Dr DIMENTO'S ONGOING "J" STYLE PUP EXPERIMENT

[luknfur]

US FENDER ’62 RE-ISSUE (GEDDY LEE’S)

2 wire passive singles

Installed in an acoustically dark bass. I’ve read some others perceptions of these pups lacking bass so installed the neck pup an inch and 1/8 (width of the pup) toward the neck from where it should be to compensate. But these pups had more bass than I’d want to dial in. Maybe they were talking about it lacking at the settings they chose. Also the pups have some pretty strong pull on the strings so they were set right at 1/4" from the strings.

Took me a while to get a handle on these pups, but have been doing the preamp thing so I haven’t done a pup run for a couple of weeks. But once I got back in the groove, was smooth sailing.

Output was about average. Some hum but nothing exceptional. Noticeable finger transfer but nothing that got in the way. More sensitive to attack than average it seemed. Solid Fender Jazz tone. One of the most thin, anemic tones a bass emits solo but sweet as honeysuckle played to music. Just locks in with most recordings since a Fender is what they used. Warm, midrange oriented. Some bulge on the E string and some growl. Volume, tone, clarity, sensitivity, and cut even across the board when played to music. Played to all tunes acceptably or better. Rough settings for both pups was cut 3 for bass, mid, and treble with volume the typical 3-1 bridge–neck setting. Only minor adjustments required from there.

Definitely no solo tones noted and not much variation in sounds but what it had worked, and it did dance right along with the P-bass excerpt. I hooked up the EMG and Bart preamps but not for long. Usual volume drop and the tone became very nasal with fnger transfer more pronounced and I wasn’t up for playing a bunch of knobs. I need to read that current thread regarding the guy preferring passive to active – just skimmed it but it got good response and good feedback – and some things I need to know about actives.

So did the pups work to Rush? Don’t play Rush so can’t say. Went to a Rush concert once but it was really to see and hear Neil Pert – was into drums then. I appreciate the bands skill level but have never had any of their recordings. If Lee’s bass is anything like Pert’s drumming, it’s out of my league anyway. And if Geddy had anything to do with these pups, not a bad job. They would probably get you in that “Fenders Only” studio.

 

[JOME77]

Luknfer,
Very cool post! Lot's of useful info posted. I'm not sure how I missed this one for so long! You need to add a Demeter pre to the mix of things. I've install one into 3 different basses and should be putting one in my latest project within the next week or so. The demeter is a good sounding pre and works great with most all P/U's (including Piezo). Not as aggressive as sounding as the Aguilar and Bart but very W-A-R-M. Similar to plugging a passive bass into a Demeter out-board pre.
Keep posting the results. Great reference thread for players trying to make a decision on new P/U's & Pre's!

 

[luknfur]

Luknfer,
Very cool post! Lot's of useful info posted. I'm not sure how I missed this one for so long! You need to add a Demeter pre to the mix of things. I've install one into 3 different basses and should be putting one in my latest project within the next week or so. The demeter is a good sounding pre and works great with most all P/U's (including Piezo). Not as aggressive as sounding as the Aguilar and Bart but very W-A-R-M. Similar to plugging a passive bass into a Demeter out-board pre.
Keep posting the results. Great reference thread for players trying to make a decision on new P/U's & Pre's!

Yeh, the Sadowsky's, Demeters, Ken Smith, etc preamps are usually on the steep side costwise and I'm really not a preamp kind of guy. Plus I have a distrust of hi dollar stuff as a rule. Something like the Retro's have 3 stacked knobs so you're talking about $90 in pots alone so higher cost makes more sense to me there. Seems the Sadowsky and Demeter are also 2 band and I have sold off my 2 bands. I think the NTBT and OBP-1 were gone before I'd even heard of talkbass. The EMG BTC is on the auction block now. Not that two bands are any less useful, but I don't use preamps any more than I have to and didn't want to have a dozen of the things laying around. The Bart NTBT I was particularly impressed with and wouldn't be suprised if it would match or surpass the 3 bands in many aspects. But that's only in memory, which I personally don't have much faith in.

Only experience I have with a piezo is on a LightWave. Never used it for a long time but thought it was real cool to turn it up with the amp plugged in and hear the squeaking sound of the screws tightening on the trustrod plate. But since I ditched the Roto Tapewounds and thru TI's on it, I've been using it often.

But as for the preamp, one never knows what will land on doorstep next. And feedback like yours always plants a seed of curiosity.

 

[luknfur]

BARTOLINI 9V J-STYLE HUMBUCKERS (?)

Passive single wire with ground but these pups are wired in series which have 5 posts on the pup backs with jumpers indicating they are essentially 4 wire bumbuckers. Only mention I saw of them on the Bart site was they were hum-cancelling J’s.

