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Are Fender Noiseless Pickups Under-Rated?

#41
joelb79 said:
The super 55's are split coil. they even have an S silk screened in the cover to show where the split is, right in the middle. Fender probably is not wrong when they describe the product as a split coil pickup. It is a true side to side split coil, you can tell on the bottom of the pickup as well.

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Just wanted to correct bad information.
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which you created by quoting me out of context, so it meant the opposite of what i said
nono.gif

walterw said:
all fender noiseless versions except the old suhrs with the big single polepieces and the new "super 55" are stacks, not split-coils.
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#42
faulknersj said:
Mine is my number one....if i had to audition for something big....that's the one i would take. Post some pics of yours if u can...i'd love to see it....and chime back in after your gig!!
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Heres some pics taken by the previous owner together with info on the bass Invalid Link Removed (I will try and post better quality pics in a few days).
Will report back on performance after the weekend. Keep Rockin!:bassist:
 
#45
faulknersj said:
The add was removed, so I'll have to wait for your pics. Looking forward to it!
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Sorry about that. The link works fine this side of the pond. However I am a S**T photographer but it is exactly like the transparent ebony example in this link http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/JBassCCREBT but with a maple neck and mother of pearl block inlays. Came with all the case candy and immaculate condition
 
#47
faulknersj said:
I have the maple neck too...it is a thing of beauty!!!!
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Yea it sure is!- wonderful. I think I will prefer it over the Sadowsky NYC. I will A/B both at a gig on Saturday night and report back. I hope the Classic Jazz stands up tone wise to the Sadowsky as I am reluctant to start spending more money on preamp/pickup arrangements as it can lead to ongoing experimentation and related financial consequences.
 
#48
leroy diamond said:
Yea it sure is!- wonderful. I think I will prefer it over the Sadowsky NYC. I will A/B both at a gig on Saturday night and report back. I hope the Classic Jazz stands up tone wise to the Sadowsky as I am reluctant to start spending more money on preamp/pickup arrangements as it can lead to ongoing experimentation and related financial consequences.
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Had both the custom classic and Sadowsky JJ out on a gig last night. There is nothing to choose between the build and finish of both bases--the highest quality!. Took the custom classic out first. Very comfortable to play with the action set really low and not a hint of fret buzz. However I felt the sound was lost in the mix, though favouring the neck pickup produced solid lows though a little muddy. I then pulled out the sadowsky and immediately dialled in the sweet spot as I know the instrument very well and it immediately sang to me. real bite in the tone, just honky.
However after the gig to my surprise the guys in the band just loved what they heard from the custom classic and preferred it over the sadowsky!
Obviously I know the sadowsky very well so my plan is to stick with the custom classic for several gigs in order to become more familiar with the preamp and dial in my desired sound. Its a beautiful instrument for sure. Just very interesting that me and the guys disagreed regarding the tone.
 
#49
leroy diamond said:
However I felt the sound was lost in the mix, though favouring the neck pickup produced solid lows though a little muddy. I then pulled out the sadowsky and immediately dialled in the sweet spot as I know the instrument very well and it immediately sang to me. real bite in the tone, just honky.
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could it be that the band really just preferred the fuller sound of the favored neck pickup?
 
#50
Hopkins said:
I had an MIM Deluxe Jazz with them. They sounded fine, but the output was far less than any of my other basses. I don't know if it is the pickups that were that weak or the preamp in that bass.
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Those pickups are wound to give a low output because the preamp runs on 9V and won't have enough headroom to handle the boost it can produce with normal output level pickups. The pickups themselves are fine and they probably are underrated here. As with every other pickup if they don't give the tone you want your only option is to change them.

Ken
 
#51
khutch said:
Those pickups are wound to give a low output because the preamp runs on 9V and won't have enough headroom to handle the boost it can produce with normal output level pickups. The pickups themselves are fine and they probably are underrated here. As with every other pickup if they don't give the tone you want your only option is to change them.

Ken
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Well I learn something new every day. Thanks for the insight!
 
#54
For me, the 1st generation "noiseless" and the SCN sounded better than the cheap MIM and the Squier pickups (which really isn't saying much), but still lacked the bottom end authority, because the coils have to be out of phase to make them humbuckers, and this thins out the bottom end of the pickups.

I really, really like split coils. If they are wound properly, they sound very close to the vintage single coil real deal, just with no noise. And if you're going to put one in a P/J setup, I can't think of anything better, except possibly Lindy Fralin's Split Coils.
 
#55
iiipopes said:
For me, the 1st generation "noiseless" and the SCN sounded better than the cheap MIM and the Squier pickups (which really isn't saying much), but still lacked the bottom end authority, because the coils have to be out of phase to make them humbuckers, and this thins out the bottom end of the pickups.

I really, really like split coils. If they are wound properly, they sound very close to the vintage single coil real deal, just with no noise. And if you're going to put one in a P/J setup, I can't think of anything better, except possibly Lindy Fralin's Split Coils.
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The Noiseless pup just kills on my PJ! The output is even good relative to the P pup.
 
#58
iiipopes said:
For me, the 1st generation "noiseless" and the SCN sounded better than the cheap MIM and the Squier pickups (which really isn't saying much), but still lacked the bottom end authority, because the coils have to be out of phase to make them humbuckers, and this thins out the bottom end of the pickups.

I really, really like split coils. If they are wound properly, they sound very close to the vintage single coil real deal, just with no noise.
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agreed, stacks have a lot of signal loss due to the two coils "fighting" each other.

switch off the bottom coil of a stack pickup and it gets much louder and better sounding (and hums, of course).
 
#60
khutch said:
Those pickups are wound to give a low output because the preamp runs on 9V and won't have enough headroom to handle the boost it can produce with normal output level pickups. The pickups themselves are fine and they probably are underrated here. As with every other pickup if they don't give the tone you want your only option is to change them.

Ken
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Given that the noiseless pickups are wound to give a low output, I wonder would the fender super 55 be a compatible replacement using the same preamp?
 

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