Nordstrands, Duncans, Fralins in a Lakland USA JO5 (Clips)

[pickles]

I just finished doing some pickup swapping and soundclipping with my Alder/Rosewood JO5 and thought I'd post up the results. In all tests:

• The strings are Carvin Nickel Mediums.
• The pickups are adjusted to 3/32 on the bass side and 2/32 on the treble side, measured from the top of the polepiece with the string depressed at the last fret.
• The electronics are passive vol/vol (no tone control) with a series parallel switch. Clips are parallel unless they are named "series".
• The signal chain is bass -> 12' spectraflex -> Aguilar DB900 -> 12' spectraflex -> Cafe Walter -> PC.

I started with the stock fralins. These pickups are great. Warm, organic, juicy, superb string to string balance. Great with a pick or fingers, a little too mellow to be a great slap set.

Next up was Nordstrand NJ5FS. These pickups are WAY bright and loud, with a great tone. Really much more "modern" sounding to me, but killer, more shiny extended highs. Unfortunately, the string balance on the E string was very poor, that string was unusably quiet. Not sure if there is something wrong with the pickups, it was the same for both neck and bridge. Perhaps they were designed for a different fingerboard radius, in any case, they are unusable in this bass. I quadruple checked the setup, and tried a bit higher and lower than my standards, with no change. The string was going over the polepieces nicely. Not sure what the deal is. You can hear it in all the clips, especially the filter/pick clip.

Finally Duncan SJ5-67/70. From what Duncan tells me, these are as close as you can get to a Sadowsky Single in the shorter 67/70 widths. To me they sound more in your face, punchy, and high mid grindy than the fralins. Stripped down rock punch and great string balance here as well.

A later round added Lakland Single Coils courtesy our man Poon. Closest to the Fralin to me, trading off a little warmth for some extra clarity and definition. NICE pickups IMO!

NEW My new favorites the Lakland Singles and the stock Fralins paired with the stock Bartolini 3-band EQ preamp my JO5 came with.

Be interesting to see what everybody else hears. Here a few easy linkable ones, and download links for massive zips with lots of clips.

Seymour Duncan SJ5-67/70 Passive
Stock Lindy Fralins Passive
Nordstrand NJ5FS Passive
Lakland Single Coils Passive
NEW-->Lakland Single Coils with stock Bartolini 3-band flat
NEW-->Lakland Single Coils with stock Bartolini 3-band EQ'd
NEW-->Fralins with stock Bartolini 3-band flat
NEW-->Fralins with stock Bartolini 3-band EQ'd

Zips of the 4 passive setups (the same 10 clips in each - pickup blends, slap, pick)
http://www.themadmonkey.com/jo5sound...%20passive.zip
http://www.themadmonkey.com/jo5sound...%20passive.zip
http://www.themadmonkey.com/jo5sound...%20passive.zip
http://www.themadmonkey.com/jo5sound...%20passive.zip

[fast slapper]

Those Nordstrands are bright. They sound active. I like those the most followed by the Fralins.

Your descriptions sound accurate.

[GerManson]

duncans sound a lot better to my ears!

btw: moby dick on a fretless with dist http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWbAuFhBNYk

[Ryan Mohr]

The clips sound great! All the pickups have that signature J bass grind and growl, but they are all warm and organic sounding.

Your experience with the Nordstrands is the same as my experience with the NJ4s. I was expecting super warm, big, fat, thick, organic, and a bit dark but I got bright, clear, deep, tight, and a touch modern.

The Fralins sound the best to me (I like warm and fat). Interesting that they weren't as grindy as the SDs, but a lot of people say that Fralins have a ton of grind. Interesting how pickups sound different on different basses, or how pickups aren't always wound consistently.

The SDs sound like they would rule for that late '70s J bass sound.

[narud]

Originally Posted by Ryan Mohr

The SDs sound like they would rule for that late '70s J bass sound.

if i bought a boutique 70's style jazz and it had pickups like that id be ready to fight someone. pickups in late 70's jazzes never grinded like that. still a great sound though in its own right.

[Ryan Mohr]

Originally Posted by narud

if i bought a boutique 70's style jazz and it had pickups like that id be ready to fight someone. pickups in late 70's jazzes never grinded like that. still a great sound though in its own right.

I thought you said the Antiquity IIs were it for that late '70s sound?

[narud]

Originally Posted by Ryan Mohr

I thought you said the Antiquity IIs were it for that late '70s sound?

those dont sound like any set of antiquity 2's ive owned regardless of wind. they sound more like sjb1's to me. dont get me wrong, i like that sound, but not for a late 70's thing. if they made a set with 17mm spacing, id pull the aeros out of my fernandes and put those in.

