Nordstrand DC and ...

OneMan · #1 03-06-2010, 03:32 PM

Has anybody paired a Nordstrand DC (in the bridge position) with another
pick up (in the neck position) or any position for that matter? I had a bass built a few years back with a single DC5 in the bridge position (with 3 way coil taps) and an Aguilar OBP3. It has served it's purpose over the years but I've kind of gotten bored with it's tone. I'm going to either drop in a set of Bart Jazz pick ups (which I already have) or add a Nordstrand jazz Pick up in the neck position. I already have a bass with 2 DC5's and an OBP3 and I have a Sadowsky jazz so please keep that in mind when you make your suggestions as far as tonal options. Also, adding a MM in the bridge position and moving the dc in the neck position could be an option as well. Suggestions. plus' and minus'?
Thanks for your time.

tubby.twins · #2 03-07-2010, 10:55 PM

What's your goal?

Are you not happy with the sound of the Nordstrand DC5 in the bridge position? You can try other pickups in the same shape (4.25" by 1.25") without ever needing to take a router to your bass body. There are quite a few pickup makers who make pickups in that shape, each of which have unique sounds and tonal signatures. I've been testing several brands including the Nordstrand DC5, and I can offer recommendations based on what you think you would like to hear.

Are you bored with the lack of tonal variety from a single-pickup bass? Or is the placement of the single bridge pickup not giving you the tone that that you want this bass to express? If you want to add another pickup, consider adding it in the "sweet spot" position instead of the usual neck position, which will give you a different tonal mix than your other bass with 2 DC5s (which I am assuming has pickups in the usual neck and bridge positions).

Moving your existing DC5 to the standard neck position is probably not a good idea, because bridge pickups are usually wound hotter than their corresponding neck pickups. A DC5 wound for the bridge position and moved to the neck position would be way too hot and loud, in my opinion, and it would probably drown out whatever other pickup you choose to install in the original bridge position.

OneMan · #3 03-08-2010, 05:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tubby.twins

What's your goal?

Are you not happy with the sound of the Nordstrand DC5 in the bridge position? You can try other pickups in the same shape (4.25" by 1.25") without ever needing to take a router to your bass body. There are quite a few pickup makers who make pickups in that shape, each of which have unique sounds and tonal signatures. I've been testing several brands including the Nordstrand DC5, and I can offer recommendations based on what you think you would like to hear.

Are you bored with the lack of tonal variety from a single-pickup bass? Or is the placement of the single bridge pickup not giving you the tone that that you want this bass to express? If you want to add another pickup, consider adding it in the "sweet spot" position instead of the usual neck position, which will give you a different tonal mix than your other bass with 2 DC5s (which I am assuming has pickups in the usual neck and bridge positions).

Moving your existing DC5 to the standard neck position is probably not a good idea, because bridge pickups are usually wound hotter than their corresponding neck pickups. A DC5 wound for the bridge position and moved to the neck position would be way too hot and loud, in my opinion, and it would probably drown out whatever other pickup you choose to install in the original bridge position.

Hi TT,
Thanks for taking time out to offer your suggestions. My first thought was to drop in a set of Bart Jazz pick ups and call it a day. I know I can't go wrong with those. But, the issue is, I do like the sound of the DC in it's current position which is why I have this dilemma. I can add another pick up to the bass and give myself MORE tonal options to what is there and still have what I like. Or I could change them out totally. After reading your suggestion, I'm thinking about adding a jazz pick up to the "sweet spot" as opposed to the neck position like my other bass Does have. The luthier doing the work is very knowledgeable and very easy to work with so I will ask his opinion on sweet spot or if I should just go with the Barts. Thank you for your time and input, they where a great help.

tubby.twins · #4 03-08-2010, 11:02 AM

Which model of Bartolini pickups do you have?

The sweet spot position is a great thing, in my opinion. I've got a few basses with pickups at this position, and I think I like the tone here better than the regular neck position.

I'm working on a project now which is a fretless 5-string bass with a pair of Bartolini dual-coil "classic bass" pickups, one in the sweet spot and another in the bridge position. I'm going to wire them up to a rotary switch so I can get 3 distinct tones: one with both coils of the sweet spot pickup, one with both coils of the bridge pickup, and a nice "in-between" tone which has the adjacent coils of each of the two pickups. It would be like having a "virtual pickup" installed between the two real pickups, with the same tonal characteristics and none of the high-end loss that usually comes from passively blending two pickups together.

