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Club Bordwell Part 3

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#101
Also speaking of pups (to some degree) does anyone have a mag + piezo set-up in their Bordwell? I asked Cliff about the possibility, and besides some possible compatibility issues (with a pre), he mentioned that they usually don't sound as great as they should. My build will have the Nordy Fatstacks and the Audere pre w/ Z-mode.

The "choice" I'm looking into now is mag + piezo (all active), or just the Nordy's plus a passive switch and tone control.

I'd be inclined to go with Cliff...who better than to know what sounds best coming out of his shop...?
 
#103
There aren't too many people doing piezo's right. What Harvey Citron uses in his basses sounds incredible....same with Rick Turner. Rick is the piezo king, but good luck getting in touch with him. I've tried multiple times. Anything off the shelf piezo wise sounds terrible....they need a great deal of eq'ing to make them sound good.
 
#105
spade2you said:
I agree they generally need some EQing, but nothing beyond what the onboard can do. Some of the tone is the EQ, but a lot can be technique. That being said, I probably wouldn't order one on a fretted bass, but enjoy it on my Conklin to the point I use the piezo much more than the mags.
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It would be the Hipshot Piezo bridge on the SC fretless 5er (E-C) Cliff is building me. The "problem" I have...is that it is simply one of those things you just can't "try" someplace and say "yay", or "nay". Also, Cliff mentioned that a battery box would be required in order to fit everything...so now we're looking at doing things that I hadn't originally wanted (or thought of). I don't know...I was just hoping someone had a Bordwell w/ a piezo + mag set-up and some sound clips.
 
#107
echoSE7EN said:
It would be the Hipshot Piezo bridge on the SC fretless 5er (E-C) Cliff is building me. The "problem" I have...is that it is simply one of those things you just can't "try" someplace and say "yay", or "nay". Also, Cliff mentioned that a battery box would be required in order to fit everything...so now we're looking at doing things that I hadn't originally wanted (or thought of). I don't know...I was just hoping someone had a Bordwell w/ a piezo + mag set-up and some sound clips.
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Now that you mention it I did play a bass with one of those Hipshot piezo bridges. It was ok once I cut most of the treble.
 
#108
Vic said:
Quite frankly, no personal experience. I simply chose them because that's what was in KwTut's bass and I just loved how it sat in the mix.
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This is certainly reason enough.


Vic said:
Further, I've had NO previous experience with Aeros at all except maybe a little time spent on Lakland basses. I just know them to have a good reputation, so I went with them. The good news is, I think Cliff uses the size J pickups that everybody also makes, so it should be possible to swap pickups around if one so desired... like for example if I wanted to try a set of NJ5S for hum canceling. But I dig the single coil sound so much I'm just kinda' into that right now.
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Also, a good point on switching pickups at a later date...if so desired.

Vic said:
So right now, I have some different basses with J style pickups in them... Roscoe Century with Bartolini CB singles (ash/pau), Sadowsky with their SD based singles (ash/maple), Nordy VJ5C with 70's wind NJ5L's (ash/maple), Carvin SB5000 with their new J99A's (ash/ebony), VF5 with George's singles (alder/rosewood), an AC LG5 with Jimmy's 60's wind long singles (alder/rosewood), and now the Ball 5 with Aeros (ash/maple).

It wouldn't really make sense to try and compare/contrast them all due to so many other changes in the instruments themselves, but clearly I'm into that sound, and all the above sound great to me as far as pickup types go.
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I can appreciate the fact that you have many differing variables in each build, each contributing unique characteristics to the overall sound stew.
 
#109
echoSE7EN said:
It would be the Hipshot Piezo bridge on the SC fretless 5er (E-C) Cliff is building me. The "problem" I have...is that it is simply one of those things you just can't "try" someplace and say "yay", or "nay". Also, Cliff mentioned that a battery box would be required in order to fit everything...so now we're looking at doing things that I hadn't originally wanted (or thought of). I don't know...I was just hoping someone had a Bordwell w/ a piezo + mag set-up and some sound clips.
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Double check with Audere, but I can't see why a Hipshot piezo wouldn't sound fine on a fretless parallel chamber.

Look on the bright side, if you don't like the piezo, the pickups will still work just fine.
 
#111
echoSE7EN said:
My build will have the Nordy Fatstacks and the Audere pre w/ Z-mode.
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Do you have previous experience with the Audere and love that preamp? Otherwise, I'd strongly suggest going with the Nordy preamp... especially with Nordstrand pickups. Pure personal choice on this, but I never really got along with the Audere. Super well made, but the tone just didn't really grab me.

emjazz said:
I forgot to mention Rob Allen. I've heard great things but haven't played one myself.
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I've played several, and love them. FWIW.

TapyTap said:
Also, a good point on switching pickups at a later date...if so desired.
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I'm pretty sure this is true, but double check with Cliff to be sure.
 
#112
Vic said:
Don't write off Bart, SD, or DiMarzio. Lots of great J pickups there.

Ok, so here's the good/bad news... there's about a BAZILLION J type pickups out there... so way cool, you have a huge selection to choose from, but... oh crap, you have a huge selection to choose from. :)
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So I've noticed. :D Originally, I wanted to go with Q-tuners, but the designer has since taken a break from making them. It's nice to know that so many options exist, but it can be a daunting task to pick from the bunch.

Vic said:
A long time ago, BP mag did a J pickup shootout... I don't know if it's still out there online anywhere, but I think if you can find it, or a copy of it, much of its data is still useful, and there were LOTS of pickups they went through on it, and got into some pretty good detail on each set, even had results collected in tabular form for quicker reference.

But if you don't want to do that kind of research, I'd suggest getting opinions from Cliff, or maybe another luthier who uses J style pickups but maybe doesn't necessarily make/sell them.
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Research is my friend, and I definitely value Cliff's opinions. Thanks for mentioning the Bass Player Article...I'll try to check that out. Ultimately, I will give Cliff's opinion the greatest weight in the matter.

Vic said:
While I'm at it, Aguilar has some really great J style pickups out there now too... heard a set in a Spector Coda and they were really great! Oops, sorry, just made it worse. :)
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:D
 
#114
Vic said:
Do you have previous experience with the Audere and love that preamp? Otherwise, I'd strongly suggest going with the Nordy preamp... especially with Nordstrand pickups. Pure personal choice on this, but I never really got along with the Audere. Super well made, but the tone just didn't really grab me.
Click to expand...

I'd have to agree on not digging the Audere. I really wanted to like it but just never warmed up to it.
 
#116
Vic said:
Do you have previous experience with the Audere and love that preamp? Otherwise, I'd strongly suggest going with the Nordy preamp... especially with Nordstrand pickups. Pure personal choice on this, but I never really got along with the Audere. Super well made, but the tone just didn't really grab me.
Click to expand...

I like the Audere quite a bit. I've had (and have) Bart and J. East preamps, and have played my buddy's J that has an Audere in it. Both the John East and Audere stuff has a nice transparency to it, but I find that the Audere is a bit more tweakable than my East (also in a J). I think I like the Audere in my buddy's bass more (grass is greener mentality...maybe). And it should be noted that we have the same Barts (9CBJD1) in both our basses.

I have zero experience with Nordy preamps, but it looks as though only one configuration (3-band) would work for me, as I do not want stacked pots. However, the Nordy also has push/pull knobs of which I am not a fan. I much prefer switches like the ones on the East and Audere stuff. That's just a preference thing for speed in changing and less "wear and tear" on the pots.
 
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