Need a mic for a homemade string bass

[Bob DeVore]

Hi. A friend referred me here to look for a microphone that can be suitable for a string bass I built. I used a large calabash gourd for the body, a thin wood panel for the top, and nylon strings. I can get a decent signal using a kick-drum mic with phantom power, but this microphone has to be placed so carefully that I have to keep the instrument completely still while playing. I also tried a regular stick-on piezo made for acoustic guitars, but it seems to need a preamp to get a strong signal, and it picks up a lot of noise, possibly because the lead from the pickup is really long and seems to pick up any little movement of the long cable. I think your contact microphone might be the right solution for my gourd bass, but here’s the thing: I know a lot more about acoustic sound than I know about electronics. I feel like working with a kit-style contact mic might help me understand how to work out my issues and continue my weird experiments in bass.
Thanks in advance if you can help, but even if you can’t I really appreciate Zeppelin’s support for builders of sound machines.

Bob “Zilla” DeVore

[brach]

Bob,
I’m so sorry that I missed this post until now. I’m out of town right now on vacation, so I’m a little distracted.
Anyway, thanks for asking about a pickup for your bass. The Coratado MkII kit sounds like it might be a good fit for you. You might consider modifying it by replacing C1 and C2 with bigger caps…try 12 or 15nF, to allow better low frequency response…it will pick up low harmonics better. I wouldn’t suggest getting much larger than 22nF or so or it will start sounding too big and muddy in the lower frequencies.
Also, you might want to try to add another piezo sensor in parallel to the first one (just make sure they use both the same wiring configuration or you’ll get phase issues). That way you can add one to somewhere around each side of the bridge to get a better frequency pickup range.
In my experience, this should work pretty well for your bass, as long as there aren’t a lot of things rattling around inside of it. Good luck!
-Brach

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