Installed in the acoustically dark bass. Output considerably less than average. Slight hum noticed. Finger transfer apparent on G string with treble or mids boosted but nothing of consequence in this run. Less sensitive to attack than average.

Very strange Bart pups to me. Dark J tone that sounds like humbuckers. Low mid mid mid oriented. Warm, dare I say, vintage tone. Not the clarity typically associated with Barts at all. Average clarity. Nice, soft, mid J tone that worked passably to all tunes and, in general, not much better. Very restricted pup in terms of variations in sound and tone. No growl, no bulge. Volume, sensitivity, tone, clarity, and cut even across the board. Preamps didn’t seem to make a significant difference but volume was cut still further and the preamps did cut into the vintage-like tone.

Maybe it’s the dark bass and TI’s but these pups struck me as being primarily a one trick pony: probably very good for smooth jazz - or perhaps styles where you want the presence of a bass but don’t want to hear it. But a very pleasant, warm, soft, dark J tone.

ADDENDUM:

I wondered how these would do in one of the acoustically bright basses so popped them in one. Not a major difference but noticeably less dark with more mid mid upper mid influence. No growl or bulge regardless – but getting close. Actually worked very well to Reggae, to a bit lessor degree R&B and, to a lessor degree still, blues. But the brighter bass extended the range of acceptability to other styles as well. Also wanted to try some flat-picking cause I suspected the pups may work well to a flat pick, which they did. Both a thick and medium flat pick helped to extend the range of playability for these pups. No irritating pick transfer noted. Didn’t have a thin flat pick but suspect that may be pushing the parameters but don’t know cause didn’t try it. But with a flat pick you could probably get by without to many dirty looks from the guitarist and singer on some of the marginal styles.

 

[luknfur]

FENDER US Hi Way 1 JAZZ


Fender 2 wire vintage alnico singles

Installed in an acoustically midrange bass. Output noticeably less than average. Mild to moderate hum killed by touching strings. Finger transfer that was borderline problematic, primarily on D & G strings. Sensitivity to attack average or less.

Fairly dark and E string bass heavy for Fenders it seems. They have a Fender quality to the tone but it's not pronounced. They reminded me more of stacked humbuckers (except for hum) than single coil jazz - and even a bart tone at one setting. I had enough trouble trying to get the pups to work to music that I played them for 2 sessions just to be sure. The first session they work passably to about 50% of the tunes - very well to Reggae but that was about it. E string volume was blatantly louder even after dropping the pup down on the E side. And in different tunes different strings would fade in volume at times - that is a D in one tune and maybe a G in another tune. Finger transfer was periodically unacceptable.

The second session I struck a setting (in general: bass on both channels cut to a setting of 2 with mid and treble set flat (5) or boosted a step with volumes set at 2 1/2 - 3 at the bridge and 1 1/2 - 2 at neck) where they worked acceptably to all tunes - no variation in sounds. In fact these two pups sounded more alike in neck and bridge position than any pups I can recall. Probably either pup could stand alone but I never ran them separately in the process of playing. The heavy low end was resolved by the bass cut and string transfer was nothing that wasn't overcome by changing technique or hand position. Much of tone adjustment needed could be accomplished by simply moving up or down the neck. Volume was still more pronounced on the E string but not enough to pose a problem with the other strings fairly even. Sensitivity, clarity, and cut marginally even across the board relative to each other. Relative to other pups clarity and cut were about average, maybe a little less. Vintage quality to tone but not pronounced. Minimal growl. Basically a noticeably dark midrange J tone for this setting.

Read some reviews on these things where players spoke of a broad range of sounds from these pups but what I got was essentially one sound that worked to everything. They spoke of plenty of lows and highs - I got tons of bass, low moderate mids and not much on the top end.

I'll stick them in the acoustically bright bass next time I pull the pups from it and see if it makes any difference.

 

[luknfur]

BARTOLINI 9CBJD

Passive Humbucking J pups (single wire with ground)

Installed in an acoustically mid range bass.* Very low output.* I'd guess maybe half of average - hard to tell.* Without a doubt, the most balanced set of pups I've played in terms of a fairly equal mix of volume wise. No hum.* About average sensitivity to attack, maybe a little less.* Finger transfer was problematic on a few occassions but not a major issue.* With some tones the finger transfer was actually very desireable.

Low-end to mid mid range focus.* Minimal growl. Good bulge on A string at some settings. Can go from mild burpy J tone to thuddy P tone (very good one) depending on setting.* Very good Reggae and probably the best P I've gotten from J's. Often a narrow window for mixing a good tone at a given setting or it would rapidly fade.* But when obtained it was a quality balanced, clear, punchy, cutting, and fun tone to play. Useable tones could be beefy or thin.

