Custom Bass PUs - Opinions Wanted

[siin82]

I am building a custom bass and was going to go with three pickups (why not):

Neck - Nordstrand The Bigman 4
Middle - Nordstrand NP4A
Bridge - Nordstrand The Bigman 4

My plan is to have one volume, one tone and 3 on/off toggle switches so that I can go with any combination of the three pickups on at a time.

I'm pretty sold on Nordstrand (have big singles in my other short scale custom bass and love them). My questions are:

1. Are three pickups overkill/not necessary?
2. If I were to only have two, would you eliminate the neck or bridge? I want the P (for sure) and have seen the MM pickup in either the bridge (schecter P-4) and neck (Billy Sheehan Yamaha).
3. Thoughts on going with musicman style PU in bridge and neck vs. Jazz PU (in either)
4. On/off switches vs. a 3 or 5 way toggle

This will be a 34" scale bass. The bass will only be played in a studio (not live). So, I'm thinking that would make the on/off switches more practical (on stage, it could be a pain in the you-know-what).

As for style, I play progressive hard rock that is jazz influenced. I'm actually a guitar player that plays bass on songs I record. The guitar is heavy (recto/bogner amps); bass is usually clean and often plays a counter melody to guitar parts - I want the bass to stand out in my tracks (not get lost in the mix). I use the SV Bass amp inside the Fractal Axe Fx III.

Thanks in advance for your opinions!

 

[ctmullins]

Nice. I’m a big fan of three pickup basses! My thoughts:

• Consider wiring the bridge BigMan in series, or with a series/parallel switch. I like having a thicker sounding pickup by the bridge.
• I also like having a cleaner, lower output pickup at the neck, so consider wiring the neck BigMan in parallel.
• I think J pickups by the bridge are pointless (see bullet #1 above).
• Nordstrand makes killer pickups; good choice there.
• Three on/off switches, yes. My favorite is the six-position Freeway Switch, which gives me any single pickup and any pair of pickups. But three switches is nice too.
• Three pickups with the Freeway Switch give me all the tonal variety I need, so I usually omit the tone knob. But it doesn’t hurt to have it I suppose…

 

[siin82]

Nice. I’m a big fan of three pickup basses! My thoughts:

• Consider wiring the bridge BigMan in series, or with a series/parallel switch. I like having a thicker sounding pickup by the bridge.
• I also like having a cleaner, lower output pickup at the neck, so consider wiring the neck BigMan in parallel.
• I think J pickups by the bridge are pointless (see bullet #1 above).
• Nordstrand makes killer pickups; good choice there.
• Three on/off switches, yes. My favorite is the six-position Freeway Switch, which gives me any single pickup and any pair of pickups. But three switches is nice too.
• Three pickups with the Freeway Switch give me all the tonal variety I need, so I usually omit the tone knob. But it doesn’t hurt to have it I suppose…

Thanks!

Regarding this...

Consider wiring the bridge BigMan in series, or with a series/parallel switch. I like having a thicker sounding pickup by the bridge.

If I have on/off switches for all pickups, I can just wire everything serial, right? Never wired anything parallel before.

 

[deepestend]

Personally, I like to keep things simple AND I like a neck pickup close to the end of the fretboard. I'd just do two Big Mans that you can split, have switches for those, and use a blend. I'd put one at the base of the neck and the other more in the P position like the nordy cat bass.

 

[ctmullins]

If I have on/off switches for all pickups, I can just wire everything serial, right? Never wired anything parallel before.

Yes, you can. Series wiring yields a fatter, more midrange focused tone. I personally don’t like that tone in a neck pickup. Others do though.

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

I am building a custom bass and was going to go with three pickups (why not):

Neck - Nordstrand The Bigman 4
Middle - Nordstrand NP4A
Bridge - Nordstrand The Bigman 4

My plan is to have one volume, one tone and 3 on/off toggle switches so that I can go with any combination of the three pickups on at a time.

I'm pretty sold on Nordstrand (have big singles in my other short scale custom bass and love them). My questions are:

1. Are three pickups overkill/not necessary?
2. If I were to only have two, would you eliminate the neck or bridge? I want the P (for sure) and have seen the MM pickup in either the bridge (schecter P-4) and neck (Billy Sheehan Yamaha).
3. Thoughts on going with musicman style PU in bridge and neck vs. Jazz PU (in either)
4. On/off switches vs. a 3 or 5 way toggle

This will be a 34" scale bass. The bass will only be played in a studio (not live). So, I'm thinking that would make the on/off switches more practical (on stage, it could be a pain in the you-know-what).

As for style, I play progressive hard rock that is jazz influenced. I'm actually a guitar player that plays bass on songs I record. The guitar is heavy (recto/bogner amps); bass is usually clean and often plays a counter melody to guitar parts - I want the bass to stand out in my tracks (not get lost in the mix). I use the SV Bass amp inside the Fractal Axe Fx III.

