Villex Pickups

[fullrangebass]

I am very analytical when it comes to MY bass sound. I like my sound being full range (hence my username) and still be able to translate my touch and dynamics along with the sound of wood to be projected and heard.

I started a thread in the past regarding people that were happy with the sound of their pickups but still they would be willing to experiment and listen to the changes induced by replacing the pickups. Not many people realized the question and the quest and even fewer had tried it. Most people go by "if it ain't broke, don't fix it"; it's really great but I always try to look for differences and improvements.

So I ordered a pair of custom Villex pickups for a Bart equipped high end bass. The bass had 3 holes drilled for controls (vol, bal, concentric bass/treble). I did not want to drill any extra hole on the bass, so I asked if Villex could provide me with a vol/vol control so I could have 3 controls still (vol/vol, mid control, tone).

The pickups were made and shipped on the arranged date (Nov 29th) along with a vol/vol pot ,as per my request USPS int'l Express Mail. Tracking number was send to me by e-mail. The package was lost on transit (somewhere between Panama and Equador) and for a month both Villex and myself tried to trace the package with no success. USPS said that once the package is off US they have no power to do anything !!!

Once we realized that there is no way USPS can trace and forward the package, Villex made another pair of pickups for me free of charge and shipped it FedEx (free of charge again!!!) 48hrs delivery .

The pickups arrived on time, and I had bought locally the necessary pots to wire up. Unfortunatelly, just like basses, not all pots are built equally. The vol/vol pots from All Parts were not allowing the solder to stick on the outer surface to ground it and the plastic parts melt inside (I was present on the whole operation) so they were useless. Same went for All Parts tone pot too!!! The only pot that was properly behaving was the mid control (It was a Villex, that's why!!!).

So I had to order a vol/vol pot from WD to wire the pickups up. When the pot arrived the rest was a piece of cake.

The pickups were just as I asked for (size wise as well as the placement of holes for the screws to mount the pickups).

When I plugged the Villex equipped bass the sound came out full with clarity and authority. The bass frequencies were clearer, the mids were tight and the highs were more open with great body and presence. I am no fan of the brigde pickup but on this bass I found myself playing on any setting really (neck, both, brigde p/up). I was not sure what to expect (my previous experiences with Villex pickups were great too) but the bass sounded fuller, more organic, more detailed with a big fundamental unlike the compressed sound that was there before (another bass player friend of mine said that the Barts sounded digital and compressed compared to the Villex that sounded analogue, richer, more detail yet not harsh).

The mid control really opens up a whole new dimension to the sound. there is some morphing of the mids (not just mid-cut) that removes some body yet the sound never sounds weak, clicky or indistinct (unlike many active mid cut circuits). I hardly ever use the tone control, yet it's effective and it can tailor the sound effectively (esp in conjuction with the mid control)

The output is in no need of a Preamp (yet can be added if one chooses so), and the dynamics translate great. No hum or other noise to distract from the quality.

I took the Villex equipped bass along with other two high end basses to the rehearsal (it's for a high profile weekly gig so great sound is of paramount importance).

The band was a 7 piece band (two guitars, keyboard player, drummer, and 3 voices; there is a voilin player joining in on some songs) playing mostly pop, rock, heavy, folk and some acoustic stuff. There was not one moment that the sound was below what was expected.

The Villex equipped bass was on par with the other two basses (before that it was lacking the punch and clarity to be clearly heard in the band without getting loud).

I have tried many other pickups but not many live to the standard that I have in my head (having a decent herd to choose basses from and having bands to play with can be of help too, for direct in band comparisons).

I have to mention that before I replaced the pickups, I set up the bass and put a new set of strings on. Once ready, the bass was recorded directly to a PC through an RME Fireface 400 card. The same was repeated when the Villex pickups were placed. The difference is obvious to all that listen to the recordings. I will try to post the recordings later.

[Espidog]

Haven't heard of Villex before. Sounds like a great company. Will look forward to hearing those sound clips.

If you don't mind me asking, how much did they cost?

[Dragonlord]

I played the bass fullrangebass talks about with the barts and with the villex... I have to say that I used to take his raves for villex with a grain of salt, but after this, what can I say... now I'm a believer! The barts sounded incredibly dull compared to the villex. Punchy, detailed, full range is how I'd describe the villex. If I ever want to change pickups in one of my basses, that will be my first choice.

[yarlipo]

Originally Posted by Espidog

Haven't heard of Villex before. Sounds like a great company. Will look forward to hearing those sound clips.

If you don't mind me asking, how much did they cost?

