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Delano Quadcoils VS Nordstrand Dual Coils

Delano vs Nordstrand

  • Delano Quadcoils (soapbar)

    Votes: 27 50.0%

  • Nordstrand Dual Coils

    Votes: 27 50.0%
  • Total voters
    54
#43
After trying the Big Singles and Big Splts, I ended up with the Dual Coils. I too found them to be a little darker than the other two, but I wouldn't describe them as "dark" dark (if that makes any sense). I plan on switching my volume pot from 250k to 500k to brighten them up a little. If that's not enough, I can do the same with my balance pot.

I put a Delano SBC5 HE/S dual coil (and an Aggie OBP-3) in my fretless last week and played at church with it over the weekend. After a couple of songs the percussionist actually walked over and asked me what I was doing different with my bass. I told him I had swapped out the electronic. He really liked the new sound. He described it as being very clear. The more I play my bass with that pickup, the more I like it. As others have said, it has a very even tone and if my percussionist is hearing it, it's definitely cutting through!

Ralf

emjazz said:
Yeah, that was my thinking as well until my own experience, and also after a talk with Kent Armstrong. I told him what was going on with the Nordstrand dual coils and right away he suggested some pickups with ceramic magnets.

Also, I've heard from other people that they've experienced Carey's dual coils being darker sounding than they wanted...but I've heard this to not be the case so much for his other pickups.

Also, and more importantly, each bass's natural tonal qualities work better with some pickups than others. My bass was already darker sounding a little mushy frankly. The original pickups were Bart quad coils....those didn't last a week. I hated them in this bass. Than I tried the Nordstrand dual coils. They were better but they were still too dark and were adding to the soft quality as far as the attack of the notes. Also, I like my pickups set up close to the strings and I had problems with the Nordstrands. They were so strong that they were pulling on the strings and screwing up the vibration of the strings. I was upset because I thought it was my bass having a terrible B string...I was very frustrated. As a last ditch effort I put the ceramic magnet Delanos in. The difference was staggering. My bass opened right up. It was more alive....the strings reacted more immediately to my touch and the mushiness that I had heard before was gone. I'm very happy with them indeed. It's just what this particular bass needed.
Click to expand...
 
#44
As I said, my major experience with the Nordie Duals was in a softer, darker sounding bass...so the Nordies just added to that. They certainly are darker than other dual coils that I've experienced though. Changing the pots is a very good idea.

rpatter said:
After trying the Big Singles and Big Splts, I ended up with the Dual Coils. I too found them to be a little darker than the other two, but I wouldn't describe them as "dark" dark (if that makes any sense). I plan on switching my volume pot from 250k to 500k to brighten them up a little. If that's not enough, I can do the same with my balance pot.

I put a Delano SBC5 HE/S dual coil (and an Aggie OBP-3) in my fretless last week and played at church with it over the weekend. After a couple of songs the percussionist actually walked over and asked me what I was doing different with my bass. I told him I had swapped out the electronic. He really liked the new sound. He described it as being very clear. The more I play my bass with that pickup, the more I like it. As others have said, it has a very even tone and if my percussionist is hearing it, it's definitely cutting through!

Ralf
Click to expand...
 
#45
rpatter said:
After trying the Big Singles and Big Splts, I ended up with the Dual Coils. I too found them to be a little darker than the other two, but I wouldn't describe them as "dark" dark (if that makes any sense). I plan on switching my volume pot from 250k to 500k to brighten them up a little. If that's not enough, I can do the same with my balance pot.

I put a Delano SBC5 HE/S dual coil (and an Aggie OBP-3) in my fretless last week and played at church with it over the weekend. After a couple of songs the percussionist actually walked over and asked me what I was doing different with my bass. I told him I had swapped out the electronic. He really liked the new sound. He described it as being very clear. The more I play my bass with that pickup, the more I like it. As others have said, it has a very even tone and if my percussionist is hearing it, it's definitely cutting through!

Ralf
Click to expand...

That's great. I'm leaning towards the Delanos now.
 
