Q tuner
BL-4 Hi-Z
2 lead HB
I tried this pup at the basic Q pole settings - more or less (see Fluff): XXX (“flat”
, X0X (dark), and 0X0 (bright) which will be referred to as flat/dark/bright hereon. This is a general review of all 3 settings as the response of the pup was quite consistent in all 3. Regardless, it’s worth emphasizing that doing nothing more than rotating through the amp models can drastically alter tones and tonal characteristics like rawness. That’s significant cause it’s reflective of the effect of altering the signal chain (in other words perhaps like what you play through as opposed to this setup). See Fluff for Bass and amp setup.
Synopsis
In general a responsive, clear, mildly warm, refined toned pup, with a broad range of nuance in tone. In terms of frequency response, bass tended to be adequate while mids and trebles both were ample to the point of problematic at times. The variations in pole settings weren’t earth shaking different from one another but definitely noticeably different. The pup was very sensitive to attack and tone adjustments which could be a problem or a plus depending - one plus being a broad variety of rawness in tone. The pup took a LOT of tweaking to get a useable tone but the amp setup could be a factor in that, especially using an unfamiliar pup (see Fluff). In the 20 - 40 hours I played the pup I didn’t run across a tone I’d keep one for but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s not there.
Whole Enchilada
Output better than average (15K DCR FWIW). Some “hum” (noise) killed by touching strings (not that unusual in my temporary installs for whatever reason). Hum varied depending on settings - in general none on darker settings to pronounced on brighter settings (bright or dark meaning overall amp tone as opposed to the like named pole adjustments). Sensitivity to attack better than average but could be less than average depending on setting. In general no finger/pick transfer of consequence and when there it was as likely to be appealing as unappealing - just depended on the setting and tune. Sensitivity to hand position below average - right near the pup is really the only area I got tones of any use. In terms of sensitivity to technique I only used finger and flatpick and it worked well to both. Sustain better than average - albeit marginally better.
On the “flat” pole setting what stood out most both initially and after considerably play was the top end: extended, clear, resonant, good transient response, very present-like, and quite complimentary to bass and mid frequencies. Bass was adequate and mids ample but the top end to me is what made this pup different. In general frequencies were rounded and quite clear. The “dark” setting was not earth shaking different or probably much different than I could get from adjusting amp controls alone on the “flat” setting. Sounded like a boost in low mids with not so much treble boost as a focused, narrow, treble band or frequency - otherwise not unlike a typical dark scooped tone. The “bright” setting was also not earth shaking different from the “flat” setting as the bottom half only seemed marginally less apparent and the top half didn’t seem brighter so much as more mellow, and percussive - very much a parallel-like tone.
The pup is inclined to be clear and noticeably refined but I could adjust it to be about as defined or muddy as I’d have use for, go from sterile to vintage-like, cold to moderately warm. There was a variety of rawness including grind, rasp, growl, marginal burp, fuzz, percussive, woody, string graze, tubey (as in phase-like), liquid, punch, and thud.
Worthy of elaboration and reflective of rawness and sensitivity is the myriad of string “noises” this pup can exhibit regardless of pole settings, particularly in regards to the frets. On at least one tone I even got fret clack from simply fretting a note, and I don’t recall that experience with a pup before. There were tones where I could literally vary the sound of the attack depending on the pressure applied to the fret. In fact deadening a string could be audible on some tones. Also sympathetic vibration was heard where I’ve never heard it before using another mag pup (without using some effect). These sounds could be appealing or not; varied, controlled, or eliminated by altering the tone controls; and actually contribute to much of the rawness that otherwise is a distinctly clean pup.
In terms of bass model tones, I got variations along the lines of vintage Fender J and P, Ric, Hofner, and MM. A more specific example (dark pole setting) was a dark, mildly warm, noticeably refined J tone. Very Bart-like but smooth with fuzz rather than just smooth. Also higher frequency top end than a typical Bart. More common to a Lane Poor in that respect but not as defined, bright, and extended as an LP - rather a more focused presence edge atop a dark tone than your typical top end.