Hi Espidog,

Villex have a UK distributor (me ). You can view the prices in the UK if you follow the link in my signature.

[fullrangebass]

I have been experimenting and trying different pickups and electronics for few years now. The first time I heard of Villex it was when I bumped on Adler basses tuned C# F# B E. I thought to myself "if those pickups can reproduce those frequencies I might as well give them a try on a "normal" 5 string". Apart from my Dingwalls and some other basses I was not really thrilled with the sound of all of my basses. They were good but nothing breath taking.

So after trying some pickups on a high end bass that was not really delivering (I even spoke to the people at the technical dept of a big name pickup company; even those suggestions did not make the bass sing), I placed the first order with Villex.

The bass turned from a bass-to-be-sold to a definitely-a-keeper.

I am happy that in my quest for tone I have found Villex pickups. And the bass I posted about today is a bass that was a really great bass but I dare to experiment and listen to the results.

I have also ordered the passive pickup booster and it will be installed as soon as I receive it.

[m.oreilly]

thanks FRB, i was looking forward to your review. your sound clips will be of much interest

[12bass]

Thanks for posting your results.

How do the Villex pickups compare to the Dingwall neodymium pickups?

[DaveAceofBass]

I have Villex pickups in my Linc Luthier bass, along with RMC piezos, and I must admit the sound is great!

[Rodent]

not to bash the party here ... but I put a Villex P/J set into a personal bass of mine (Alder body with Maple/Rosewood neck) and removed them after a couple of weeks.

the Villex sound didn't do anything for me, and I have since loaded a Nordstrand P/J set in and love it

all the best,

R

[fullrangebass]

One man's food is another man's poison, that's for sure.

I would like to state that am endorsing or affiliated in any way with any brand of equipment. I pay my money and I am entitled to my own opinion.

I am not knocking of any other maker here and for sure I've had more than once the taste of failure when I bought stuff so I have make up my mind through positive thinking, spending money, and trial and error.

I respect your opinion about the Villex pair you tried and it's replacement, that made you happy. IMOE and IMHO I have the latter pickups on my R-Bass and they benefited greatly by the addition of the East Deluxe pre-amp (I will post a review on that preamp), whereas IMHO the Villex pickups did not need any preamp. Then again it's my ears, my basses, my equipment, my touch and my opinion. The latter pickups do suit one of my Fodera's much better than the R-bass in passive mode.

From all the retrofit pickups that I have tried on my herd (and I have really tried many p/ups and pre-amps), the ones that made me jump were the Villex (used both on good and great basses; a look at my herd makes my statement valid for the point of owning and trying different things and approaches).

As far as far as comparing Villex pickups to the Dingwall pickups: (THIS IS A VERY PERSONAL OPINION)

They are both passive but with a nice output (not weak, not very hot). They both allow the unamplified sound of the wood to shine through. Before these two pickups I was a firm believer of active electronics as a necessity. Now I view active electronics as seasoning.

The Dingwall pickups are very analytical, detailed throughout the spectrum, smooth with great dynamics, almost as they have a built-in "exciter" showing all the nuances of the player's touch (the design of the Dingwall basses and concept helps too, allowing a fuller harmonic content in the string to be read from the pickups IMHO)
The FD1's are more hi-fi sounding (yet not sterile or plastic sounding)
The FD3's are little closer to the vintage side than the FD1's but still modern, full and very analytical
The Artist Prima's have deeper and more detailed bass while being close to the FD3's in the rest of the frequencies (only in a better way).

The Villex on the other hand, they are very analytical too, very smooth and balanced all over, with great body; they are closer to the "vintage" sound but in no means they are old-fashioned or bad sounding. Please read the review for more details

Comparing Villex pickups with Dingwall pickups (straight from the box without touching anything but the vol knob) is like comparing a great crunchy red apple to a great crunchy Granny Smith apple. Different strokes for different blokes. Both are great.

Once we start entering the passive controls that both pickups come with, then we enter two different worlds again (no need to mention preamps now).

PS If that pair of P/J villex is sitting useless in your drawer would you mind selling them to me? I'd put them on my 4str NS-2 Spector (EMG loaded) to listen to them

[DavidMP]

Can anybody compare Villex to Q-tuners please? Jaquo (I believe he has used both)? I searched yesterday but the search function seems to be having problem interpreting correctly logical/priority operators.

[m.oreilly]

i believe the topic starter has pertinent info regarding comparisons...

[fullrangebass]

Originally Posted by m.oreilly

i believe the topic starter has pertinent info regarding comparisons...

Can you please explain?

