I decided to post this under basses instead of pickups because this is also about a bass I'm enjoying quite a bit.
I was just looking for a beater bass to maybe turn into fretless or maybe just put flatwounds on - I guess just a project to fool around with and have a different bass. So I picked up an old, early 80's Yamaha BB300 for next to nothing. It needed a lot of setup and I've got some lightweight tuners on order because it has a bit of neck dive ... but the neck feels really good and after a good setup, the action is low and fast and really comfortable. Reminds me of a pre-CBS Fender in a lot of ways. The stock pickup is pretty weak though.
So I bought a used Barden split P from a TB'er and slapped in there just to see how it sounds and OMG, this thing is so damn hot. I have to turn the volume way down to get it to match my other basses (which have fairly hot pickups).
I'm trying to decide what I think about it - it certainly is a blast to play, but it's more work since you have to play really clean -- this pickup reveals even the lightest brush against a string. Since I'm fairly new and practicing hard on my technique, I'm finding that it's really teaching me a lot to practice on this bass while trying reduce the string noise as much as possible.
The brightest strings I have (Prosteel stainless rounds) are on my other Yamaha (BB1200s) with stock Yamaha reverse P (higher end Yamaha and much better pickup than the stock pup that was in this BB300) and I took the oldest, dullest strings I have and put on the bass with the Barden --- it's still way brighter than the bass with the bright strings. I'm thinking I need some flats.
Anyway ... I'm curious to hear your experience with the Barden split P and how you like it.
I was just looking for a beater bass to maybe turn into fretless or maybe just put flatwounds on - I guess just a project to fool around with and have a different bass. So I picked up an old, early 80's Yamaha BB300 for next to nothing. It needed a lot of setup and I've got some lightweight tuners on order because it has a bit of neck dive ... but the neck feels really good and after a good setup, the action is low and fast and really comfortable. Reminds me of a pre-CBS Fender in a lot of ways. The stock pickup is pretty weak though.
So I bought a used Barden split P from a TB'er and slapped in there just to see how it sounds and OMG, this thing is so damn hot. I have to turn the volume way down to get it to match my other basses (which have fairly hot pickups).
I'm trying to decide what I think about it - it certainly is a blast to play, but it's more work since you have to play really clean -- this pickup reveals even the lightest brush against a string. Since I'm fairly new and practicing hard on my technique, I'm finding that it's really teaching me a lot to practice on this bass while trying reduce the string noise as much as possible.
The brightest strings I have (Prosteel stainless rounds) are on my other Yamaha (BB1200s) with stock Yamaha reverse P (higher end Yamaha and much better pickup than the stock pup that was in this BB300) and I took the oldest, dullest strings I have and put on the bass with the Barden --- it's still way brighter than the bass with the bright strings. I'm thinking I need some flats.
Anyway ... I'm curious to hear your experience with the Barden split P and how you like it.