A hard call but ballpark I’d say the pup worked passable to about 60% of the tunes, better than average to about 30%, and below average to about 10%, not really excelling to any in recall. Volume, tone, sensitivity, clarity, and cut were generally balanced across the board but there were some settings noted where the D&G strings dropped out undesirably and a few tones where lower register E string did the same. No useful “fading” of strings noted from tone control adjustment but the D&G strings did dull noticeably with some tones on the “dark” pole setting and that was a plus on quite a few tunes. No solo tones noted in tones to tunes.
Noteworthy is that following periods where I’d had my fill of tweaking, it was not unusual to take another hour or more to get a tone I would actually use (see Fluff for more on this). Such a “core tone” worked across a broad range of styles but when it needed adjustment for a specific tune, more than a passable adjustment was hard to come by and even that typically didn‘t come quickly.
After extended play another issue that stood out was the mids were noticeably problematic regardless of pole setting: inclined to be airy/boxie on brighter tones and more nasal on darker tones. On darker tones at times I could adjust that into an interesting dark woodie tone. This is not to say that mids couldn’t be worked out acceptably but it was a frequent detour to get to a useable tone.
As a general conclusion, aside from the pole/frequency setup, I’d say the top end seems to make the Q a different pup but it would take playing over a period of months to get a solid feel for how it really compares (that said after having played the pup for at least 20 hours - perhaps closer to 40). Often the pup puts it’s own atypical edge on a tone that may have marginal impact in a live mix but recording may be a different story. The majority of tones I pulled from it were nothing that different let alone extraordinary - but that doesn‘t mean it‘s not there to be had. The pup seems to have a potential that for whatever reason wasn‘t reflected in tones I produced.
Fluff
Bass setup: Q-tuner loaded into an acoustically bright bass with back coil in line with bridge J position ran straight to the jack (no onboard controls) - TI JF344’s (Thomastik flats).
Signal Chain: Bass > Roland D-bass 210 with a Roland Bass Cube 30 ran through it’s effects loop. Among other tone shaping the D-bass has 3 amp models (flat, modern, vintage), 2 preamp models (tube, ss), a mid frequency control that varies from 100 Hz - 3 kHz as well as an effects mix permitting variations from 100% D-Bass - 100% cube (which has 5 additional modeled amps - Fliptop, etc), and variable tweeter (off-100%).
This is only the second pup review using this amp setup and a new pup is uncharted territory. I’ve played pups I’m familiar with plenty through this setup without the tweak or string balance issues exhibited in both of these reviews but I’m not ruling the amp out as a factor at this point. There’s so much flexibility in the amp setup that I can’t accurately assess whether the pup or amp is the source if I have a hard time pulling a tone - or for that matter whether the amp isn‘t the dominant factor in a given tone. Fact is, it throws a monkey wrench into the whole review process. But I had the pup in hand so thought I’d pass the experience along as it may be of use to someone at some point.
Something I spaced on was trying the pup with an onboard preamp, which I don’t use. I have a few mounted in boxes for outboard use (primarily for use in reviews) but they sit in a drawer otherwise. Since pup reviews have been sparse for sometime, I totally forgot about trying one with this pup.
Another thing I didn’t do was try the Q at a neck location. I ran out of time but was pretty much tweaked out regardless.
Last but not least, this pup was a loaner for a couple of weeks courtesy of WarriorJoe7 whom I thank for the experience. Since it wasn’t mine and I didn‘t use a factory allen wrench, I’ll mention that pole screws became noticeably tight around 8 turns. The Q site states 11 turns is maximal effect but I’d speculate something would give before I got 11 turns out of most of the poles. In as much 8 turns was as far as I went except on the X0X setting which was 9 as the center poles seemed more cooperative - it’s not like pole adjustments made a screaming difference anyway.