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#48
Update: I finally got to try my Delano'ed fretless through my own rig (last week I had played it through the church's bass amp). Wow! I can only describe the sound as being bold, but not brash, thick and warm without any muddiness. All the harmonics are there without a hint of the sterile sound that I had with the Q-Tuner. I agree with Delano's website that this is the pickup of choice for fretless!

Ralf
 
#50
Ha-ha - I just bought rpatter's Q-Tuner for my fretless, after using a Delano JC 5 HE, which sounded great there. But I was after something a little more malleable, as I use the Roland V-Bass as a preamp, with varied settings used during a night, blending the host bass passive magnetics with the COSM models.

...The word sterile is loaded with negative connotations perhaps, as the Q-Tuner basically outputs an extended overtone series of the string at the pickup's sensing position on the body.
 
#52
12bass said:
Are you implying that the Q-Tuner faithfully reproduces the string's tone at its sensing position? I'm curious if maybe the Q-Tuners are too uncolored for some tastes?
Click to expand...

Standard magnetic pickups tend to have a pronounced resonant peak in the upper midrange and drop off after that, dependent on windings and wire gauge, and magnetic construction can be used to alter or augment that "voicing". People are used to these variations of "character" that place emphasis in several regions. That's coloration. I think of it somewhat as I do of Old School speaker enclosures, were coloration is desired.

I think that due to the neodymium magentic strength, there needs to be less windings to achieve a lot of output, and with less windings comes an extended and less obviously pronounced resonant peak and rolloff. So it's perhaps more the sound of the bass at that position along the string, less filtered by a frequency response imparted by standard pickup designs and passive loading. Not only is there less peaky and extended response above, but perhaps the low end is flatter as well.
 
#53
My take on the Q-Tuner is that it was too faithful in it's reproduction. There was no audible rolloff of high frequencies that I could hear. They were very flat and neutral, but who is used to hearing flat and neutral?! I think it was the presence of high frequencies above 10kHz that gave it the sound that I'm calling "sterile". I went with Nordstrands in my fretted and the Delano in my fretless because I was looking for a more organic sound. Does that make sense?

Ralf



12bass said:
Interesting..... if you don't mind, perhaps you might elaborate about the Q-Tuners sounding "sterile" and how the Delanos differ. I'm curious about these pickups and it is very difficult to hear most high end pickups without actually buying them.
Click to expand...
 
#55
Thanks for the clarification guys.... I'm not sure I quite agree with the terms though, as the word 'sterile' seems a bit inaccurate IMO. My hunch is that many people prefer the coloration of resonant peaks and a high frequency roll-off to flat response. But them's words for ya.... ;)
 
#58
Reviving a well deserved, relevant 5 year old thread thanks to search engines...

I have always wondered about Nordstrand dual coils vs Delano Quad Coils, so here we are !! I think these two brands are on the top shelf as far as pickups go for custom builders, so we are comparing the best of the best here.

I have an Ibanez Prestige 4 made in Japan. A totally top shelf bass right up there as anything custom made or boutique.

I swapped out the original Bartolini Classics and stock preamp for Nordstrand DC 4's Parallel sets, and a Bartolini NTMB preamp. Remember, the parallel sets are wound with more copper wire than the series sets are, so it's more bang for the buck.

I also had my tech install two 3 way toggles for parallel, single coil, and series mode. I have found that I prefer the neck pickup on series and the bridge pup on parallel.

Overall, it is a HUGE improvement on my bass and I totally love the tone. I best describe it as the clarity of Alembic pickups with the growl of a Geddy Lee jazz. It's full, thick, and I have always loved soapbar pups as opposed to single coils, etc. My other basses are Peavey Cirrus USA's, so I lean towards the modern tone as my comfort zone and signature sound. I find that the Ibanez is a perfect marriage of old school Motown-ish tone and new school modern Smith-ish tone. I dare say it's perfect for any situation.

I have not tried Delano quad coils, but I am intrigued and may install them into another bass someday, but until then I LOVE the Nordy DC's and Bart NTMB pre set up.
 

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