The truth is that I am sharing my experience(s) along with my thoughts and ideas. The experiences come from spending hard earned money and trying different equipment. I think I am more objective than most, having all items compared in my hands, unlike many other opinionated people (no insult here).

This thread was to share the results of my trial. If some think I am biased I cannot justify their thoughts. And I try not to put down anyone (fellow bass player, luthier or manufacturer)

As far as trying q-tuners, I have bought a pair of those pickups too. I love listening to other people's opinions (waiting for Jaquo IIIX to drop in). In fact I had started a thread about changing pickups on great basses just to listen to other people's experiences; and even try their route but not many people were on that train of thought.

If m.oreilly thinks I'm biased, I'd be happy to have him around and have him present on the trials. Then he'd agree with me. Or maybe m.oreily could invite me on some projects like that and constuctively inform me on his approach of the matter.

I think I have found something good in terms of pickups and I let others know that, keeping in mind the equipment I own, use and compare

Everybody is entitled to his own opinion; so am I. So is m.oreilly

[fullrangebass]

Originally Posted by fullrangebass

As far as trying q-tuners, I have bought a pair of those pickups too.

And I have tried (tested) them too!!!

[Dragonlord]

Well, even if you think that frb is biased, I'm not. I only know him for a couple of months or so, and I never had experiences with Villex in the past, let alone any dealing with mr. Villex. I have played the bass with barts, it sounded good but, compared to some other frb's basses (and he has an impressive herd, definitely one of the best private "collections" in Europe, actually world), it sounded a bit dull and "wet blanket"-ish. Well, with the Villex, not any more! Actually, FWIW, the Barts seem like a joke to me after this comparison. They are great for some people, but I don't think I would even consider them for one of my basses.

[m.oreilly]

um, FRB, i was saying you have info you can pass to others re: pup comparisons. you had mentioned not to long ago that you had tried the q-tuners, and i was letting others know that you do indeed have first hand knowledge of them i am awaiting a set of the villex myself ( ). i wonder how these would sound w/ a pre...

[m.oreilly]

maybe a bit of misunderstanding regarding my word usage:

pertinent: "having a clear decisive relevance to the matter in hand"

[Human Bass]

are your villexs single-coil, split-coil or humbucker?

[12bass]

fullrangebass, have you installed the Q-Tuners in one of your basses to compare them with other pickups? Which model do you have? I'm curious as to how you think they sound.

I've been very happy with the improved response of the Q-Tuner BL-5 in my Pedulla Rapture 5. It sounds much more alive than the dual-coil Bartolini that it replaced. It's hard to describe how it sounds exactly, but it almost has an "active" sound, but is more clear and transparent than any active pickup I've ever heard.

Regarding bias: what follows is a bit about the nature of aesthetic judgments, largely borrowed from Hume.

No one is without bias.... it's inherently part of our subjective nature as human beings. No two people perceive things the same way, nor do they have exactly the same tastes. While we might like to think there is an objective fact of the matter of "perfect tone", there really isn't. The quest for "perfect tone" is an endeavor to satisfy personal tonal preferences, not a matter of objectivity. There is no such thing as objectively existing "perfect tone".

So, in the end what it comes down to is that the "best" pickup is the one that sounds subjectively best to you, not the one that is preferred by some so-called "unbiased" reviewer.

[fullrangebass]

m.oreily: I misunderstood your choice of word. I apologize.

Human Base: I have no idea about the design of the coils used in the Villex pickups. I can only say that they are very very quite (so I assume they not single coil design). Maybe yarlipo can fill in the info here.

12bass: I do agree that when we like sth we tend to be biased to it. The matter of fact is that I allways strive for the "better" not just for "good". When I think I have found sth good I still try to figure out if there is sth equally good or better (through trial and error and head to head comparison). And I have never claimed that anything is the best; I just share my experiences and info gathered on my journey to "Sonic Bass-land".

The Q-tuner I used was a BL4 on a Yamaha Attitude custom. The sound went very crispy and transparent but in my hands and my ears it was very FLAT in terms of both sound and character (almost like the bass's character did not translate through). A major improvement over the original in terms of clarity and detail, but what was missing in terms of character, body and dynamics (in my ears and hands, that is) made me place back the original Will Power back on. The funny thing is that the Bart p/up you describe is one of the pickups that replaced the original Bart on my Warrior bass (which was then replace with another p/up again, before discovering Villex pickups).

I would really appreciate the input of Jaquo on his experience of different pickups discussed here; he is a great player in terms of feel, technique and sound (if I have missed sth here please feel free to add). He has played many instruments with different pickups and he is a person humble enough to share his knowlegde with the rest of fellow TBers