EMG HZ vs. Barts

dvh · #1 09-20-2006, 04:57 PM

Hi All,

The more I play my recently acquired Schecter Custom 4 the less I'm certain I like the stock EMG HZ's (note: passive pick-ups with the active EMG EQ).

I think I have read about some who've replaced the EMG's with Bartolini soapbars.

Two questions:
1) What do you think of the EMG HZ's?

2) Is it possible to swap for the Barts and can the same EMG pre-amp remain?

ok 3) Would you recommend such a swap?

luknfur · #2 09-21-2006, 02:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dvh

Hi All,

The more I play my recently acquired Schecter Custom 4 the less I'm certain I like the stock EMG HZ's (note: passive pick-ups with the active EMG EQ).

I think I have read about some who've replaced the EMG's with Bartolini soapbars.

Two questions:
1) What do you think of the EMG HZ's?

2) Is it possible to swap for the Barts and can the same EMG pre-amp remain?

ok 3) Would you recommend such a swap?

FWIW:

Those EMG's I found too hard to get a tone from. I had a Schec with Bart M34C's in it and they were dark as a dungeon through a preamp. Caps with a passive harness cleared that up. Rarely is there incompatibility between aftermarket preamps and pickups because they're inherently designed to be flexible in application. In fact I never ran into an instance with Bart, Aggie, or EMG pres with any other makers pickups.

I would look into active EMGs.

Go to harmonycentral.com user reviews and read reviews on that bass. There should be plenty of guys who've swapped out since that's a popular bass.

dvh · #3 09-21-2006, 04:32 PM

Sorry, but what do you mean by "caps with a passive harness"

Also, you're saying the M34C's were too dark without that modification?

If I go for the active EMG's which ones would you recommend?

Thanks!

luknfur · #4 09-21-2006, 05:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dvh

Sorry, but what do you mean by "caps with a passive harness"

Also, you're saying the M34C's were too dark without that modification?

If I go for the active EMG's which ones would you recommend?

Thanks!

Capacitors used with just pots/no preamp. Not into the technical side but for whatever reason, I don't recall ever seeing a capacitor wired into a preamp like is standard for passive tone controls - and I've had a bunch of preamps. So that I can't address that beyond your specific question.

What I do know is I wired two Bart preamps up to the M34C's and they were as dark as ran straight to the jack - too dark to be of use.

12bass · #5 09-21-2006, 07:14 PM

My Pedulla Rapture 5 came with a Bartolini C type pickup. I'll agree that they are muted on the top end compared with other pickups, but I wouldn't say that they are unusable. I did a fair amount of gigging and recording with the C pickup. I found that pickup to have a pleasing voice in the lower mids. Can't say that the Q-Tuner I replaced it with lacks highs....