Big Singles vs. Darkstars

[anonymous122511]

Anyone having experience with both Nordstrand Big Singles and Darkstars care to make a comparison?

 

[anonymous122511]

Huh, I thought some Darkstar affectionato might have tried both since new Darkstars seem to be a thing of the past and the sales pitch and some reviews of the Big Singles might lead you to believe it was a similar sounding pickup. Maybe it's guinea pig time....

 

[Jefenator]

You are no doubt aware of the Chi-Sonic pickups, which some say sound pretty similar to Dark Star?

FWIW I will soon be a guinea pig with the Aero Type 4 pickup on a P-bass. Could be the next best thing to a Dark Star mod (maybe even better) - I predict it will have not quite so crazy hot output and a more natural frequency response. (Will start a new thread with my exact findings.)

In the meantime, I'm definitely big-single curious, so I'm subscribed!

 

[OPBASSMAN1994]

I wonder what a Rickenbacker with dark stars sounds like... 0.0

 

[Ric5]

I have ordered a Nordstrand Big Single for my Rickenbacker.

 

[lando_zeus]

Sorry for the resurrection, but Ric5, how did you like the Nordy with your Ric?

 

[Ric5]

I like the Nordstrand pickups.

I put one in this Ric here ...

That bass came with pickups that had 2 1/4" steel rails.

As you can see 2 1/4" does not cover a 3" string spacing.

A previous owner had Bartolini pickups installed and it was wired passive. This made the bass to mellow for my taste. So I installed an Audere 4 band preamp and put the Big Single pickup in the bridge position. This gave the bass more of a rickenbacker tone.

 

[Doner Designs]

Zombie thread warning...but why start a new one with the same question.

Since the time that this thread was started, Curtis Novak has come out with a Darkstar reissue. I think there may be one available from Guild as well but the string spacing might be unusual. At any rate, now that they are back, anyone able to compare and contrast Darkstar vs Big Single?

 

[Bass4LifeRS]

When I had a Darkstar p-bass I thought it sounded like a SCPB but fatter bigger more responsive and better. I now have a bass with big Splits and the neck pickup sounds like a big jazz neck pickup but not like a SCPB. Ymmv

 

[Doner Designs]

When I had a Darkstar p-bass I thought it sounded like a SCPB but fatter bigger more responsive and better. I now have a bass with big Splits and the neck pickup sounds like a big jazz neck pickup but not like a SCPB. Ymmv

Thanks but what is SCPB?

 

[The_Phoenician]

Single coil Precision bass (the original Tele bass design).