolce (Light)...
From $131.00
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Thomastik SuperFlexible Upright Bass Strings
Superflexible strings feature a multi-strand steel core with chromesteel winding offering superior flexiblity and tonal response... 
From $155.99
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Here is what some of our customers think about this product:
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I just wanted to say thank you for the Krivo pick up. It's loud, no feedback, and it's awesome. Thanks again for sending it so fast. It was a pleasure doing business with you.
—Drew A (May 2012)
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