DiMarzio's Billy Sheehan 'Relentless' pickups

[JEDI BASS]

The Relentless sounds amazing!

 

[4stringz_77]

View attachment 4110856 The Relentless sounds amazing!

Very cool Jedi!! Hey, what pickups are you using in the bridge & neck position?? Looks-wise, they really compliment the middle..and that’s why I’m holding out for the relentless jazz in one project.

 

[JEDI BASS]

What is everybody setting their pickup height at?

My gut says this pickup is designed to be set very close to the strings.

Oh, Happy New Year everybody!

 

[JEDI BASS]

Very cool Jedi!! Hey, what pickups are you using in the bridge & neck position?? Looks-wise, they really compliment the middle..and that’s why I’m holding out for the relentless jazz in one project.

Thanks! They’re Kent Armstrong lipstick single coils. I wish I could recommend them, since I loved them in my Lākland Scheff. But, either the positioning of the pickups, or the contrasting type (singles vs humbucker), or both factors caused a phase issue that Carl at Lākland couldn’t beat. I decided to remedy the issue with dual outputs. Carl liked that idea too. So, for now, the bass has separate outputs: 1 for the lipsticks and 1 for the P. The P goes to a volume pot and out, no tone pot. The lipsticks have a 3-way selector (neck, both, bridge), volume and tone. The 2nd switch is a disconnected reminder of the headaches this bass caused Carl LOL.

 

[StevieMac]

What is everybody setting their pickup height at?

My gut says this pickup is designed to be set very close to the strings.

Oh, Happy New Year everybody!

It's personal preference but the pickup covers are radiused because Billy likes the pickups as close as possible to the strings so he can use them like a ramp. I find that's helpful for me as well so I fret the top fret of each string and set the pickup as high as I can without choking off that top note. YMMV

Happy New Year

 

[JEDI BASS]

It's personal preference but the pickup covers are radiused because Billy likes the pickups as close as possible to the strings so he can use them like a ramp. I find that's helpful for me as well so I fret the top fret of each string and set the pickup as high as I can without choking off that top note. YMMV

Happy New Year

Yes. That’s why my gut said put the pickup close.

Happy New Year!

 

[JEDI BASS]

I modified this bass some more and posted a thread about it: NBD: Heavily Mod’d Lakland 44-51 (Lipsticks, Relentless, EMG)

 

[JEDI BASS]

Has anyone paired a Relentless P with an Ultra Jazz?

Also, anyone tried pairing a preamp with a Relentless?

 

[StevieMac]

Has anyone paired a Relentless P with an Ultra Jazz?

Yes, the relentless p WAY over powered the ultra j so it was a failed experiment for me.

 

[redstrand]

Yes, the relentless p WAY over powered the ultra j so it was a failed experiment for me.

Wonder what I could use or do I just go mod crazy and put a MM pickup (I have. Jaguar PJ on the way), or just put and ultra in it just for the series circuit part hmmmmm

 

[StevieMac]

I'd wait for the relentless j to come out but that's me...

 

[redstrand]

I'd wait for the relentless j to come out but that's me...

I'm thinking the same, just get the relentless P now and put the J in later once it ships. I'd be fine with a killer P and nothing else working

 

[JEDI BASS]

Dimarzio said the Ultra J neck pickup would pair well with the Relentless middle. I’ve grown tired of waiting on the release of the Relentless Jazz pups. So, I bought the Ultra J. I’m not gonna be a happy camper if I was steered wrong.

 

[StevieMac]

I hope it works out for you.

 

[JEDI BASS]

I hope it works out for you.

The spacing near the neck (24th fret harmonic) will help boost its output somewhat. So, I guess there’s a chance it will be adequate.

I’ll report back once I’m done. It will be a while since I haven’t ordered the body or hardware yet.

 

[redstrand]

Wonder if I put the Relentless neck in the Bridge with a mounting ring ala Thunderbird? Could be fun or Maybe I should just beg off the relentless P and find something else if it so overmatches everything. The Armstrong pickups look cool and could sound cool solo. Maybe should have the P solo, both in series and just the J solo as the settings. Not adverse to routing but would like to mount and go if possible

EDIT: Or I could stick a Darkstar there in the Bridge and have a truly loud passive bass....it's only money

 

[XLunacy]

I wonder if wiring these in series/parallel will make a noticeable difference in sound. The DiMarzio Split P doesn't have much difference due to each half being a complete humbucker. Not 100% sure if these are as well. They should be coming this Friday so I'll wire it up on the weekend and post a response.

Any feedback on parallel wiring ? How does it sound ?

 

[redstrand]

Yes, the relentless p WAY over powered the ultra j so it was a failed experiment for me.

was it still an usable tone?

 

[StevieMac]

was it still an usable tone?

If you only want a little bit of bridge pickup blend I guess so but it wasn't what I wanted out of that particular bass. That said I run my relentless p pickup as close to the strings as possible so I can use the radiused covers as a ramp. If you set them at a more normal distance from the strings I imagine you can find a more reasonable balance.

 

[redstrand]

If you only want a little bit of bridge pickup blend I guess so but it wasn't what I wanted out of that particular bass. That said I run my relentless p pickup as close to the strings as possible so I can use the radiused covers as a ramp. If you set them at a more normal distance from the strings I imagine you can find a more reasonable balance.

The easiest thing would to have both of these in there without routing. I'd probably have just the relentless and both in series as my main settings. Which would be great, I have other Jazzes that do their thing