Carvin pickups

[Bill Brasky]

Has anyone switched from one kind of Carvin pickup to another, like from their humbuckers to single coil? How about their Music Man style humbucker? Like does it sound like a Stingray humbucker?

I've got a Carvin 5 string with 2 stacked j-style humbuckers and I was thinking of switching to single coils. I don't know if I want to go with the Carvin single coils or maybe try a different brand of pickups. I'd kind of like to get a Stingray or maybe a Fender Jazz sound with it but I don't know what kind of pickups would be good for this.

[King David]

I don't own one of these suckers, but I have heard that the Carvin Single coils are better than the stacked humbuckers.

[rickreyn]

I was thinking of switching from the Carvin single-coils to EMGs on my 5 string. What can I expect? By the way, the single-coils are warm and smooth sounding in my opinion.

[lump]

Yo Bill,

I've had the luxury of hanging out at the showroom in S.D. a coupla times now, and have played all of the various combinations of their pups (including a horrendous sounding prototype with a MM-style pup plopped right in the the middle of the body, instead of near the bridge). The J99s (which I have on mine) are definitely more beefy than the H50s, but you have the buzz to deal with. Personally, I'd rather live with the buzz and have the growl. I was underwhelmed by the MM-style pups; the were okay, but not noticeable "better" to me.

With that in mind, (like rickreyn) I'm seriously considering swapping out my J99s, but for a pair of Lane Poors. For those who remember me as being a shameless Carvin shill, this in no way implies dissatisfaction with my current setup - I'm just feeling an itch to personalize my bass a little more, and I've heard nothing but good things about Lane Poor. Plus, they have a 30 day return policy and a lifetime warranty, so I don't really have anything to lose. I have an email in to them now with some questions, and I'll let you know how it goes if I take the plunge. I guess I'm more curious than anything. I haven't played a bass yet that FELT better in my hands than a Carvin, but I want to make sure that I'm getting the best possible sound from it. And from what I've read out there, a Carvin with LPs is a great combination.

Any thoughts out there?

P.S. On my latest trip to the showroom, they had a super-cool looking prototype bass with a "spalted maple" top. I can't really describe it, but it was very, uh, spalty. Actually, it had a marble-like quality to it, and almost didn't look like wood. Anyway, it was neato, with regardless of the pickup combination.