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Ok, WHO was it that told you to talk to Joe first? HHHMMMMM?????
So what do you guys now have your neck pickup set to height-wise? Just gimme a distance to the bottom of the string when the string is fretted at the last fret.
Ohh, ick, yeah, I was thinking of a pickup wind that didn't add bigness at the price of highs, I was more thinking of a pickup wind that essentially increased gain and would hopefully be similar in many ways as what we do by boosting all the eq bands. I know it wouldn't sound "the same", but maybe at least a lot better to the folks who do simply start out by boosting everything.
Wow, that did work out well for you! Man, no way I could play that spacing tho... I've tried to deal with it on Warwick 5's and just could not get into it.
Ok, that makes sense, and when I do boost eq, I pretty much do the same thing, so I see your point now. Yeah, I rarely boost the treble myself, and I know what you mean about pickups wound to emphasize the meat... they do tend to be a bit dull on the high end and I really don't like that.
Forgot to thank you for this. I'm gonna' check mine tonight.
Forgot to thank you for this. I'm gonna' check mine tonight.
On minor niggle with mine is, I'm gonna' have to sand on the pickguard. The neck pickup is REALLY tight in it, and I can't really adjust the pickup "up" very easily. Been puttin' it off, but I gotta' do it. Next string change, which is soon anyway.
What strings are you using on your alder/rw? I can't recall what you said (tho I think you did). I'm assuming nickels?
Cool. I'm gonna' throw some LR SS's on there then. I think I currently have HB SS's on it... pretty cool for the sizzle, but a bit more grind would be cool.
Hey guys. I have quite a few hours now with the VF5, and after my initial panic (the neck pickup was set very low compared to the bridge, so all I could get was a kind of 'burp' from the bass 'out of the box'), I put a new set of Lo Rider steels on it, raised that neck pickup about 1/4" or a touch more, cranked the preamp a bit (about halfway bass, 1/4 mid, and just a touch of treble), and I've had great luck getting it to sound VERY similar to my beloved A-C LM5... even a bit grittier and Fendery-er (that's at least partially due to the VF5 having Lo Riders and the A-C LM having the sweeter, smoother, sizzlier Hi Beams).
One of the cool things about the VF is that, given how nicely voiced the mid control is, you can favor the bridge pickup, dial in more midrange and kind of mimic the 'burp' of a J with 60's bridge pickup placement... not exactly, but my point is, you can fatten it up a bit more than with the 2 band pre on the A-C and most other 'boutique' J's. Also, the way the treble and mids are voiced on the pre, you can vary the tone quite a bit from traditional to quite 'modern, wide, sizzly' whatever. The A-C is more of an 'is what it is' bass.
Anyway, here's the 'test rig' and a picture of both basses side by side for reference. The VF is smaller at the nut (1 3/4" vs 1 7/8's for the A-C) and the neck is a bit smaller all around (less wood outside the B and G strings and a touch more 'flattened' on the C profile). George's neck finish feels like raw wood (kind of like an oil finish feel), whereas Jimmy's satin poly feels very smooth and, well, satin poly finished!
The VF has a more modern fretboard radius (compound that flattens out) versus the more old school constant 10" radius on the A-C. I like both.
The VF with the pre boosts set where I think the bass sounds the best is about the same output level as the A-C set flat with just a touch of bass boost... which makes it easy to go back and forth.
The VF is about a pound heavier than the A-C (10.5 versus 9 and change).
Anyway, nice bass, nice and 'Fendery' but with a more modern feel and look. That's a pretty powerful combination. Nice job George!
I may put up a clip or two later on. It sounds pretty darn good!
It's been interesting to catch up to the discussion and see its evolution. Joe's advice makes sense. When I'm dialing for Marcus, I lower the volume of my bridge pickup a bit, and boost the preamp... which isn't raising the neck pickup but tells me I've been reading for the same adjustments.
+1 In fact, I play mine passive a lot when I'm practicing, and when I'm playing with my Demeter head in which case I often let the Demeter do all the shaping.
I'm glad you put "optimal" in quotes since optimal is so relative and subjective. And you are right, it does seem logical to do it that way.
I never ever suggested that at all. If anything, all I'd say is, why can't we have both? Why would should they be mutually exclusive?
This is what I figured you meant, and it makes a lot of sense to me as well. Kinda' treat it as a boost/cut thing instead of boost only.
BIG +1
