Ambient/Post-Rock/Textural bass playing thread

[emjazz]

I have Nord Dual Coils in the Bordwell (at least that's what I remember). They do seem a bit timid at times, like I wish they were more aggressive.

I was never a fan of the dual coils. They only work for me in an acoustically more aggressive sounding bass. Those pickups are too polite. I have played basses where they sound fabulous, but not my own. I would suggest Nordstrand Big Singles if you want very aggressive, Big Splits if you want hum canceling and slightly less aggressive, the same with the Big Blade and Zen Blade if you want dynamic and more modern, or the BigRig pickups if you want to stay with something with a wider aperture (this one's my personal favorite).

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

I was never a fan of the dual coils. They only work for me in an acoustically more aggressive sounding bass. Those pickups are too polite. I have played basses where they sound fabulous, but not my own. I would suggest Nordstrand Big Singles if you want very aggressive, Big Splits if you want hum canceling and slightly less aggressive, the same with the Big Blade and Zen Blade if you want dynamic and more modern, or the BigRig pickups if you want to stay with something with a wider aperture (this one's my personal favorite).

I was maybe looking for a higher output pickup for my jazz that has custom shop 60s Fenders.

Nordy make any of those??
I sure don't want to route it for those huge ones.

 

[emjazz]

I was maybe looking for a higher output pickup for my jazz that has custom shop 60s Fenders.

Nordy make any of those??
I sure don't want to route it for those huge ones.

I'm not very knowledgeable about J pickups I'm afraid. A friend has some Nordstrand J wounds and I love the sound. You could certainly reach out to Nordstrand. Let them know what you want sound wise (vintage, traditional, modern?) and that you'd like higher output pickups. See what they say.

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

I'm not very knowledgeable about J pickups I'm afraid. A friend has some Nordstrand J wounds and I love the sound. You could certainly reach out to Nordstrand. Let them know what you want sound wise (vintage, traditional, modern?) and that you'd like higher output pickups. See what they say.

The description of the sound of each model very confusing.
With superfluous fluff and weird qualities of each.

 

[lordradish]

I was never a fan of the dual coils. They only work for me in an acoustically more aggressive sounding bass. Those pickups are too polite. I have played basses where they sound fabulous, but not my own. I would suggest Nordstrand Big Singles if you want very aggressive, Big Splits if you want hum canceling and slightly less aggressive, the same with the Big Blade and Zen Blade if you want dynamic and more modern, or the BigRig pickups if you want to stay with something with a wider aperture (this one's my personal favorite).

My big obstacle is the rewiring... if it's just a matter of taking out the olds and putting in the new, and just resoldering wires, I'll be fine. But I'm not sure if the whole parallel/serial/coil tap also involves doing something in the pickup. Last thing on earth I wanna do is screw this up. But I'd rather not have to send my bass out, and I'm not sure there's anyone around here I'd trust to do it.

 

[emjazz]

The description of the sound of each model very confusing.
With superfluous fluff and weird qualities of each.

They could probably do without the imaginative initial descriptions, but I'm sure they're just having some fun. It's always best to give them a call or write to them (you'll probably hear from Stew, who is one of the best people on the planet). Be aware that they have gotten beyond busy within the last few months, so it may take a week or so to hear back by email. Calling is definitely best if you're able. WONDERFUL people.

 

[emjazz]

My big obstacle is the rewiring... if it's just a matter of taking out the olds and putting in the new, and just resoldering wires, I'll be fine. But I'm not sure if the whole parallel/serial/coil tap also involves doing something in the pickup. Last thing on earth I wanna do is screw this up. But I'd rather not have to send my bass out, and I'm not sure there's anyone around here I'd trust to do it.

I'm fairly certain that they send out wiring instructions with the pickups. If you have your dual coils set up with switches it's a bit more involved, but their wiring colors should all be the same, so it's just switching them out where the old ones were.

 

[lordradish]

I'm fairly certain that they send out wiring instructions with the pickups. If you have your dual coils set up with switches it's a bit more involved, but their wiring colors should all be the same, so it's just switching them out where the old ones were.

I'm gonna look, tonight.

 

[emjazz]

Quick note as some of you may be interested....Tyshawn Sorey played the past two nights at the Village Vanguard with Bill Frisell and Joe Lovano....kind of a recreation of the trio that Bill and Joe used to have with Paul Motian. Last night's performance is still available to watch until tonight, and only $10. Highly recommended. I have it up to sit down and watch today.

 

[monsterthompson]

They could probably do without the imaginative initial descriptions, but I'm sure they're just having some fun. It's always best to give them a call or write to them (you'll probably hear from Stew, who is one of the best people on the planet). Be aware that they have gotten beyond busy within the last few months, so it may take a week or so to hear back by email. Calling is definitely best if you're able. WONDERFUL people.

those descriptions are the worst inside jokes.

ive recently been in touch with Stew. He was super swamped and it took him forever to get back to my initial email, but he was pretty responsive to my follow up. He said they’ve been buried in email. I had tried calling but nobody was available when I did (one time).

yeah. Email them. Expect a delay. Be patient.

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

those descriptions are the worst inside jokes.