I did something similar on another bass last year, which had 3 dual-coil pickups wired up for 5 different settings (3 real and 2 virtual). I've since rewired it to a different scheme, but it's still something that I enjoyed.

If you use a more typical switching/blending scheme for the sweet spot and bridge pickups, a setting where both coils on both pickups are enabled should give you a more "Music-Man" like thickness to the midrange, with some roll-off on the treble. It won't be the same as the classic "Jazz" bass tone with both pickups on full volume, since it should have fuller lower-mids.

If this interests you, and you like the tone of the DC5, then I'd suggest contacting Nordstrand to see if they can make you a custom-wound pickup which is optimized for the sweet spot position. Using a standard DC5 intended for the neck position may sound a bit thinner due to fewer windings, and you may have issues with string spacing due to the polepiece layout.

In fact, I may end up doing this too!

OneMan · #5 03-08-2010, 04:53 PM

I've given this a lot of thought and decided to just drop the Barts into this bass. Although I do like the sound of the DC in there, I believe I'll get more use out of it with 2 Jazz P'Ups. I've got a fretless Jazz Bass project that will probably benefit more from that DC and a Jazz in the sweet spot. Thanks for your thoughts and knowledge.

OneMan · #6 03-18-2010, 12:16 PM

I've come to the realization that there is an error in the installation of the electronics in my bass. I've dealt with this for 2 years and just tweaked the eq on my amp instead. The bass has a set of Nordstrand DC5's and an Aguilar OBP3 conf Vol, Blend, Mid (PP Mid Freq), Treb/Bass Stacked, Coil taps for both P ups and active/passive switch. All and all, the bass sounds okay but it lacks punch and I get more bottom out of my bass when bypassing the pre .... hmmmm . I finally put it in the shop and waiting to find out the situation. Wiring/bad pots/wrong pots/ bad switch/ etc. I see so many people using Norddie's and Aggies together so I knew there had to be a problem. If it turns out everything is fine, I'll be putting a complete bart system into the bass. We'll see ...

tubby.twins · #7 03-18-2010, 01:00 PM

That's odd. I've got an Aguilar OBP-3 in another bass, and I can't hear much difference in tone when I switch between active and "bypass". It may indeed be bad wiring or the wrong pots. You may want to make sure that the pots used for the EQ controls are correct. I think Aguilar usually supplies 50K linear pots for EQ; perhaps your stacked Treb/Bass pot is logarithmic instead?

OneMan · #8 03-18-2010, 01:04 PM

I hope it is something as simple as that or I will be changing to an all Bart setup. I'll post here after I find out.

Stealth · #9 03-18-2010, 01:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tubby.twins

I did something similar on another bass last year, which had 3 dual-coil pickups wired up for 5 different settings (3 real and 2 virtual). I've since rewired it to a different scheme, but it's still something that I enjoyed.

So, if I get this right, the real positions were full-neck, both-pickups and full-bridge, and the virtual ones were outer-neck-bridge and inner-neck-bridge? Or did you use a different combo?

gkbass13 · #10 03-18-2010, 01:48 PM

Cool thread thus far, especially since I am currently talking with Ray Rogers about an R-bass 5 string singlecut with Nordstrand DC's in the bridge and sweet spot positions...

OneMan · #11 03-18-2010, 02:02 PM

I have 2 basses here that are up for discussion. The first with a single DC5 in the bridge position (close to the bridge) with an Aggie OBP3 and the second with 2 DC5's and the Aggie. I really like the tone of the single DC5 but wonder how big a difference position will make on how different the sound is from one bass to the other. One of the reasons I believe there is a problem with the way the 2 p up bass is wired.

tubby.twins · #12 03-18-2010, 05:46 PM

I've found that small changes in the position of the bridge pickup can actually have a big difference in the resulting tone. I have another "testbed" bass with a large pickup cavity near the bridge position, and moving the pickup by 1cm either way produces a noticeable change in the character of the tone. Things go from warm and rich midrange (closer to the neck) to bright and very punchy (closer to the bridge) in a very short space.

I was going to type a long-winded and technical explanation here, but I realized that would probably end up hijacking this thread, so I'll leave it there for now.