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Ambient/Post-Rock/Textural bass playing thread

#12,441
I had been disappointed with some earlier offerings. When Carey came up with the blade pickups, and then the BigRigs, I was completely hooked. For me I've found that simply asking Stew to suggest something based on what I'm looking for does the trick. They are also a custom shop, so of they don't have what you need then they can probably make something for you. I happen to have a couple of custom narrow aperture BigRigs being made that I'm really excited about.

Everyone that works there that I've interacted with have been amazing human beings. That also matters to me personally.
 
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#12,442
emjazz said:
I had been disappointed with some earlier offerings. When Carey came up with the blade pickups, and then the BigRigs, I was completely hooked. For me I've found that simply asking Stew to suggest something based on what I'm looking for does the trick. They are also a custom shop, so of they don't have what you need then they can probably make something for you. I happen to have a couple of custom narrow aperture BigRigs beibg made that I'm really excited about.

Everyone that works there that I've interacted with have been amazing human beings. That also matters to me personally.
Click to expand...
Yeah. Kinda of looking for a jazz set that doesn't sound scooped in the mids.
As long as it fits in a standard jazz set size.
I'm not going to route anything anymore.
Been there....way too much $$$ dumped.

Me wanting the impossible.
 
#12,443
ugly_bassplayer said:
Yeah. Kinda of looking for a jazz set that doesn't sound scooped in the mids.
As long as it fits in a standard jazz set size.
I'm not going to route anything anymore.
Been there....way too much $$$ dumped.

Me wanting the impossible.
Click to expand...
Have you ever tried the Dimarzio J pickups? The originals? More mid forward. Great pickups. Model J I think.
 
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#12,444
ugly_bassplayer said:
What sets them apart from the huge selection they have?
I’m completely lost due to the sheer amount of pickups they have and the lack of clear descriptions and/or sound clips.
Click to expand...

i know the guy who used to be the head of the shop. see that pickup in my avatar? we took some of carey's designs and hyped and overwound them. total skunk works stuff.

anwyay, that's a 6-coil pickup:
first line is two p coils (B-A and D-C strings)
second line is two p coils (same)
third line is two j coils (same) [closest to the bridge]

the first and second line use a 5-position rotary switch:
1. first line p
2. second line p
3. split p
4. reverse split p
5. all four coils



my headless basses are all hyped/overwound mm coils.

each pickup is made up of two mm coils (B-A and D-C)
 
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#12,445
ugly_bassplayer said:
Yeah. Kinda of looking for a jazz set that doesn't sound scooped in the mids.
As long as it fits in a standard jazz set size.
I'm not going to route anything anymore.
Been there....way too much $$$ dumped.

Me wanting the impossible.
Click to expand...

it's worth asking them about that. it could be about putting a different coil structure in a jazz shell. i recall that the blades are based on somethign different.

it's also worth considering that some of what makes the jazz could be the thing you don't like.

i once talked to carey about p vs. j. i remember this his comment being along the lines of the p sounds like it's built: short and fat; the jazz sounds like it's built, tall and skinny.

then you get into *where* the pickup is hearing the string. i don't remember exactly what we did, but we looked at where the front jazz, middle of the split p and the front a musicman were and designed where we were gonna put my headless bass pickups based on that.

i think i remember mike pope saying something about there being phase things when both pickups are engaged. unfortunately i don't remember the whole thing (or might even have heard it wrong . . . ).
 
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#12,446
steubig said:
it's worth asking them about that. it could be about putting a different coil structure in a jazz shell. i recall that the blades are based on somethign different.

it's also worth considering that some of what makes the jazz could be the thing you don't like.

i once talked to carey about p vs. j. i remember this his comment being along the lines of the p sounds like it's built: short and fat; the jazz sounds like it's built, tall and skinny.

then you get into *where* the pickup is hearing the string. i don't remember exactly what we did, but we looked at where the front jazz, middle of the split p and the front a musicman were and designed where we were gonna put my headless bass pickups based on that.

i think i remember mike pope saying something about there being phase things when both pickups are engaged. unfortunately i don't remember the whole thing (or might even have heard it wrong . . . ).
Click to expand...
It’s the phase issue that I have a hard time with. It almost sounds “wrong” now to me.
When combining two pickups this is inevitable.
I guess I’ll just keep the bass as it is by nature. I ain’t gonna fight science and physics cuz that one I’m sure to loose.
 
