Yesterday I visited Nordstrand Pickups again, this time to retrieve the two basses I left with them recently. The fretless wenge LG-3005 was one of them. It benefited from some interesting customization by Carey Nordstrand and team. I mentioned this pending work briefly in another thread. Well it's done — and it's done well!
Since I am low on sleep and time but high on enthusiasm, I am making this thread to track information about my LG-3005's electronics (as JOME77 used his "back in the Roscoe queue" thread to track the progress of his new custom Roscoe.)
When I have finished some better documentation, I will add it to this thread. For now, here is an overview:
Originally, my LG-3005 had Bartolini pickups and a Bartolini 3-band preamp with the knobs arranged as master volume, pan, active bass/treble stack, and active midrange pull-and-push.
Now it has custom Nordstrand Big Split pickups; and it retains the Bartolini 3-band preamp, but now also has a passive tone pot and can switch between active and passive modes, with the knobs arranged as volume/volume stack, passive tone pull-and-push (for passive or active mode), active bass/treble stack, and active midrange pull-and-push. Note the Sadowsky knobs, which I like a lot for their feel, marker lines and appearance.
I think I previously described the new layout as being very rational; but that was on paper. Now that I have used it on the bass for a bit, I am sure it's true, at least for me.
For starters, the bass/treble stack and midrange knobs' position and function are unchanged from stock (no drilling was done.) Then, the volume/volume stack echoes the 'highs above, lows below' arrangement of the bass/treble stack by having the bridge pickup volume on top (the final design of the layout was Carey's innovation, within which this detail was a special request of mine.) Lastly, the passive tone pot is pulled up to switch to passive mode. To me this connotes singling out the tone pot for exclusive use. Anyway it makes sense on the bass; it just feels right.
As on a Nordy bass, the new passive tone pot on my LG-3005 is always inline. I spent a lot of time with the bass today, and I came away amazed at the range of tonal variations it can now produce. It's pretty silly, folks. Passive mode with the tone pot was the main prize for me, and the reason I ran with Carey's suggestion that we try it. But the other new features are
1. using the active bands to equalize the passive band when it is rolled off,
2. velvet darkness (no, not the Allan Holdsworth album! more on this below)
3. using the switch between passive and active modes like switching between two channels on an outboard preamp.
"velvet darkness" is my favorite example of 1. And it's something I could not do with the stock setup:
When the tone pot is fully open, frequency response is flat. Likewise the active knobs; when they are centered, response is flat. Thus when the tone pot is fully open, any changes to the active knobs' positions are sonically equivalent to the stock setup.
In this case, rolling off the treble band completely is the basis for getting the darkest sound via the onboard electronics.
With the active bands flat and the tone pot closed completely we get the classic, "vintage" passive dark sound.
But now, by closing the tone pot
and rolling off the active treble band completely, something new occurs: velvet darkness.
I think the order from least to most sonically dark is active treble rolled off, then passive tone pot closed, then both together. Each is distinct and useful.
About the pickups:
As Carey originally predicted when I contacted him about my LG-3005, he needed to make custom Big Splits for my bass so the poles would align with the strings correctly. But when they first fitted the realigned Big Splits, Carey didn't like the sound. He said "they sounded thin." So he specified a set of Big Splits with custom windings. Once those were fitted, he was happy with the sound.
I am impressed, both with Carey's commitment to excellence in each application, and with the sonic and cosmetic results. Though I am new to Roscoe Guitars and to Nordstrand Pickups, I think it's obvious why the two have the partnership they do.
(Here is Carey Nordstrand demonstrating his customizations before releasing my LG-3005 to me.)
After the first test when retrieving my customized LG-3005, and one sleep-deficient day with it, I am very happy with the results. The Big Splits sound great; perhaps more dynamic, tougher sounding, and more hi-fi than the Bartolini pickups. And the tone pot, in passive mode especially but also in use within active mode, gives me access to sonic aspects of my LG that were originally hidden. What a bass guitar!
More to come...
(You can click this photo to see a large version of it.)
Best,
Snaxster
I know I whine about that, but for me there's just this huge brick wall..."Roscoe" = Bartolini + Bartolini. The only others I've heard/played are an SKB3005 fretless with Barts + Aggie, and an SKB3005 with Nordstrand + Bartolini. Neither did it for me sonically, but I hear/read so much about others who are happy with different combinations that I'm hungry to learn more.
