EMG J's good for a 5'er?

[NicJimBass]

Hey all,

I just put a set of EMG J pups in a custom bass I put together, and played it for the first time last night. I don't know if it's anything to worry about just yet, but through my practice amp, the low string (in my case, tuned G# instead of B) sounds almost like it's quieter than the other strings. It may be a presence issue, as when i listen really closely, the volume doesn't seem to be that far off, but the other strings seem to jump out, whereas the G# string seems a little muddy, for lack of better term. Has anyone else used these pups in a 5'r? Is it my amp, or should I start worrying?

[ibz]

I don't know what amp exactly you're using, but small practice amps tend to not be able to produce the low Freq of the B string as well since they have small speakers loaded into small enclosures. And tuning the B down a couple steps to G# probably doesn't help this situation.

Pherhaps try the bass through a bigger amp like your friends or something to see if it's just the amp you're using and maybe not the EMG's after all.

I've played multiple 5 string EMG equipped basses and the B string was punchy and tight like the other strings, from my experience.

[JackANSI]

Yeah I put these in my BBN5. Same issue.. the J-sets were meant for a 4-string unless labeled for 5 so the pole and freq response doesn't quite make it to the 5th string.

Make sure the pickups are centered evenly first (the neck pickup is slightly smaller than the bridge), then raise the pickups so that the string just bearly doesn't touch the pickup when you hit a note on the highest fret. (I used 5-pieces of paper stacked as a "feeler" guage). These two things helped on my setup greatly

Eventually I'll swap out the J-sets for something more suited to 5 strings, but about 2 weeks after putting in the J-set I just built a preamp into the bass and centered the lows around a low D. Works ok now.

[DavidRavenMoon]

EMG doesn't make a 4 or 5 string Jazz pickup... As long as you are in the maximum string width, and EMG J will work on a 5 string because they use a single blade polepiece. I had a set in my Ibanez Sound gear. The thing is it has to be a fairly narrow 5'er like the Ibanez. But the string balance was fine.

I find sting brand really matters for low B's. I've tried a lot of 5 string sets, and some low B's are just awful. Just rubbery thuddy and dull.

I like D'Addario strings. GREAT low B!

[Roland777]

Originally Posted by DavidRavenMoon

EMG doesn't make a 4 or 5 string Jazz pickup... As long as you are in the maximum string width, and EMG J will work on a 5 string because they use a single blade polepiece. I had a set in my Ibanez Sound gear. The thing is it has to be a fairly narrow 5'er like the Ibanez. But the string balance was fine.

I find sting brand really matters for low B's. I've tried a lot of 5 string sets, and some low B's are just awful. Just rubbery thuddy and dull.

I like D'Addario strings. GREAT low B!

So a .145 low B tuned to A will stand out? Or atleast not get lost in between the other strings?

[DavidRavenMoon]

Originally Posted by Roland777

So a .145 low B tuned to A will stand out? Or atleast not get lost in between the other strings?

It also depends on the tension and tone of the string... different makers construct their strings different ways. For instance I used to use Boomers on my basses before I switched to 5 string. So one day I bought a 5 string set to try out, and I felt the low B was really sloppy feeling. It just seemed loose and dead. I didn't like it at all. They weren't very bright strings either... they sounded the same as the 4 month old D'Addario XL set I replaced.

Now if that's the sound you're after, cool. But I needed more presence.

I would think a .145 D'Addario would work great. I use a .130 low B, and I don't have any problem tuning that down to A... although a larger gauge would work better.

[JackANSI]

Originally Posted by DavidRavenMoon

EMG doesn't make a 4 or 5 string Jazz pickup... As long as you are in the maximum string width, and EMG J will work on a 5 string because they use a single blade polepiece. I had a set in my Ibanez Sound gear. The thing is it has to be a fairly narrow 5'er like the Ibanez. But the string balance was fine.

I find sting brand really matters for low B's. I've tried a lot of 5 string sets, and some low B's are just awful. Just rubbery thuddy and dull.

I like D'Addario strings. GREAT low B!

<clearification>
both the pickups aren't the same size, hence the reason they sell the LJ seperate, to replace the smaller neck pickup in 5 (or wide) string installs... informally known as a set for 5-strings... </clearification>

[DavidRavenMoon]

Originally Posted by JackANSI

<clearification>
both the pickups aren't the same size, hence the reason they sell the LJ seperate, to replace the smaller neck pickup in 5 (or wide) string installs... informally known as a set for 5-strings... </clearification>

Or, for use when you are doing a P-J set.

[Roland777]

Originally Posted by DavidRavenMoon

Or, for use when you are doing a P-J set.

Thanks for the previous advice. Check Strings>"Favourite 5-strings?" - I've got a more detailed post there if you care to drop in and help me just a lil' bit more.

[NicJimBass]

I'm going to try it through my normal rig tonight. I think I may have been a little too paranoid about it. I think it may be the amp I use at home, although, my SR5 sounds just fine through it, tuned the same and all.

To answer other questions about strings, I've been using .145 strings for the G# string, and it sounds fine, but I'm looking to go thicker. I like nice tight strings...