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#12,447
I have this same issue with J sets, or really any multi pickup arrangement. I almost always run a single pickup at a time on multiple pickups, or if I run two, one is clearly dominant.

There is something about the wide aperture of the P-style pickup that just sounds "right" to me, though I prefer a more extended low and high (hence the MFD and Bill Lawrence).

So, since we have BigRig fans in the thread, how do those handle the humbucker thing differently than a parallel coil or a split? My complaint about soap bars usually is that they sound too, well, boxy to me, or too anemic.
 
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#12,448
JES said:
I have this same issue with J sets, or really any multi pickup arrangement. I almost always run a single pickup at a time on multiple pickups, or if I run two, one is clearly dominant.

There is something about the wide aperture of the P-style pickup that just sounds "right" to me, though I prefer a more extended low and high (hence the MFD and Bill Lawrence).

So, since we have BigRig fans in the thread, how do those handle the humbucker thing differently than a parallel coil or a split? My complaint about soap bars usually is that they sound too, well, boxy to me, or too anemic.
Click to expand...
How about fitting a big rig in a single J cover??
:)
 
#12,449
JES said:
I have this same issue with J sets, or really any multi pickup arrangement. I almost always run a single pickup at a time on multiple pickups, or if I run two, one is clearly dominant.

There is something about the wide aperture of the P-style pickup that just sounds "right" to me, though I prefer a more extended low and high (hence the MFD and Bill Lawrence).

So, since we have BigRig fans in the thread, how do those handle the humbucker thing differently than a parallel coil or a split? My complaint about soap bars usually is that they sound too, well, boxy to me, or too anemic.
Click to expand...
The BigRig is a '51 P pickup doubled and separated, creating a wide aperture, hum canceling pickup. In this regard it has that early single coil P pickup sound, but wider. It sounds like a less grunty, more polite P pickup. I run mine in series for a bigger sound with more midrange. Have always run my pickups in series.

I also prefer a single pickup sound. What I do is run my neck pickup full up all the time, and will sometimes blend in a touch of the bridge pickup to tighten up the sound. It allows me some flexibility without having phasing issues.
 
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#12,452
My favorite reggae bass is a jazz with an s1 switch to run the pickups in series. Series jazz pickups + labella flats = massive reggae tone. Kinda like a p but bigger to my ears.

My other jazz basses sound a bit anemic by comparison but they cut through the mix better in my main band.

The only p kinda bass I have is a squier ss jag Fralin pj with a broken j pickup. Super lightweight and sounds good enough to use on my last album for about half the songs.
 
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#12,457
hey, with all this pickup talk....
When one gets a coil tap, does that involve an actual rewire inside the pickup? I ask because as I mentioned previously, I'm not really happy with the Dual Coils in my CB, and if I like the Zen Blade on my Miezo, I may switch to those. Problem is, the CB has parallel, series and coil tap switch... is it just a matter of resoldering, or do I need to go and physically do something inside the pickup? Or is it something Nordstrand would do on request?
 
#12,458
lordradish said:
hey, with all this pickup talk....
When one gets a coil tap, does that involve an actual rewire inside the pickup? I ask because as I mentioned previously, I'm not really happy with the Dual Coils in my CB, and if I like the Zen Blade on my Miezo, I may switch to those. Problem is, the CB has parallel, series and coil tap switch... is it just a matter of resoldering, or do I need to go and physically do something inside the pickup? Or is it something Nordstrand would do on request?
Click to expand...
Check with Nordstrand to be sure, but it's just rewiring with the pickup wires that are already there. There's nothing that you would do to the pickups themselves.
 
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