non-P/J pups with mellow tone, fat mids hump?

bongomania · #1 08-11-2006, 08:11 PM

My FBB has a Bart M34CB in the bridge position and a M34M in the neck position. They are in the "EMG-35" soapbar size/shape. I am not enjoying certain aspects of the tone, and I wonder about other pickup options to try. (The bass is new enough that I haven't tried different strings on it yet, but I'll do that before I mess with the pups.) From what I can tell, the wood of the bass has a naturally mid-scooped tone. So I would want pups that are strong in the mids, to balance that out. These Barts are way too "hifi" and crispy for me, and rolling off the treble just leaves them sounding muffled. Plus I would like to start with a good tone with the EQ flat, rather than relying on EQ for tone.

What would be a good set of pups for a warm, mid-strong, not too crispy tone? I'm willing to have new routs done if necessary. Thx!

PilbaraBass · #2 08-12-2006, 12:59 AM

on a size 35 soapbar, IMO, you CANNOT go wrong with a Kent Armstrong.

I have one on my wishbass and LOVE IT!...I think my ultimate bass may be a precision with two kent armstrong soaps.

bongomania · #3 08-12-2006, 01:55 PM

Hey, thanks for the tip! Looking at the Armstrong website though, they make a big deal about his HB pups having a "high tech" sound, and compare them to Stingray pup (in one of the wiring modes). Does that match your experience?

PilbaraBass · #4 08-13-2006, 04:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bongomania

Hey, thanks for the tip! Looking at the Armstrong website though, they make a big deal about his HB pups having a "high tech" sound, and compare them to Stingray pup (in one of the wiring modes). Does that match your experience?

the KA soap does have a pleasant mid scoop sound...I think with a decent, versatile preamp you probably COULD get a facimile of a stingray out of it. But no, it doesn't sound like a stingray.

In parallel mode the pickup is cleaner and brighter and scooped (and here with the right preamp and EQ you can get that click and bite reminiscent of the 'ray)...I DO think they lack the "shimmer" of a big 'ray pup in parallel, however. But that's not a bad thing.

I parallel mode, the pickup is thicker with a low-mid emphasis (slightly less definition), this is a good sound for a pick or harder driving rock tunes. Definitely not a "mudbucker" by any stretch of the imagination in parallel, however.

lpjiang · #5 08-13-2006, 05:00 PM

Please let me know when you want to get rid of those Barts.