ContrabassContrabass

YAMAHIKO Contrabass PickupContrabass

Creates a perfect reproduction of your performance to the audience

The pickup, when properly used, does justice to the sound of double bass. It shows the bass off as a “solo” instrument. Our excellent sound pickup system helps you bring your most delicate acoustic expressions to the audience at the highest level possible.

• Wide range of sound coverage without noise
• Close to natural acoustic sound even in bow play
• High fidelity to meet studio work
• Low noise, high fidelity of output
• Compatible as string height adjuster itself
• Because the cable can be removed, it is possible to rotate easily as an adjuster.
• User friendly setup available – one pickup or two – by variety of setup manners using sensor, adjuster, interconnecting cable, output cable, depending on your requirement
• Stable sound quality for long time use due to built-in system in the string height adjuster – over 20 years by professional players’ use
• A repair man who has installed the adjuster will be able to install this system. And, we strongly recommend the installation to be requested to such a repair man.

This pickup mounting it is strongly recommended to ask a professional instrument technician. Exactly how to install the adjuster is the same, it is safe to ask if you can order the installation of the adjuster instrument workshop.

Sample sound

These sample sounds were recorded only with Pickup.

• Pizzicato sample sound by Eddie Gomez

• Bowing sample sound by Eddie Gomez

Eddie Gomez’s comments

His interview video

SoundSound

Perfectly in “Flat”

Our pickup has particularly wide range coverage up or down into higher/lower octaves perfectly in “flat ” linear in all registers.
It is essentially important for good equalizing free from sound unbalance trouble as frequently heard by many other pickups, such as some range of sound drops or improperly emphasized.
The resonance of the instrument often makes peculiarly strong peak in some registers, which cannot be well adjusted by equalizing without deteriorating other registers around. Our pickup amounted in the bridge, the least resonant position of the instrument, can pick up the wide range of the sound as natural output even when played with the bow.

ArrangementArrange

• Double sensor system

  

  It is possible to compose of two CPS-DB-S4, one CPS-DB-OC, and one CPS-DB-ICC.
  We recommend use with two sensor system.
  Because, two sensor system brings a very well-balanced response at all positions. All the sounds are powerfully reproduced. To remove CPS-DB-ICC, it convert one sensor system. You can choose both sound of single and two sensor system.

• Single sensor system

  

  It is possible to compose of one CPS-DB-S4, one CPS-DB-ADJ, and one CPS-DB-OC. You can begin to use by a low budget. It is also possible to enhance to two sensor system later.
  If you have already had Adjuster You need one CPS-DB-S4 and one CPS-DB-OC.

InstallationInstall

Why was the Pickup set in the leg of Bridge?

Our pickup system has been developed based on an exhaustive study on how the sound of double bass is born, from strings throughout to the body.
When bass players give the vibration to the strings, its vibration goes through the bridge to the top board, which then causes the sound wave of the air in front. The lowest registers come out boosted around the inner side of top board and f-hole. The top board shows its complicated vibration manners changing its most vibrating part depending on the register, but it produces such a flat and balanced sound when heard in a bit distance from the instrument.

It is this top board that has the largest influences to the quality of the tone. In view of energy transmission, the energy given by the player firstly goes through strings, then it goes into bridge, top board, and finally it comes out as the instrument’s sound. Attention must be paid to the fact that the energy goes in opposite way as well, such as the sound loud around the instrument vibrates the top board and this energy goes up through bridge to the strings. Many players must have experienced this opposite feedback especially in loud live sessions.

The string with its nature of resonance holds the energy inside and releases it out gradually via the bridge to the body, diminishing its own vibration energy. The sound out from the body diminishes as well. This is typical sound of acoustic bass called “sustained sound” unlike the ones from the electric bass guitar. The top board has many resonance points in its larger area and exchanges energy from/to the strings all via its bridge in between. As explained above, the bridge is the main channel to and from which all the sound energy information comes and goes within the instrument. This is probably why many existing pickups are set somewhere on the bridge, the only part the most of sound information concentrates.

Our clear pickup policyPolicy

Then we continued to study on the best place where the pickup should be set in the bridge, and have reached the conclusion that the two legs of the bridge should be the specific good positions. Because almost sound information of the instrument through these two legs. And these two legs are of very simple structured and strong pole with almost no resonance. We think these positions are the best position that pickups to install.

The next selection must be made which of the mode should be picked up, “vibration force” or “vibrating acceleration”? Vibration force means the force to push the topboard, and vibrating acceleration means how the bridge legs moving by the vibration. Vibration force comes from string, and push topboard, and topboard move vibrating, and sound come out from topboard. On the other hand, vibration energy of string transmitted to topboard through bridge, and the vibration energy of topboard back transmitted to strings through bridg. From these thoughts we think this is the best way that to pickup vibration force in the two bridge legs.

We thence have succeeded to obtain a flat and wide range of the sound without peculiar self-vibrating noise.

Incidentally, or luckily some string height adjusters have been in the market for long with their setting position unexceptionally in the legs of bridge. Therefore we can naturally take advantage of this shape and our pickup system become compatible with a string height adjuster.

The inside of the string height adjuster is the excellent quality of vibration sounding piezo force sensor which brings you the perfect fidelity of natural bass sound, and this is our double bass pickup system CPS-DB.

Secret for long lifeLong life

The only obstacle for you to enjoy our pickup is the difficulties to amount it into the bridge since it requires a craftsman’s professional job. Our pickup must be the one with good endurance for long time use. We have, therefore, applied the industrial sensor technique, which inevitably requires perfect reliability and safety since its mission is to warn when any abnormal vibration happens out of the industrial machines under years of uses. Actually we could honorably inform you of the fact that our pickup has been used by a professional bass player since 1987 without troubles, and hopefully will be continuously in sound condition toward the future.

Parts selected carefully

The piezo ceramics element, the core part of the pickup, is produced in a Japanese factory with good record of high quality production under strict administrations. Every product passes the sound test and then goes into the market. The connectors and cables are also important parts to prevent the non-musical noise especially in the places with full of vibrations like in the middle of bridge. Our parts of these are originally the ones historically used in industrial vibration measuring area, and modified into the audio technical uses.