Please help with pickup replacement/upgrade for my Bolin bass

jibreel · #1 09-01-2007, 05:56 PM

I bought this bass from Tombrien. Replaced the existing strings with TI jazz rounds. I am liking the sound now, especially the piezo.

This bass has one active dual coil, low impedance EMG 40DC pickup and individual Fishman piezo pickups located in the string saddles. The 18 volt preamp has separate controls for the EMG and piezo pickups. The EMG has a volume control, concentric bass and treble cut/boost controls, and concentric cut/boost and sweepable frequency controls for the mids. The piezo pickups have a volume control and a tone control with a center detent that boosts the bass in one direction and the treble in the other direction.

I am thinking about installing a different pickup and possibly a different preamp. Ideally, just the pickup as preamps that do both mag and piezo are not that common.

I would like the mag pickup to be warm, organic and fat but not to bassy. Not bright but not muddy. I would even be willing to install a larger pickup. Another option would be to install a second EMG pickup as some of the Bolins have two pickups.

If I stay with the EMG pre, do I have to use an active pickup or can it be passive ?

I also realize that in the bigger picture, switching out a pickup may not make THAT big of a change. Aside from playing style, strings are huge as is the pickup placement on the bass [ which is why I was also thinking of adding another pup ]. So many options. Arrrgghh !!

Please excuse my ignorace of the electronics as all my other basses are piezo only.

Thanks for any suggestions.

fullrangebass · #2 09-02-2007, 02:03 PM

Hi jibreel. I'd suggest Villex pickups. They have good output, not overly hot, they are organic and fat but not muddy. As far preamp goes, stay with the existing system till you hear what changes occur.

jibreel · #3 09-02-2007, 05:21 PM

Thanks, I will check them out.

fullrangebass · #4 09-03-2007, 03:12 AM

PS. I forgot to mention that the Villex pickups don't sound bright, harsh or brittle!!!!

Giraffe · #5 09-04-2007, 12:54 PM

I wonder if there is a pre inside that EMG pickup, and if so if that would complicate the pickup replacement. I never got into the preamp too much, so I'm not sure if pickup replacement would necessitate installation of a new pre for the new mag pickup.

beadgc23 · #6 09-12-2007, 06:53 AM

I'm a bit of a latecomer to this thread, but I was in your position 8 months ago. I found there wasn't a huge tonal difference between the EMG DC pickup and the piezo on my Bolin NS, so I replaced it with an EMG 40TW This is basically their darker, fatter sounding CS dual coil pickup and their single coil J in one package, switched with the included pull-switch pot. I'm happy with the results, noting only that the dual-coil output is much hotter than the J and it's more sensitive to interference than the DC (this may also be due to my wiring but it's not been bad enough to warrant investigation) Plus point is that the bass looks stock.

Favorite tone is the J pickup on full with some piezo (top rolled off) added as a "subwoofer".

These are amazing basses - I'm very satisfied with mine.

jibreel · #7 09-12-2007, 07:45 AM

Thanks for your response. However, in the revolving door of basses that is my house, I just sold it on Ebay. I had nine basses. Now down to six. However, I do like the Bolin very much so I just bought this fretted one, piezo only. Should be here on Friday