[pickles]

Narud is correct, they are much closer to SJB-1s than Antiquity IIs. I inquired about an antiquity II for 5 string, and the price was too high for me.

My favorite ends up being the Fralins.

[narud]

Originally Posted by pickles

Narud is correct, they are much closer to SJB-1s than Antiquity IIs. I inquired about an antiquity II for 5 string, and the price was too high for me.

My favorite ends up being the Fralins.

would antiquity 2's for 5 string end up being a one off custom shop thing? would you mind pm'ing me the price?

id love to get something super grindy like those duncans in this ferndandes jazz 5 im using, but ive got a 17mm bridge on there and if it wasnt for marcus willett getting these aeros im using made and switching over to villex, id probably not be too happy with this bass

[EagleMoon]

Of those three, I think the Duncans sound the most balanced. The Fralins sound slightly muffled and the Nordstrands sound really bright.

[pickles]

Narud -- yes, they'd be a custom build. I don't recall the exact price, but $350 range. I wouldn't normally mind that price, but was just thinking -- what if I like the Fralins better???

[Poon]

I'm going to let Pickles borrow my set of the lakland single coils to add to the comparison.

We all need to add to the greater good, eh?

[ghoulbug]

Originally Posted by Poon

I'm going to let Pickles borrow my set of the lakland single coils to add to the comparison.

We all need to add to the greater good, eh?

NICE!
Please let this happen!

[maurilio]

Originally Posted by pickles

........"Nordstrand"...Unfortunately, the string balance on the E string was very poor, that string was unusably quiet. Not sure if there is something wrong with the pickups, it was the same for both neck and bridge.

Sounds odd! Did you check if both of the E's pole pieces were magnetized?

M

[pickles]

Originally Posted by maurilio

Sounds odd! Did you check if both of the E's pole pieces were magnetized?

M

No, how would I do that, just see if they attract an allen wrench or something?

I checked polepiece alignement and setup, and also measured the E string polepiece height relative to the B and A measurements, and the E was farter away, but not by much. I was kinda baffled. Almost seemed like a "split coil effect" with the string being too close to the edge of the coil, but looking at the construction of the coils, that doesn't seem right either.

Maybe I should ask Carey?

[Ryan Mohr]

Originally Posted by narud

those dont sound like any set of antiquity 2's ive owned regardless of wind. they sound more like sjb1's to me. dont get me wrong, i like that sound, but not for a late 70's thing. if they made a set with 17mm spacing, id pull the aeros out of my fernandes and put those in.

Originally Posted by pickles

Narud is correct, they are much closer to SJB-1s than Antiquity IIs. I inquired about an antiquity II for 5 string, and the price was too high for me.

My favorite ends up being the Fralins.

Oh ok my mistake, I just assumed that because you said SD said they are closest to the Sadowsky Singles, which AFAIK are just Antiquity IIs with the aging.

+1, Fralins sounded sweet!

[narud]

Originally Posted by Ryan Mohr

Oh ok my mistake, I just assumed that because you said SD said they are closest to the Sadowsky Singles, which AFAIK are just Antiquity IIs with the aging.

+1, Fralins sounded sweet!

imo, sad singles dont sound like antiquity 2's either.

[Ryan Mohr]

Originally Posted by narud

imo, sad singles dont sound like antiquity 2's either.

Really? I thought Roger himself has said they are the same without the artificial aging. But, that would explain why Sad singles are described as super grindy and aggressive, while the Antiquity IIs are softer and more laid back in the upper mids.

[narud]

Originally Posted by Ryan Mohr

Really? I thought Roger himself has said they are the same without the artificial aging. But, that would explain why Sad singles are described as super grindy and aggressive, while the Antiquity IIs are softer and more laid back in the upper mids.

ive heard a lot speculation and urban legend as to what the sad singles are, but i havent seen roger say anything on talkbass other than duncan makes them to his specs.

i did see a 4 string set on ebay one time that the seller took resistance ratings of and they both were exactly 9k. thats hotter than any set of antiquity 2's ive had and thats what the published spec is on the sjb 1's which are grindier.

[Ryan Mohr]

Originally Posted by narud

ive heard a lot speculation and urban legend as to what the sad singles are, but i havent seen roger say anything on talkbass other than duncan makes them to his specs.

i did see a 4 string set on ebay one time that the seller took resistance ratings of and they both were exactly 9k. thats hotter than any set of antiquity 2's ive had and thats what the published spec is on the sjb 1's which are grindier.

So, generally for single coil J pickups, hotter means less deep bass, fatter/thicker low mids, grindier high mids, and burnished high treble?