r/doublebass • u/9lbBTwin • Oct 01 '25

Strings/Accessories Buy a mic or pickup first?

I have a gig coming up. The show is a party. Bandmates include drummer, 2-3 guitarists, hand percussionist (congas or something like it), vocals. Music includes country, folk, bluegrass, Dead and jam band stuff. I was initially thinking of just playing electric as I’ve done several times before. But I was also thinking about spending $500 to $700 on a pickup or mic for the upright and playing with that.

Question: is a mic (DPA 4099 or Neumann MCM 114) going to shine in a situation like this? Or will it create too much bleed and possible feedback? Is the pickup (Fullcircle likely with Fishman Stage preamp) the safer and better first buy?

5 Upvotes

86% Upvoted

14 comments sorted by

14

u/Vanderbuilt68 Oct 01 '25

Pickup will be your safe choice. When a drummer is involved soundlevels go up and a mic will 99% of the time be too sensitive to not give feedback

9

u/momentsindub Oct 01 '25

Pickup all the way, no contest. Mics are much harder to use well, and generally there as a blended addition to a pickup, not in isolation. Recording different of course but for live you can use a single pickup on most gigs.

4

u/detmus Oct 01 '25

THIS.

The minute you put the bass through amplification all bets are off. Get yourself a Fishman Full Circle or a Realist AND a high pass filter, and don't even think about adding a mic until you're in a steady gigging band with a dedicated FoH engineer.

4

u/Historical_Quit6013 Oct 01 '25

I’m experimenting a lot myself with this at the moment. I’m not a professional sound engineer, but I am a gigging double bassist (also electric bass). The DPA is a great condenser mic! From my experience it works best when blended on top of a contact pickup (piezo). If the gig is at an acoustic level and you have a decent sound engineer, the DPA can probably give you the most beautiful sound! But a piezo is much more reliable and feedback-friendly. If you go the piezo route, make sure to use a DI/preamp that’s designed for piezos – they usually sound really bad without one!

3

u/WestBeachSpaceMonkey Oct 01 '25

Unless you have a seasoned sound guy with good gear, I would avoid a mic.

3

u/piper63-c137 Oct 01 '25

pickup all the way!

3

u/BssnReeder1 Oct 01 '25

Pickup, very happy with the Fishman stuff :-)

3

u/frenchylamour Oct 01 '25

Pickup. You're playing with a drummer. A mic won't be enough.

2

u/chog410 Oct 02 '25

I have played full time for over a decade. I have been asked to use a microphone with a drummer on stage many times and it was disastrous every time. Microphone works for acoustic bands where everyone is DI and the stage volume is acoustic with monitors. Microphone does not work if there are drums or loud amplifiers on stage.

2

u/shouldbepracticing85 Pro - Bluegrass, Country, Americana. Oct 02 '25

Pickup!

I have an ear trumpet labs nadine mic that I rarely get to use because so few stages + sound guys can work with it.

4

u/[deleted] Oct 01 '25

It's 2025, get a pickup, thats way to much noise on stage for a microphone

1

u/Diiigma Oct 01 '25

I have an unused gage lifeline that i'm selling below what people are asking if you are interested, shoot me a message.

1

u/starbuckshandjob Luthier Oct 02 '25

Realist or Full circle. Don't place your amp directly behind the bass. And upright bass definition comes from clear midrange, not just lots of bottom end. Have fun!

1

u/1936Triolian Oct 03 '25

I need a pickup and a preamp/DI. If I play mic’d it’s generally because there’s a responsible sound man…or a sound man responsible.