[Roland777]

Got any soundclips with that low G#? I wanna hear it.

[NicJimBass]

Actually, my band just cut about 6 tracks last week, and I've got an unmixed demo. I don't hit the G# too often, but I think I do for at least one song. I'll try to post it this afternoon sometime.

[NicJimBass]

Here's the link to download the track: http://www.file.sc/a6a361/Track06.cda.
The track is called 'Forgotten Sons'. Here are the deets:
I recorded both direct and with a mic'd cab. I ran my StingRay 5 thru either a Monster cable or my X-Wire wireless (can't remember which) into a dbx 160xt and into my GK 1001RB-II, out of which came the direct signal. The GK powered my Ampeg 8x10, which was mic'd (with what I don't know).

Now, as I said, my SR5 is tuned G#, C#, F#, B, E. I barely ever hit the actual G#, but if you listen closely to this track, at around 1:15- 1:16ish, I hit it. Just listen to that part throughout the song, as I didn't change much from section to section. Hope this helps!

Nick

[Roland777]

Not to be picky, mate, but it's a CDA-file. In other words useless. You've gotta upload the audio itself.

[NicJimBass]

Oh.... my bad. I'll try to get something up this afternoon.

[sunbeast]

My first 5- string bass had the same problem with the B string (or low string in your case). I tried everything to try to solve the problem- raising the pickup a bunch on the bass side, new strings, etc... I never really was happy with it, I got by using flatwounds for the rest of the strings and a roundwound B string. I recently bought a G&L L2500 that had a similar problem until I tried some DR Steel Lo-Riders, and now there is perfect balance between strings (not to mention that DR strings just seem to sound amazing period!). I wouldn't be surprised if my issue really came down to my old bass, it wasn't a great bass by any means- and it seems to take a little more work/ quality bass to have a decent B string. The G&L, by the way, has the best B string now that I've ever played!

Karl Zickrick

[edwinhurwitz]

My first 5 string, built in 1985, used EMG pickups and after dealing with the fact that the earliest EMGs had the preamps in the middle of the pickup (thus no A), I struggled with this for almost 20 years, swapping out strings, bridges, etc. Finally, I routed it out for bigger pickups and put some EMG 40DCs in there and the problem was solved. While EMGs don't have polepieces and can handle 5 strings, the spacing has to be pretty damn narrow to fit in the pickup field. If you don't want to rout out the bass, there are lots of other 5 string pickups that will work well.

Edwin

[DavidRavenMoon]

Originally Posted by edwinhurwitz

My first 5 string, built in 1985, used EMG pickups and after dealing with the fact that the earliest EMGs had the preamps in the middle of the pickup (thus no A), I struggled with this for almost 20 years, swapping out strings, bridges, etc. Finally, I routed it out for bigger pickups and put some EMG 40DCs in there and the problem was solved. While EMGs don't have polepieces and can handle 5 strings, the spacing has to be pretty damn narrow to fit in the pickup field. If you don't want to rout out the bass, there are lots of other 5 string pickups that will work well.

Edwin

That's very odd. I have an Ibanez Soundgear 5'er that I bought back in '87, and I replaced the pickups with EMG LJ5's. I didn't have any string balance problem.

I wonder if the older EMG J's used a split coil design like the DiMarzio J's? That would stop your A from getting picked up!

The location of the preamp doesn't matter. These days they are at the back of the pickup, which is a piece of PC board.

DC's are some of my least favorite pickups... I sold all mine. Very harsh sounding.

[edwinhurwitz]

Originally Posted by DavidRavenMoon

That's very odd. I have an Ibanez Soundgear 5'er that I bought back in '87, and I replaced the pickups with EMG LJ5's. I didn't have any string balance problem.

I wonder if the older EMG J's used a split coil design like the DiMarzio J's? That would stop your A from getting picked up!

The location of the preamp doesn't matter. These days they are at the back of the pickup, which is a piece of PC board.

DC's are some of my least favorite pickups... I sold all mine. Very harsh sounding.

I don't think it's that weird. The soundgear basses, as I recall, have a pretty narrow string spacing that would be easily covered by the LJ5s.

The oldest EMGs I had even had holes in the cases where the polepieces would be! those sounded great!

I think that the oldest ones were split and the preamp was mounted between the coils. If you took some magnetic paper and put it on top of the pickup, you could see the lack of magnetism right there!

Right after I discovered this, my luthier talked to EMG and they were at that time getting this resolved. I think that initially the thought was that if they built the preamp in between the coils, they could utilize the edge of the pickups to get the full swing of the low E string.

I mentioned in another thread the Fodera 5 that I didn't get (getting this bass instead) and it had modified pedal steel pickups. Back in those days, 5 string pickups were far and few between.

We've come a long way!

I agree that the DC pickups aren't optimum, but I'd much rather have the full range of the instrument than not.

Edwin

[DavidRavenMoon]

Originally Posted by edwinhurwitz

We've come a long way!

Yes we have!

Originally Posted by edwinhurwitz

I agree that the DC pickups aren't optimum, but I'd much rather have the full range of the instrument than not.

I went a different route... I just made my own pickups.