Do Darkstars hum?

[ndrly]

I was wondering, since Dark Star pickups are, in fact, single-coils, do they produce much of a hum? You know, I just want experienced users.

[Jazz Ad]

Yes they hum a bit. Nowhere near as much as a single jazz though.
If you buy a pair you can get it with reverse coils for a humbucking arrangement.

[Spoiled Grape]

I didn't have a hum issue with mine.

[Beast]

Not to hijack this thread, but how do they sound? I don't believe I've ever heard a pair of darkstars.

[BartmanPDX]

Originally Posted by Beast

Not to hijack this thread, but how do they sound? I don't believe I've ever heard a pair of darkstars.

Click here for many top-quality sound clips of a Lakland Decade with dual Dark Stars.

Enjoy the GAS it will give you.

[Beast]

After listening to those clips, I have a sudden G.A.S. attack for a Lakland with some Darkstars.


I wonder why

[Bassscholar]

SOOOOO Sic.....

[ecufunk]

so sorry but if you want a rreally jazz single coil sound it´ll come with hum.....thats the way a single coil sound the darkstar is mostly a single

[Slater]

My Lakland Skyline Glaub (which is for sale, btw) w/Darkstar has ZERO hum.

[69nites]

darkstars look like buckers to me tho I have no experience with them to really know

I just have always assumed.

[jamfree]

No hum here..but there are two in my bass.

[El-Bob]

Originally Posted by Beast

After listening to those clips, I have a sudden G.A.S. attack for a Lakland with some Darkstars.


I wonder why

yeah, i've got a similar feeling, but i just can't figure it out

[BellBottomBlues]

most of the basses I've seen with them usually have some degree of hum slightly greater (to my ears) than single coil jazzes. I can't say I like Dark Stars (sound to thin and airy to me I like some chunk o' thunk with my bass) but at least with a Jazz you can get the single coil noiseless pups...

[A9X]

Only when they don't know the lyrics.

[Saetia]

Originally Posted by A9X

Only when they don't know the lyrics.

You just made my day!

I've been wanting to try out Darkstars for quite awhile now, just need a bass that I can drop one into without to much modding.

Peace

-Benny

[Fred Hammon]

Originally Posted by BellBottomBlues

most of the basses I've seen with them usually have some degree of hum slightly greater (to my ears) than single coil jazzes. I can't say I like Dark Stars (sound to thin and airy to me I like some chunk o' thunk with my bass) but at least with a Jazz you can get the single coil noiseless pups...

This is odd...
I'm constantly hearing comments from my customers about how quiet Dark Stars are.
Still it's always a good idea to shield the cavity. If you find yourself in a dirty environment i.e bad house wiring etc. you may experience some noise.
What is all of this paranoia around the possibility of a little hum? Listen to your guitar player's rig sometime....
I've heard of several guys recording with single DSd basses in the studios with no problem.
Randy Jackson just had two custom P basses made by the First Act custom shop with a single Dark Star each.

...sound to thin and airy to me

That's the first time I've heard this one. Nobody has ever described their sound as "thin" to me before. Anything but.
Are we talking about the same pickup here?

"chunk o' thunk"?
Not from a noiseless J pickup.

[watspan]

Originally Posted by Slater

My Lakland Skyline Glaub (which is for sale, btw) w/Darkstar has ZERO hum.

I have a dpleII as well and it is dead quiet.

[Fred Hammon]

Originally Posted by watspan

I have a dpleII as well and it is dead quiet.

Me too.

Although!
When I get up right next to the amp and put my ear near the speaker I can hear some hum that goes away when I touch the strings. This is something that sometimes bothers inexperienced (and anal) recording engineers. It's a hold over from the days when all hum had to be eliminated in order to get the cleanest track but it's always at the expense of the bass's voice which ultimately means music/creativity/soul etc. This attitude should have been left behind a decade or two ago.

Look. Every pickup design is valid as is every string or bass design. It's a choice. Everything has something different to offer.
I can get ideas and inspiration from anybody and anything if there's heart and soul involved. I've heard the coolest bass lines and tone come from a cheap bass with dead strings played by an "untrained" player with heart.

[raytsmith]

I just finished building a bass with two Dark Stars and it doesn't have any noticeable hum, even with one of the pickups turned all the way down.

As far as a thin sound, I don't understand that statement, unless the pickup was mounted right up against the bridge.
I've got a couple basses with dual Bartolini humbuckers and one with Lindy Fralin jazz pickups, and the Dark Stars beat them all as far as a rich, deep sound.
I've been gigging with a Thunderfunk head lately and had to roll off two notches of low end for the DS pickups. It was way deeper and darker than what I had been used to. They are anything but thin, at least to my ear.

Ray

[BellBottomBlues]

Originally Posted by Fred Hammon

This is odd...
I'm constantly hearing comments from my customers about how quiet Dark Stars are.
Still it's always a good idea to shield the cavity. If you find yourself in a dirty environment i.e bad house wiring etc. you may experience some noise.
What is all of this paranoia around the possibility of a little hum? Listen to your guitar player's rig sometime....
I've heard of several guys recording with single DSd basses in the studios with no problem.
Randy Jackson just had two custom P basses made by the First Act custom shop with a single Dark Star each.

I don't own any Dark Star'ed basses but I know several bassists that do and pretty much all of them have hum to some degree. Dunno if its how everyone is wiring them or the pups themselves but I keep hearing more hum in them then I do in Jazz basses.
[/quote]

That's the first time I've heard this one. Nobody has ever described their sound as "thin" to me before. Anything but.
Are we talking about the same pickup here?

"chunk o' thunk"?
Not from a noiseless J pickup.

Ah, I didn't say that the J pickup gave me what I wanted either Almost all of my basses have at least one P-type pickup.

Whenever I play through a Dark Starred bass (including a USA Lakland Bob Glaub) it didn't sound very substantial at all. I felt it didn't have nearly enough response in the low/low-mids area to be of any use to me. This is why I tend to use DiMarzio Model Ones for all my bass humbucking needs.