They actually stopped me from buying a set a few years ago I was so confused as to what exactly I was purchasing.

I think I'm looking for a higher output vintage vibe jazz set with a less "scooped" mids sound.

It can wait. Not gigged that bass in a while and recording it is a breaze.

Now I'm looking at mixers for my gig and they all have something I don't like.
My main one has been glitchy. (And will probably screw something up live...Murphys law.)

For example....one made by mackie....DOESN'T HAVE AN OFF SWITCH!!!!
What the serious %@*#*$&#&@!??!?!?!
Designers went on a bender and approved the schematics????

 

[monsterthompson]

They actually stopped me from buying a set a few years ago I was so confused as to what exactly I was purchasing.

I think I'm looking for a higher output vintage vibe jazz set with a less "scooped" mids sound.

It can wait. Not gigged that bass in a while and recording it is a breaze.

Now I'm looking at mixers for my gig and they all have something I don't like.
My main one has been glitchy. (And will probably screw something up live...Murphys law.)

For example....one made by mackie....DOESN'T HAVE AN OFF SWITCH!!!!
What the serious %@*#*$&#&@!??!?!?!
Designers went on a bender and approved the schematics????

I understand. The Nordy descriptions were a huge turn off. There was a thread about this a while back and I jumped in on it for a bit.

Duncan has a much better site. Check their info. The pickups are shown with a L/M/H EQ profile and demo videos. Plus, Duncan makes nice sounding stuff.

I have a Mackie with no power switch :-/


On the fun side, I think I’m going to break down an get the new Erica Black Sequencer. I was looking for a sequencing module, and a few other things. I initially thought that module might be overkill for what I want, but it’s got a few features I’m interested in, so it might end up making sense after all.

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

I understand. The Nordy descriptions were a huge turn off. There was a thread about this a while back and I jumped in on it for a bit.

Duncan has a much better site. Check their info. The pickups are shown with a L/M/H EQ profile and demo videos. Plus, Duncan makes nice sounding stuff.

I have a Mackie with no power switch :-/


On the fun side, I think I’m going to break down an get the new Erica Black Sequencer. I was looking for a sequencing module, and a few other things. I initially thought that module might be overkill for what I want, but it’s got a few features I’m interested in, so it might end up making sense after all.

Yeah, I had some SD pups, they’re are some very good ones. My fav was the SPB-1, awesome and way underrated pup.

The mackie mix12????
How the heck can a mixer have no on\off?????
Really???
Does it do the job for you? How are the preamps the when overloaded and clipping?
(Yes I intentionally clip stuff. )

Kinda of sad that the most convenient and well made layouts are on the behringer mixers. But they hiss like crazy.

 

[monsterthompson]

Yeah, I had some SD pups, they’re are some very good ones. My fav was the SPB-1, awesome and way underrated pup.

The mackie mix12????
How the heck can a mixer have no on\off?????
Really???
Does it do the job for you? How are the preamps the when overloaded and clipping?
(Yes I intentionally clip stuff. )

mix 5 & mix 8

I haven’t pushed the pre section into clipping intentionally. Maybe I can do a bit of research today.

the on/off is annoying. I attach it to a power strip and just power up/down from there.

 

[JES]

+1 on the Nordstrand descriptions. Basic comparisons of the same bass line (or even open strings) on the same bass with different pickups in the same position would be about 1000 times more helpful than their meters, metaphors, and visits from Steve Arrujo. I swear I want to write him an open letter to please try more whole notes in demos. (I actually hate watching demos but that’s on me).

I have also noticed the strange absence of off switches on modern mixers. The Soundcraft at our practice space has to be plugged into a power strip for that reason. Really people?

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

mix 5 & mix 8

I haven’t pushed the pre section into clipping intentionally. Maybe I can do a bit of research today.

the on/off is annoying. I attach it to a power strip and just power up/down from there.

I’ve worked on quite a few mackie mixers and they usually deal with intentionally clipping OD not too bad.

Worst are the Yamaha ones, they are made to be clean and “pristine”. Every goes to crap when signals clip.

Some Allen & Heath ones seem cool, sound craft....not so much. Still digging.
Would have gotten an old midas, the new ones are not that great and overpriced IMO. (Only tried 2 recent models so I mightbe wrong. )

I’m even willing to invest in a higher end one, but haven’t found anything remotely close to what I want.
No USB on my mixer please.

 

[monsterthompson]

The mixer thing might be a safety precaution thing. You want the mixer on before the power amp and speakers heat up, and turned off after the power amp is turned off. If the mixer is always on there’s less chance of powering up/down in the wrong order, or accidentally bumping a switch while the monitors are powered.

 

[JES]

The mixer thing might be a safety precaution thing. You want the mixer on before the power amp and speakers heat up, and turned off after the power amp is turned off. If the mixer is always on there’s less chance of powering up/down in the wrong order, or accidentally bumping a switch while the monitors are powered.

Valid. Hadn't thought of that, but you're right that band members routinely screw up the order of powering things up.

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

Valid. Hadn't thought of that, but you're right that band members routinely screw up the order of powering things up.

We'll it makes a huge bang but rarely damages anything. Unless you have a crap speaker and sub array.

 

[monsterthompson]

COME. ON.
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