Best Pickups/Preamps? Or recommendations

[HowardBassHead1]

Hi!

So I'm finally getting my dream bass made by Martin and workshop crew at Sei bass, its gonna be a 22", 25 fret, 5 string, buckeye burl top, walnut wings, maple and walnut neckthru!

But I need to think about the pickups and preamps and its not something I know too much about. I play primarily blues in a three piece band, meaning that the bass needs to have a fair bit of presence to be heard in the band.

The best pickups I've ever heard was in a Sandberg Forty Eight Bass and that used a splitcoil and a power humbucker. From my understanding, a humbucker is the same as a dual coil which you'd want at the neck to get that warm tone, then a single coil is more crisp, which you'd want at the bridge.

It's something I want to get right as it forms a massive part of the sound! And I'm guessing that more expensive usually means better? So just looking for some recommendations.

I like playing with soapbars and I like barts. Am I overthinking this? Or should I just slap some dual coil Barts in?

Cheers,
H

 

[ctmullins]

1. Welcome to the forum!
2. There is no such thing as “best”, only “what gives my ears the tone I like from this bass”.
3. Every manufacturer in your poll makes a number of different high-quality pickups. And there are a hundred other companies out there as well.
4. There is an absolute kaleidoscope of tones available in pickups these days.
5. I find that the bass dictates the pickups. I’ve had pickups that were amazing in one bass, but sounded lifeless in another.
6. Because of 5., you may need to experiment with different pickups to find a good match for your new bass.
7. Because of 6., I recommend a standard soapbar size (either a Bart size or an EMG size), which will accommodate a large number of different options from a large number of different manufacturers.
8. I very much prefer a fat-sounding humbucker at the bridge and a crisp single coil at the neck.

 

[HowardBassHead1]

Hey! Thanks for your detailed advice and great to be here!

When I say “best” of course that’s completely subjective and I’m sure all those brands all create high quality products. Maybe I was wondering how they differ?

Experimenting with differed pickups sounds expensive but worthwile, so I guess I’ll try pick a standard sized soap bar and hope the first one I pick sounds good! Then I’ve got options to change later if needs be.

Also great to hear that that configuration works for you too!

Another consideration is how to wire them, series or parrellel?

 

[ctmullins]

With dual-coil passive pickups, many people enjoy having the option of switching amongst series/parallel/single. Three distinct tones. Me, I usually prefer the beef of series, so I stopped installing switches.

And - my preferred configuration is actually the opposite of what you mentioned. I like a full-sounding pickup at the bridge to compensate for the naturally thin tone at that position, and a pickup with lots of clarity at the neck to help maintain note definition.

 

[HowardBassHead1]

Ah that’s cool, so even if I went for both dual coil pickups, you can switch them on the fly for complete versatility. That sounds very ideal

I guess it depends on how you wire it and what the preamp allows?

 

[Zooberwerx]

Can’t go wrong with Nordstrand…question is which platform?

Riis

 

[ctmullins]

Ah that’s cool, so even if I went for both dual coil pickups, you can switch them on the fly for complete versatility. That sounds very ideal

I guess it depends on how you wire it and what the preamp allows?

The pickups, along with any switching, are upstream of the preamp. So you can implement any switching you want, and the output of the switching circuit gets fed into the preamp input.

 

[themickster]

Hi!

So I'm finally getting my dream bass made by Martin and workshop crew at Sei bass, its gonna be a 22", 25 fret, 5 string, buckeye burl top, walnut wings, maple and walnut neckthru!

But I need to think about the pickups and preamps and its not something I know too much about. I play primarily blues in a three piece band, meaning that the bass needs to have a fair bit of presence to be heard in the band.

The best pickups I've ever heard was in a Sandberg Forty Eight Bass and that used a splitcoil and a power humbucker. From my understanding, a humbucker is the same as a dual coil which you'd want at the neck to get that warm tone, then a single coil is more crisp, which you'd want at the bridge.

It's something I want to get right as it forms a massive part of the sound! And I'm guessing that more expensive usually means better? So just looking for some recommendations.

I like playing with soapbars and I like barts. Am I overthinking this? Or should I just slap some dual coil Barts in?

Cheers,
H

What's the best colour for a shirt? If you think Nords are the best, which of the many models?

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

Hi!

So I'm finally getting my dream bass made by Martin and workshop crew at Sei bass, its gonna be a 22", 25 fret, 5 string, buckeye burl top, walnut wings, maple and walnut neckthru!

