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Badass black basses!

#481
Verne Andru said:
I got my set back in 2005 and wrote them up here -> https://www.talkbass.com/threads/q-tuners-are-good-for-nothing.166151/

They are the brainchild of Erno, a gentleman in the Netherlands who suffers Asperger's, which makes him a bit of a propeller-head for this type of thing. I've not been in contact with him for a number of years but recall he was ill and may have now passed. I helped them with their marketing, particularly helping them write copy that most normal people could understand; their materials were very technical and English wasn't their main language. IIRC there may have been some legal issues with people ripping off their tech that was causing problems as they got more successful.

Unlike other pickup designs that use a wide magnetic field and almost brute-force to create an electrical signal, Q-Tuners use a definable part of the frequency spectrum - the Q in a parametric EQ - that you "tune" with the screws appearing as pole-pieces around the windings. The windings are computer controlled to be perfectly matched between sides, making them the quietest pickups made and the greatest bass tone you'll ever hear.
Click to expand...
I remember they were kinda dormant for a while, and when they started producing their 2.0 pickups, they had changed their design such that the adjustable screws had gone away. My pickups are the revised design, with no adjustable pieces other than the mounting screws.
 
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#482
BlueTalon said:
I've had good luck with taking chances on speculative/intuitive purchases of spendy pickups. Fender Super 55, Delano JC 4 HE/M2, Häussel BassBar, all have resulted in phenomenal sounding basses, and they are all pickups I'd never heard before having them put in my basses. Sometime in 2024, a Rickenbacker-inspired bass with three Q-Tuner pickups will be finished (I bought the pickups a few years ago), and I'll finally get to hear what those sound like as well. I have high hopes.
Click to expand...
FWIW here is something I did with the Q-Tuners - in a way it is my signature Q-Tuner tune as it started as a bass riff using those pickups:

 
#483
BlueTalon said:
I remember they were kinda dormant for a while, and when they started producing their 2.0 pickups, they had changed their design such that the adjustable screws had gone away. My pickups are the revised design, with no adjustable pieces other than the mounting screws.
Click to expand...
I seem to recall seeing that. Not sure why they did that other than people just didn't get it and they sought to make them more plug and play? They are certainly set-and-forget controls, but that's just a guess.
 
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#485
Here's my almost completed bass, which is dark enough to be included in this thread IMO.
LynnRic1.jpg LynnRic.jpg
 
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#486
BlueTalon said:
I've had good luck with taking chances on speculative/intuitive purchases of spendy pickups. Fender Super 55, Delano JC 4 HE/M2, Häussel BassBar, all have resulted in phenomenal sounding basses, and they are all pickups I'd never heard before having them put in my basses. Sometime in 2024, a Rickenbacker-inspired bass with three Q-Tuner pickups will be finished (I bought the pickups a few years ago), and I'll finally get to hear what those sound like as well. I have high hopes.
Click to expand...

That's cool - hope they exceed your expectations! :bassist:
 
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#489
Verne Andru said:
I got my set back in 2005 and wrote them up here -> https://www.talkbass.com/threads/q-tuners-are-good-for-nothing.166151/

They are the brainchild of Erno, a gentleman in the Netherlands who suffers Asperger's, which makes him a bit of a propeller-head for this type of thing. I've not been in contact with him for a number of years but recall he was ill and may have now passed. I helped them with their marketing, particularly helping them write copy that most normal people could understand; their materials were very technical and English wasn't their main language. IIRC there may have been some legal issues with people ripping off their tech that was causing problems as they got more successful.

Unlike other pickup designs that use a wide magnetic field and almost brute-force to create an electrical signal, Q-Tuners use a definable part of the frequency spectrum - the Q in a parametric EQ - that you "tune" with the screws appearing as pole-pieces around the windings. The windings are computer controlled to be perfectly matched between sides, making them the quietest pickups made and the greatest bass tone you'll ever hear.
Click to expand...

Wow - that sounds crazy complicated. I'm sure they sound great... but so do a lot of other less complicated pu's. I'm all for creative innovation - but at a certain level, how much 'better than great' is really useful to any level of player?
 
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#491
JIO said:
Dig the rainbow silks - how did you manage that? :thumbsup: Perfect on an all black bass.
Click to expand...
TBH, I can't remember what those strings are. Possibly D'addario or DRs.

The hardware was swapped to black. The bridge is a Gotoh ( I think) and the tuners are Wilkinson. It's out on extended loan to my laddie atm, so never got around to replacing the mini-switch or the strap buttons.
 
#492
Verne Andru said:
I got my set back in 2005 and wrote them up here -> https://www.talkbass.com/threads/q-tuners-are-good-for-nothing.166151/

They are the brainchild of Erno, a gentleman in the Netherlands who suffers Asperger's, which makes him a bit of a propeller-head for this type of thing. I've not been in contact with him for a number of years but recall he was ill and may have now passed. I helped them with their marketing, particularly helping them write copy that most normal people could understand; their materials were very technical and English wasn't their main language. IIRC there may have been some legal issues with people ripping off their tech that was causing problems as they got more successful.

Unlike other pickup designs that use a wide magnetic field and almost brute-force to create an electrical signal, Q-Tuners use a definable part of the frequency spectrum - the Q in a parametric EQ - that you "tune" with the screws appearing as pole-pieces around the windings. The windings are computer controlled to be perfectly matched between sides, making them the quietest pickups made and the greatest bass tone you'll ever hear.
Click to expand...
I had forgotten about these! I planned to put a set into a Jazz, many years ago, but they dropped off my radar for some reason.
 
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#494
JIO said:
Wow - that sounds crazy complicated. I'm sure they sound great... but so do a lot of other less complicated pu's. I'm all for creative innovation - but at a certain level, how much 'better than great' is really useful to any level of player?
Click to expand...
It's up to the individual's choice at the end of the day. Since my BB405 came with non-hum cancelling J-bass pickups I decided when I bought it I would swap them out. Since I was starting from scratch there were no darlings to kill so I looked for the best I could find within a reasonable price, which lead to the Q-Tuners. They have a very deep, open and throaty tone I've not heard in other pickups and am very happy with my choice. They are not a P, a J or a MM and that's exactly the point. Plus they look uber cool.
 
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#495
Verne Andru said:
It's up to the individual's choice at the end of the day. Since my BB405 came with non-hum cancelling J-bass pickups I decided when I bought it I would swap them out. Since I was starting from scratch there were no darlings to kill so I looked for the best I could find within a reasonable price, which lead to the Q-Tuners. They have a very deep, open and throaty tone I've not heard in other pickups and am very happy with my choice. They are not a P, a J or a MM and that's exactly the point. Plus they look uber cool.
Click to expand...

I'd like to hear them someday. :thumbsup:
 
#496
JIO said:
I'd like to hear them someday. :thumbsup:
Click to expand...
How about today? Some links were alreay posted ^^ above including the thread I made when they were installed:

https://www.talkbass.com/threads/q-tuners-are-good-for-nothing.166151/

It contains links to these clips I recorded before and after installation making sure the recording set up was identical to be the best A / B I could get:

http://www.verneandru.com/WebApp/Downloads/Audio/Q-TunerPepsiChallange.mp3

Here's a few tunes I recorded with the Q-Tuners showing how they sit in a busy mix:

http://www.verneandru.com/WebApp/Downloads/Audio/OpenYourMind-premaster-04.mp3
http://www.verneandru.com/WebApp/Downloads/Audio/DV8.mp3
http://www.verneandru.com/WebApp/Downloads/Audio/Somnium-premaster-04.mp3
 
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