Who doesn't like Darkstars?

#1 01-09-2007, 03:32 PM

I've read great reviews for the Darkstar pickups on this forum and on the "Dudepit" but I was just wondering if there is anyone out there who has tried Darkstars and didn't care for them and if so, why?

George

bkim · #2 01-09-2007, 04:39 PM

I haven't heard them or played them, but I don't like the way they look. $200+ per pickup is pretty pricey too, but people swear by them. Maybe if I heard them in person I would feel otherwise.

Brad Johnson · #3 01-09-2007, 04:41 PM

I haven't heard them so I don't like them.

Edwcdc · #4 01-09-2007, 04:49 PM

I don't like the way they look so they must not sound good.

4Mal · #5 01-09-2007, 05:07 PM

well... I'm one of the folks who like them. It is important to note that

Dark Stars are incredibly strong. As in very sensitive and high output. That translates to

1. you may have to change your picking hand technique to get good results. I did - for the first couple of weeks I was like -what did I just do ?! Then I backed the pole pieces off and changed up my picking hand location. Now I can pick all over he place, back by the bridge to up on the neck and all points in between. It did require some adjustment though.

2. All that output means that your signal chain may take some rethinking so that you get your gains balanced correctly. If you're like me and want to keep two basses wired and ready to go, you may have to work a bit to make that happen.

The Dark Star isn't pain free in other words. I can picture where some folks aren't going to be interested in making those adjustments.

I'm glad I have the DS'ed bass (57 RI P body, 62 RI J neck, Jazz Flats, Ultralites - it wasn't a painful bass to own to begin with!) I find it to be a really useful flavor. I don't think I would be comfortable with it as my only flavor. It's part of a three bass stable with J and PJ Reverends. If I had to pick one - it would be the PJ Rumblefish as that is the most broadly applicable bass I've ever owned.

Anyhoo - not the answer you're looking for but I tried to make ist at least somewhat informative and not overly optomistic - and hell it's gotta be more relevant than it's pricey, I don't like the look or I've never heard one ...

How do you know it's for or not for you ? Get onthe forum and find the guy closest to you - do the road trip thing and check it out in person. There's a lot of gear that I will try on a whim. Actaully the DS was one but - it's a new Pickguard and for most folks it's new pots and a body route as well. Not exactly non-invasive surgery. My bass already had a swimming pool route so I had it easy.

Tonally FWIW - Passinwind on this site has heard my bass any number of times and has described it as having a very P-Bass like vibe out in the house... You might ping him as he is somewhat familiar with that bass.

given your sig of tubes & 4 flatwounds ... I can predict that you'll dig one ... There's more than a few floatin' around southern cal. It shouldn't be too hard to find one to play with.

The Craw · #6 01-09-2007, 06:02 PM

Nothing wrong with them, but they're not my taste. They won't replace my MM, P or J pickups.

#7 01-09-2007, 09:41 PM

Thanks 4Mal for the Great Comments! You've given me a much better pro & con view of what Darkstars are like. I am planning a new bass this year and I'm researching all the possible components. Hopefully I'll be trying these and others at the up-coming NAMM.

George

ALiP BoB · #8 01-10-2007, 02:19 AM

Hmm, what does Darkstars sound like?

Aggressive? Growly? Head Biting?
If it is then I'm sold!

Taurus · #9 01-10-2007, 11:14 AM

They may sound like thunder for all I care, just too damn ugly.

Kenny Allyn · #10 01-10-2007, 11:37 AM

PROs ... The pickup I was searching for, IF you already have Ps and Js this is the trinity HIGH output and a very even detailed sound VERY dynamic!

Cons ... I had to buy an amp with MORE watts just to handle the signal!

... Beauty is in the eye of the beholder ... And I'm pretty ugly so it's a good match.

Juniorkimbrough · #11 01-10-2007, 11:38 AM

They are okay, one main gripe of mine is there is no place to rest your thumb. I've seen the thing they make for a thumb rest but it looks to big and bulky IMO.

I would love to have a Jazz with dual Darkstars but I don't think I'd care to have a single DS'd bass again.

Passinwind · #12 01-10-2007, 12:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4Mal

Tonally FWIW - Passinwind on this site has heard my bass any number of times and has described it as having a very P-Bass like vibe out in the house... You might ping him as he is somewhat familiar with that bass.