Thanks in advance for your opinions!

I love the Big Man

But, you should go with a standard Np4, not the A. It just has a more solid tone to it. The A is oddly scooped.

2 volumes. One for your big men, one for your P.

2 three way switches, wired to each big man. Single/single/parallel. Cut the copper tape on the bridge bigman, and reverse the coils, so you can buck the hum with the top coils of each, and bottom coils of each.

P on a seperate volume, to add it in the simplest way possible. Turn the knob, it's on. Turn the knob, it's off.

 

[ctmullins]

I love the Big Man

But, you should go with a standard Np4, not the A. It just has a more solid tone to it. The A is oddly scooped.

2 volumes. One for your big men, one for your P.

2 three way switches, wired to each big man. Single/single/parallel. Cut the copper tape on the bridge bigman, and reverse the coils, so you can buck the hum with the top coils of each, and bottom coils of each.

P on a seperate volume, to add it in the simplest way possible. Turn the knob, it's on. Turn the knob, it's off.

Cut the copper tape???

Do not do these things. There’s no need.

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

Cut the copper tape???

Do not do these things. There’s no need.

Yes there is. You can either cut it, or pull it off. Cutting it keeps it on both coils.

If he doesn't flip the coils on one, he can never make a jazz bass sound out of his bass, without getting double hum.

 

[Freekmagnet]

1. Are three pickups overkill/not necessary?

Overkill? Maybe.

Not necessary? Definitely.

Fun? Absolutely! I say do it.

 

[Will_White]

Yes there is. You can either cut it, or pull it off. Cutting it keeps it on both coils.

If he doesn't flip the coils on one, he can never make a jazz bass sound out of his bass, without getting double hum.

He could split to the north coil of one and the south coil of the other, either way he won't get a jazz bass sound, the best he could do is a P/J

 

[ctmullins]

Yes there is. You can either cut it, or pull it off. Cutting it keeps it on both coils.

If he doesn't flip the coils on one, he can never make a jazz bass sound out of his bass, without getting double hum.

The copper tape is just there for shielding. It doesn’t play into the magnet/coil physics that generates signal.

And why couldn’t he get a Jazz bass sound out of the pickups without mutilating them?

And where did he even say that he was looking for a Jazz bass sound?

 

[Will_White]

On the topic of the thread I like either a clear bright pickup next to the neck with a beefy bridge pickup (think tele with a humbucker at the bridge) or a beefy thick neck pickup with a bright bridge pickup (think EB3) . I'd do a split single coil at the neck (51 P if you want something different) , P in the middle, and the big man in the bridge.

Three on/off switches is enough, my three pickup bass (3 jazz singles) has just three on/off switches and its more then enough no tone or volume needed.

 

[matante]

I like the idea of having a true neck pickup right up next to the fretboard. The options there are clear and bright like a Rickenbacker or thick like a Hofner. Up to you. You should decide this before you decide which pickup you want to put there.

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

The copper tape is just there for shielding. It doesn’t play into the magnet/coil physics that generates signal.

And why couldn’t he get a Jazz bass sound out of the pickups without mutilating them?

And where did he even say that he was looking for a Jazz bass sound?

?

Moving the coils from back to front isn't mutilating anything. It's just putting them in a position to be utilized better. Deep and beefy jazz, tight and snappy jazz, both on buckers. If he adds another volume, he could have control over each. I'd probably use a blend knob myself. But, I use a pedal tuner, so I'd still be able to mute the bass without a volume knob.

The Bigman, is two big singles shoved inside a musicman case, and connected by a piece of copper tape, that does nothing but keeps them alligned when you put the pickup in or out of your bass. They are two individual pickups. I'll say that again. They are two individual pickups. Cut the tape, and you could put them in seperate Bart sized cases if you wanted to.

 

[siin82]

Lots of good feedback here - thanks!

I'm thinking now of have two additional switches for splitting the the big men. That would give me essentially 5 pickups and I could blend the big men as singles or humbuckers as desired. So, 3 on-offs for PUs and 2 single/hum switches for the big men.

I like the no volume idea, but there are times when rolling off the volume is needed.

As for the neck PU, I was looking to emulate the Billy Sheehan Yamaha. Thought about a Rick PU. Nordstrand makes one. Any opinions on Nordy's Rick PU? If I went that way, would only need one coil splitter.

 

[EatS1stBassist]

I am building a custom bass and was going to go with three pickups (why not):

Neck - Nordstrand The Bigman 4
Middle - Nordstrand NP4A
Bridge - Nordstrand The Bigman 4

My plan is to have one volume, one tone and 3 on/off toggle switches so that I can go with any combination of the three pickups on at a time.

