Gear Hunter

K+K Bass Pickup

Description

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.

A purpose-built "clicky" transducer delivers your fingerboard slap. It's 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 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.


Includes our exclusive Gollihur Music tipsheet to get the most out of your purchaseK&K's complete instructions are included, and we include several additional tip sheets to help you optimize the pickup system to best suit your personal style.