But I need to think about the pickups and preamps and its not something I know too much about. I play primarily blues in a three piece band, meaning that the bass needs to have a fair bit of presence to be heard in the band.

The best pickups I've ever heard was in a Sandberg Forty Eight Bass and that used a splitcoil and a power humbucker. From my understanding, a humbucker is the same as a dual coil which you'd want at the neck to get that warm tone, then a single coil is more crisp, which you'd want at the bridge.

It's something I want to get right as it forms a massive part of the sound! And I'm guessing that more expensive usually means better? So just looking for some recommendations.

I like playing with soapbars and I like barts. Am I overthinking this? Or should I just slap some dual coil Barts in?

Cheers,
H

You are getting a bass made. You're asking about pickups, but you never said what they're routing the pickups out for. Are you making a P bass? Pj? JJ? MM? JP? JMM? PB? MMMM? PMM? HB? DHB? HBPJ? Soaps (P2, P3, EMG35, etc)?

Nobody can help you if you don't say what the shapes of pickups you're going to put in your bass are, and what sounds you're going for.

 

[PrimitiveMan]

Yeah question is wayyyyy too broad. I love pickups by all of the manufacturers you listed. Depends on what sound and style bass you are going for

 

[J Wilson]

Do Sei themselves have any recommendations? They'd have the most experience in what did or didn't sound good in their axes possibly.

 

[wysiwyg248]

Martin and workshop crew at Sei bass

Can you ask them for sound samples of instruments to try out before selecting? Do you know which sound are you after?

 

[Snert]

Because of 6., I recommend a standard soapbar size (either a Bart size or an EMG size), which will accommodate a large number of different options from a large number of different manufacturers.

I vote for EMG sizes as there seem to be more options available, and
9. Where are the pickups going to be positioned? That will have just as much affect on tone as many pickups themselves.

Edit: agree with the last two posts about knowing what tone you're after, and if not looking at clips on pick models, and asking Sei for recommendations.

 

[PotsdamBass8]

EMG, Bart, and Nordstrand all have so many different offerings, as others have said. As others have said, you really need to nail down the type and location of the pickups before deciding a manufacturer. However, I do think that using soapbar shapes allows for more flexibility after the bass is built. EMG especially has so many different types of pickups in the soapbar shape, and they are super easy to swap in and out with the quick connect. If there’s any uncertainty about double coil/single coil/split coil, that would be my vote.

 

[HowardBassHead1]

You are getting a bass made. You're asking about pickups, but you never said what they're routing the pickups out for. Are you making a P bass? Pj? JJ? MM? JP? JMM? PB? MMMM? PMM? HB? DHB? HBPJ? Soaps (P2, P3, EMG35, etc)?

Nobody can help you if you don't say what the shapes of pickups you're going to put in your bass are, and what sounds you're going for.

I do apologise I am a bit of a novice when it comes to pickups and gear hence why I’m reaching out in this forum!

I’m going for soaps!

 

[HowardBassHead1]

Can you ask them for sound samples of instruments to try out before selecting? Do you know which sound are you after?

I had reached out to them but I think they’re quite busy in the Workshop. I quite like a vintage, warm sound, but perhaps a bit of clarity to cut through in a three piece blues band.

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

I do apologise I am a bit of a novice when it comes to pickups and gear hence why I’m reaching out in this forum!

I’m going for soaps!

Dope.

Me, I'd go with big splits

 

[HowardBassHead1]

Cheers guys and thanks for all your advice! Everything now makes sense to me.

I’ll get a 3 band preamp, and then some soap bar pickups (will look out for some audio samples) and then I’ll get a toggle switch to split coil the neck pickup.

It’s really early in the build so no routing has happened yet and I’ve got a bit of time to finalise the pickup choice/size.

Just reading up on the big splits and they sound pretty ideal haha

This is the ultimate pickup for the Jazz Bass®-on-steroids tone purist.

 

[wysiwyg248]

I’ll get a 3 band preamp, and then some soap bar pickups (will look out for some audio samples) and then I’ll get a toggle switch to split coil the neck pickup.

I'm glad you sorted this out. Having a 3 band preamp will get you the flexibility to use the instrument for different gigs. Send pictures of the bass once you receive it!

 

[amper]

There's no such thing as "best" pickups. There are only pickups which you may or may not prefer. What I may or may not prefer will have no bearing on what you may or may not prefer.

I can tell you that for my next bass, the pickups I am strongly considering are:

Seymour Duncan Apollo Jazz Bass linear humbuckers
Lace Alumitone
GraphTech Ghost piezo pickups

I think these sound great, so you might want to give them a listen. Or not.