Pickups & Mics for Upright Bass:  Pickups

Double Big Twin Upright Bass Pickup

Manufactured by: K&K Sound

Double Big Twin
Double Bass Pickup

The Double Big Twin was my first K&K "love," and can be a great choice for string detail oriented jazz play*, especially for the price, although there are a lot of other pickups worth considering, depending on your personal desire for "the sound". As you can see, there is an individual transducer for each string, and their close location to the string/bridge contact point means heavy string emphasis and less "wood" in the sound. Position changes in relation to each string does not make a huge difference, so don't expect to make up for a weak or more powerful string by positioning the transducers. I particularly like the Double Big Twin's contribution to the K&K two pickup system, the Bass Master Pro (see below), since blending it in with the Bass Max allows you to increase or decrease string emphasis.
*let me just define which jazz: in this case I am talking the more modern style of jazz that emphasizes string sounds and clarity, not New Orleans or old-timey jazz-- for that bigger and thicker style bass, but still with decent string definition, I'd suggest the Bass Max or Fishman Full Circle. Better yet, choose the Bass Master Pro, which combines the Bass Max and Double Big Twin with a two channel blender, for the widest palette of sounds from which to choose.

Installation is easy (more about that later) using a thin adhesive film, and the discs are about 3/4", with a slight lift where the wire attaches. They are pretty thick -- I don't think you could bend them out of shape without a lot of effort. The individual wires are heavy, not thin or brittle, leading to a neatly shrink-wrapped cable. The output jack is on a clip that mounts on any pair of strings above the tailpiece.

So how does it sound??

The first thing that strikes my ears with the Double Big Twin is its clarity and definition, but yet with body to it, not that typical thin piezo sound, and it's much warmer-sounding than others I've heard. This unit captures the nuances of the string bass, so you hear the sound of the instrument's strings, not the pickup. Not the fat, kinda blurry sound I was used to with earlier pickups, but the more accurate sound of the string, its interaction with the fingerboard, capturing sustain, vibrato, and... oops! better watch the intonation with this baby! Perhaps it's the proximity of the pickup to the string, and so the signal/noise ratio, but more likely the quality of the piezo element itself -- these K&K folks have been at it for almost fifteen years, and I guess they know how to build special purpose transducers. Even after I was sold on this pickup, and moved it to my other bass, I was truly surprised at just how well the distinctly different personalities of the Juzek carved bass and Kay plywood came through using the same pickup. The K&K Double Big Twin sounds like your bass, not just any bass.

What about arco?

I almost didn't buy this pickup because their literature didn't recommend it for bowing, but instead suggested the Bass Max. Surprising, because I think the arco response is just wonderful and balances well with pizz, but results are probably dependent on the bass and bridge. A potential reason to consider the Bass Max, instead, is that if you get a pronounced scratchy style of arco tone due to your strings (like those Thomastik Spirocores, so wonderful for pizz but so lousy to bow), this pickup will accurately reproduce it. What you play is what you get.

Installation

The unit comes with what could hardly be called double-faced tape -- it's more like a loosely organized layer of adhesive. The ultra-thin layer of adhesive holds the transducer head, and if you don't like where it is at this point, you can move it. If the adhesive gets funky, roll up the sticky debris with your finger and start anew. However, it has great holding power, eventually becoming semi-permanent. Want some more details about installation and positioning? I include a copy of my Personal Notes with every pickup and preamp purchase, that includes my experiences and advice. It can give you further insight on installation and more.



If you prefer a slightly thicker and more balanced sound, with more mids, but still with all the definition you need, the Bass Max may be a better choice, although its character is similar in some ways -- see its page for further information and photos. And the Bass Master Pro offers sort of a combination approach, so you can have your cake and eat it, too. In the interest of full disclosure, I originally kept a Bass Max on my Kay (sees mostly country, folk, and bluegrass use) and the carved Juzek bass used to have a Double Big Twin on it. Since I found I preferred a wider range of sounds on the Juzek, I first installed a Bass Master Pro and love the extra flexibility it offered. As of 2004 (times and gigs change!) I'm gigging with the Golden Trinity/Bass Max system on my Juzek, as I am mostly playing at lower to moderate volume levels.

Do you want fries, I mean, a preamp with that?? I STRONGLY recommend you use an appropriate preamp with the Double Big Twin for the best results, or you may not be a happy camper. Read details on my FAQ (link below) Do You Need a Preamp? page - your amp may already be compatible or you may already have a box that can do the job. This is important, no marketing BS, some pickups, like the Double Big Twin, must have the proper input impedance (1 megohm or higher) to sound as intended.

K&K Makes the Pure Preamp, which has a three band EQ as opposed to the 2 band EQ on the K&K Model 97 and other units -- I suggest the three band unit for use with the Double Big Twin. Of course, if you don't need the EQ flexibility at your fingertips and your amp has extensive EQ capabilities, it doesn't matter that much. I offer a Double Big Twin/preamp combo deal as well.

K&K Sound Pickup/Preamp Packages

Combine the Pure Preamp from K&K with either the Bass Max or Double Big Twin URB pickup - and get a free preamp tailpiece mounting kit and cable!

Bass Max Upright Bass Pickup (transducer)

The Bass Max is a compact, dual-transducer pickup unit designed to be wedged into the wing in the side of your bridge. Big sound, small price!

Bass Master Pro Upright Bass Pickup System

The Bass Master Pro Combo combines the K&K Bass Max and Double Big Twin pickups, allowing you to mix them using a tiny two-channel preamplifier. With two distinctly different pickup "sounds", it makes for a flexible choice.

Fishman BP-100 Upright Bass Pickup

The BP100 is a legacy pickup that brought some clean and distinct string bass sounds to us back when dark and tubby bass ruled the world...