I'm pretty sold on Nordstrand (have big singles in my other short scale custom bass and love them). My questions are:

1. Are three pickups overkill/not necessary?
2. If I were to only have two, would you eliminate the neck or bridge? I want the P (for sure) and have seen the MM pickup in either the bridge (schecter P-4) and neck (Billy Sheehan Yamaha).
3. Thoughts on going with musicman style PU in bridge and neck vs. Jazz PU (in either)
4. On/off switches vs. a 3 or 5 way toggle

This will be a 34" scale bass. The bass will only be played in a studio (not live). So, I'm thinking that would make the on/off switches more practical (on stage, it could be a pain in the you-know-what).

As for style, I play progressive hard rock that is jazz influenced. I'm actually a guitar player that plays bass on songs I record. The guitar is heavy (recto/bogner amps); bass is usually clean and often plays a counter melody to guitar parts - I want the bass to stand out in my tracks (not get lost in the mix). I use the SV Bass amp inside the Fractal Axe Fx III.

Thanks in advance for your opinions!

Eliminate the middle and bring the neck pickup towards the bridge. Just a bit. YMMV

 

[Will_White]

Lots of good feedback here - thanks!

I'm thinking now of have two additional switches for splitting the the big men. That would give me essentially 5 pickups and I could blend the big men as singles or humbuckers as desired. So, 3 on-offs for PUs and 2 single/hum switches for the big men.

I like the no volume idea, but there are times when rolling off the volume is needed.

As for the neck PU, I was looking to emulate the Billy Sheehan Yamaha. Thought about a Rick PU. Nordstrand makes one. Any opinions on Nordy's Rick PU? If I went that way, would only need one coil splitter.

If you want Billy Sheehan I'd get this Relentless™ Neck | DiMarzio his neck pickup is the total opposite of a Ric pickup.

 

[ctmullins]

As for the neck PU, I was looking to emulate the Billy Sheehan Yamaha. Thought about a Rick PU. Nordstrand makes one. Any opinions on Nordy's Rick PU? If I went that way, would only need one coil splitter.

I believe that Nordstrand's Rick pickup (the Nordenbocker) is really just a Big Single in a form factor that drops into a Rick pickguard. And since the BigMan is also just two Big Singles side by side, you'd have essentially the same thing.

BTW, I think a Big Single would be fantastic right up against the neck (whether in BigMan form, the Nordenbocker form, or even just a "normal" Big Single). The only issue is single-coil hum, if that bothers you look at the Big Split instead.

 

[ctmullins]

Moving the coils from back to front isn't mutilating anything. It's just putting them in a position to be utilized better. Deep and beefy jazz, tight and snappy jazz, both on buckers.

("better"??? )

You could also pair the two outer coils or the two inner coils, both of which would be humbucking. Obviously the outer coils will be further from one another than the inner coils, and the distance between the coils introduces certain comb filtering that has a definite impact on tone - not better, not worse, just different, and likely two different flavors of great.

I think I'm beginning to understand what you're trying to suggest though - you're suggesting pairing both south coils or both north coils. If you did that, you would need to swap the positions of the two coils inside one of the BigMans (BigMen?) in order to maintain hum-canceling. That would give you two different coil combinations, both of which have the coils spread the same distance apart, so would be doing very similar comb filtering, and have similar tonal profiles.

If he adds another volume, he could have control over each.

Connect too many volume knobs to the circuit and you run the risk of dulling the tone with all of the combined resistances. This is one of the principal reasons I prefer a switch approach.

The Bigman, is two big singles shoved inside a musicman case, and connected by a piece of copper tape, that does nothing but keeps them alligned when you put the pickup in or out of your bass. They are two individual pickups. I'll say that again. They are two individual pickups. Cut the tape, and you could put them in seperate Bart sized cases if you wanted to.

True, except the copper tape doesn't "do nothing". The copper tape is ( as I already mentioned ) for shielding. So if you cut the tape and swap the positions of the coils, you'd want to re-connect the tape, and make sure both strips of the tape are properly connected to ground.

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

("better"??? )

You could also pair the two outer coils or the two inner coils, both of which would be humbucking. Obviously the outer coils will be further from one another than the inner coils, and the distance between the coils introduces certain comb filtering that has a definite impact on tone - not better, not worse, just different, and likely two different flavors of great.

I think I'm beginning to understand what you're trying to suggest though - you're suggesting pairing both south coils or both north coils. If you did that, you would need to swap the positions of the two coils inside one of the BigMans (BigMen?) in order to maintain hum-canceling. That would give you two different coil combinations, both of which have the coils spread the same distance apart, so would be doing very similar comb filtering, and have similar tonal profiles.



Connect too many volume knobs to the circuit and you run the risk of dulling the tone with all of the combined resistances. This is one of the principal reasons I prefer a switch approach.



True, except the copper tape doesn't "do nothing". The copper tape is ( as I already mentioned ) for shielding. So if you cut the tape and swap the positions of the coils, you'd want to re-connect the tape, and make sure both strips of the tape are properly connected to ground.

Yes...to everything.