I've hated playing bass through a pickup since the first time I ever tried. I still shudder thinking of the sound of my Underwood pickup through the Peavey keyboard amp in the high school band room. The brittle, nasal tone was nothing like I was used to hearing when I practiced (not that I did too much of that back then!) or the basses that I heard on recordings.

Pickups have come a long way since then, and it seems a majority of players have settled down with their Realist or Full Circle. I've used (and sometimes still use) both of those pickups, depending on which bass I'm playing or what the room/amp/drummer situation is like. (And I'll admit as I mature I even occasionally find the charm in that classic Underwood sound.)

But the Ghost of Bad Tone Past lingers in most options, because they are all based on the same piezo technology. While the pickups sound noticeably different from each other in terms of EQ, there is a fundamental tone — flat and squashed, with notes of ceramic and rubber-band — that runs through them.

Of course, there are also mics. Microphones work great in a lot of situations, but not all. They're not practical in small room where you need some sound reinforcement, but don't have a PA. And even on a big stage in a good room, issues like feedback, bleed, and boomy-ness can be hard to deal with, especially if you don't have a great engineer.

My Solution