Mal,

Isn't the DS more or less in the P mounting zone on your bass? I mainly like that bass because it makes lot of genuine low end compared to your other ones. That's a "for better or worse" kinda thing I guess. I dig it a lot in any case.

Kenny Allyn · #13 01-10-2007, 12:38 PM

"Thumb Rest" ...

... Jr. PLEASE ... Seriously your gonna have to try mine ...

... but I'm NOT gonna put a thumbrest on it for ya!

Juniorkimbrough · #14 01-10-2007, 01:57 PM

ha, ha...

I might have changed my opinion though...I've recently found a sweet spot right in front of the neck pickup on P and J's and I anchor my thumb on the edge of the pickguard.

#15 01-10-2007, 02:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Juniorkimbrough

ha, ha...

I might have changed my opinion though...I've recently found a sweet spot right in front of the neck pickup on P and J's and I anchor my thumb on the edge of the pickguard.

The lack of a Thumbrest has never been a problem for me, I rest my thumb on air.

George

ALiP BoB · #16 01-11-2007, 06:52 AM

Somebody ans my qn pls.

4Mal · #17 01-11-2007, 10:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ALiP BoB

Hmm, what does Darkstars sound like?

Aggressive? Growly? Head Biting?
If it is then I'm sold!

Growly ? Head biting ? *** ? over. buy a fuzz box ...

It's a pickup - not an effect ... if you EQ your rig for it, and structure your gains appropriately then a Fender Mustang Bass will sound aggressive. Same for a Dark Star.

The Dark Star is high output and it very sensitive to picking hand dymanics. It has a broader frequency response than other pickups I've tried. As Passinwind mentions - there is real low end. There is also real high end.

How it sounds is entirely depndant on your your picking technique and hand placement.

When it comes to the thumb rest, I find it irrelevant. When I play my PJ, I tend to anchor on the edge of the P and I have my rig setup for that. With the DS, my right hand is all over the place. Back by the bridge to bring out the mid-range pop and up on the neck for the dubby deep stuff. Over the poles for root V kind of stuff where I want that P-vibe. I will be the first to admit that when I started with the DS, I had to make some adjustments with my picking hand. It was not love at first ...

I've been intrigued with the Decade design. I don't think there is enough space between the pickups or my taste in a J configuraton. For now - I find that the sngle DS in the sweet spot works well for me.

I locate the pickup so that the polepieces would be in the same position as the bass side pole pieces on the old split precision pickup. I've since flipped the pickup around so the poles are closer to the bridge. I'm not sure which is the appropriate spot though ... time will tell.

Growly ? Head biting ? sounds like an old boss of mine rather than any musical concept. Agressive I guess I can deal with ...

Far as needing more watts ? It's more like you needed a 15 db pad. I never knew the clip light on my old GK head was yellow - until I plugged in the Dark Star. Then I discoverd why it has the pad ... of course we always need more watts... and more surface area ... and more people to carry our gear.

1kinal · #18 01-11-2007, 12:24 PM

Here's a bunch of DS soundclips in different music styles:

http://www.lakland.com/multimedia/ac_decade.htm

ibz · #19 01-11-2007, 04:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1kinal

Here's a bunch of DS soundclips in different music styles:

http://www.lakland.com/multimedia/ac_decade.htm

These were really helpful in confirming my sentiments that I don't like the DS tone enough to pursue project bass with these pups in them. I'm sure they work great to others, but just I find other sounds more more along my tonal pallette.

Kenny Allyn · #20 01-11-2007, 04:23 PM

"Far as needing more watts ? It's more like you needed a 15 db pad. I never knew the clip light on my old GK head was yellow - until I plugged in the Dark Star. Then I discoverd why it has the pad ... of course we always need more watts... and more surface area ... and more people to carry our gear."

No I needed more WATTS... The clip light has never come on (GK 400RB III), it's just that a Dark Star doesn't compress like other pickups ... it seems to just cycle more energy which of course means more watts to keep it clean so I went to a GK 1001RB.

... It's pushing a little Euphonic Audio VL-208 17" wide by 18" tall ... that's a pretty small cab.