At the heart of the pick-up is a piezo crystal sandwiched
within a copper foil. This is connected via a lightweight coaxial
cable and black nylon coated standard jack socket to your cable
and thus to your amplifier.
How do I fit The Realist?
Fitting The Realist is incredibly easy and should
take only a few minutes to get up and running.
In brief the copper sandwich piezo is slid under the bass (E-string
side) foot of the bridge, the cable and the jack socket fit under
the G string ball end. The installation is relatively easy and
should take only a few minutes to get up and running.
I'd like to know a little bit more on how you fit
The Realist
The Realist does come with clear and easy to understand
installation instructions.
Here is a summary:
Fit Jack: To fit the
jack - remove the G string
from the instrument and thread the coloured winding end through
the holes of the looped plastic jack "tie-down" - starting
with the hole on the looped side.
Next thread the G-string back through the tailpiece in the normal
way and continue with the string installation. With the string
still below pitch - slide the jack through the loop so that it
locks into place. The jack's socket should point down towards
the end-pin.
Fit Element: To fit
the Element - you need
to slightly lift up the bass side foot by reducing the tension
on the bridge. First you need to lay your instrument with its
back on the floor. Next loosen the two bottom strings (E&A)
and slide them away from the top of the bridge. Reduce the tension
on the two top strings (G&D) sufficiently to allow the bass
side foot to be raised slightly with one hand. With the other
hand place the element centrally under the bass foot with the
wire extending from the lower inside corner. Place the E&A
strings back into their respective bridge notches and bring all
four strings back up to tension. That's it. Job done.
Will it fit my instrument?
Yes - The Realist is designed to fit any acoustic
bass bridge. To maximize performance it is essential that the feet
of the bridge have been cut properly by a competent luthier so
as to conform to the exact contour of the instrument table.
What about the sound?
With The Realist fitted you can really "dig-in" to your
playing. Dynamics are relatively easy to produce and when "attack" is
required - say for funk and slap playing - the pickup copes incredibly
well. For those of you wanting a pickup for ballads and other softer
styles of playing - the pickup also sounds great.
Is a pre-amplifier required?
No - it is not necessary although some players may
well opt to use one.
Any comments from the makers?
The Realist acoustic transducer was designed by
Ned Steinberger in collaboration with New York bass specialist
David Gage. On the product info pages of his web site Gage comments "Recognizing
the limitations of microphones and traditional piezo transducers,
Ned and I decided that for the working musician things could
and should be better. We felt a transducer should be equal in
its ability to recreate an acoustic pizzicato and arco sound
through commonly used amplifiers. Furthermore, this pick-up had
to be simple, dependable and affordable. After years of consideration
and tests, we have come up with a system that achieves all of
these goals. We understand the hours of practice it takes to
draw your sound out of your instrument, and with this pick up
we feel that your voice can be heard more accurately through
an amplifier. Both recording engineers and professional musicians
have been startled by the great tone and even response when playing
pizzicato and arco without having to play with your controls."
What about a few comments from Ned Steinberger.
On the Gage web site Ned talks about the extensive
testing and evaluation done during the development of The Realist
and his appreciation towards both Gage and the many fine players
that assisted in the evaluations. The most interesting part is
when he gets down to the nitty-gritty of what makes The Realist
work so well. Steinberger comments "Three elements combine to
give The Realist the exciting tone that has so many players raving.
The first is finding the right structure within the piezo crystal
to respond optimally to the acoustic resonance of the instrument
itself".... "Second, placing the transducer under the
foot of the bridge puts it exactly where the sound is transferred
from the strings to the sound board. This is definitely where
the action is, and the rich, powerful response, both pizzicato
and bowed, testifies to this simple fact. The output level directly
from the pickup is unusually high, and as a result the signal
to noise ratio is also very high - so no pre-amp or other battery
powered gear is necessary. Just plug it in! The copper foil sandwich
construction is the third key element in the system. It provides
total shielding to eliminate hum from light fixtures and other
electrical or radio interference. It is flexible enough to conform
to the curve of the top of the instrument, so that the full pressure
of the bridge is concentrated evenly onto the piezo surface".
Are there any endorsees?
Yes David Gage regularly advertised in The Double
Bassist magazine;
In issues No 31 (Winter 2004) and No 34 (Autumn
2005) there is a half page add with pictures of bassists McBride,
Mraz and Washington standing together that runs 'Three Masters. Three Styles.
One Pick-up. Bassists Christian McBride, George Mraz and Peter
Wahington all agree: "The Realist is acoustically true, easy
to install and always delivers - whatever the venue, whatever the
style. Put simply, it is the best sounding pick-up on the market,
period." '
In The Double Bassist issues No 42 (Autumn
2007) and No 43 ( Winter 2007) there is a quarter page advert
showing The Realist fitted to an instrument with an endorsement
from John Patitucci that reads; "The
most natural sounding pick-up I've ever heard".
Can you give me an overall summary?
The Realist is considered by many of the world's
top Jazz players to be "the double bass pick-up".
The reason for this "universal appeal" is because it
just works so well with a wide range of acoustic basses and produces
a good range of sound for both arco and pizz playing. Additionally
- the pick-up has a high feedback threshold, it is relatively easy
to set up and the price for this awesome amount of flexibility
and adaptability is incredibly reasonable.
Stats:
Dimensions of copper foil: 5.4 x 3.2 x 0.1cm (ave)
Weight: 40gms (ave)