Pups worked to roughly 50% of the tunes but have little doubt that could be closer to double. No solo sounds per se' but a nice presence to the tones solo regardless. Professional sounds like you'd hear live on TV as opposed to actual live or recorded, if that makes any sense. I like these pups and should have spent more time with them but they're headed to David Wilson so maybe we'll get a second opinion from him


FLUFF

To give some idea of the flavor of these pups through this rigging: Reggae setting were channel 2: Bass -4 1/2 (5 is max cut/flat 0), Mid -1, T -4 with volume at 5; channel 1: Bass -4 1/4, T -3 1/4, vol 4 1/2. About the same volume level as with average pups at 3 - 1 volume. Most pups a 5 - 4 1/4 mix would not only be too much bass but time for earplugs.

In all, some very good tones in this pup - if you can find them.*

About as much time spent in adjustment as playing - pretty akin to having an outboard preamp hooked up to each pup.* About the time I approached a tone the tune was over and useable tones were not very user friendly - that is pretty much different adjustment for each tone - and not just a tweak here or there.* Hard to get a tone that was defined but not thin, boomie, too low-end, unbalanced, excess string transfer, etc.* Part of this being these are pups of a different color: no 3 - 1 (or even 6 - 2) volume blend etc.* The mix of pups more approximates 1 -1.* Without a doubt, this is the most balanced set of pups I've played. The neck pup can be made fairly bright and could be used alone except it put out a tube-like sound that I didn't find appealing - which is not apparent when mixed with the bridge.* Due to the frustration, I've spent very little time messing with these pups but know with more familiarity, there are some choice sounds awaiting undiscovered - I know because I found a few and approached a few more still.*

 

[luknfur]

FENDER MARCUS MILLER (US Fender Vintage Jazz to my knowledge)
2 wire singles

Loaded in an acoustically bright bass. Volume better than average. Typical single coil hum killed by strings. Sensitivity to attack varied depending on setting, ranged from punch to dead. Finger transfer could get a bit much but could be acceptably compensated for with tone or technique adjustment. For most setting's, finger transfer ranged from complimentary to very complimentary of chosen tone. Very impressive variations in tone resulting from finger attack and hand position alone, from subtle to marked depending. Pups also worked well with a medium flatpick for what little I used it.

For my rigging, I've probably found my Fender J's of choice. Very balanced set of pups that are close to useful stand-alones. Found I needed at least a little neck to get what I needed from the bridge for every tune. Typical rough volume of 3 bridge to 1 neck used most often. Very flexible pups - quality J and very good P-like tone. Can go bright, punchy, growly, bulgie on E & A strings, boomie, bassie, muddy, thuddy, tubey, dead, whatever. Good vintage tone and rawness. Warm broad mid range. Can go fat or thin on bottom, mids, or top. Get that Fender mid thud. Not too bright, not too bassie. Like Goldielocks, they's juss rat.

Played very well to everything. With these pups no workable tone was locked in. That is, workable tones to tunes allow for a myriad of subtle and not so subtle adjustment that create a rich selection of tones for a given tune. I could dramatically alter a tone and it would still work, it would just be different. Volume, clarity, sensitivity, and cut could be even across the board or I could basically dial out the E & A or D & G strings for some tunes. Running them through a GEB-7 and EMG BQS (ie preamp) sucked the life out of them.

Only issue with these pups was a volume fluctuation from sustained notes at the 9th fret and above on the E string. Typically occurs from pups too high but I dropped them to the floor with no change. At this point, I attributed that to some roughing up as the covers have some digs from apparent prying in or out of routings and there's a bit of scarring on the winding of each pup and splaying of windings. For these tones, I'll work around it.

FLUFF
I've been playing these pups for a couple of weeks now. I've got pages of settings I've jotted down. I haven't done that in A LLLLLLLLong time. I've mixed the Geddy Lee's, US 1's, and a Fralin in an attempt to approximate the quality. I'll play one for a bit but end up putting it down and going back to MM's. I've located another set that are headed this way so I'll have a double check on the tone and that volume fluctuation thing.

When I started out, for some reason, I thought killer pups would be Lance Armstrong's ahead of the pack. Since getting these, I think the reality is more there's not much apparent difference between a killer pup and the typical quality pup. But that little difference makes a BIG difference.

Now, if I can find a set of comparable P's

 

[luknfur]

KEN SMITH J45''s

Passive 2 Wire J Humbuckers
9 poles so they work for 4 or 5 string basses
3 1/2" neck with 3 5/8" bridge

Installed in an acoustically bright bass. Also nstalled in an acoustically dark bass and mid range bass but wasn't getting likeable tones.

Output about 25% above average. Little hum killed by touching strings (temporary wiring so I'll get that on practically all but actives regardless). Sensitivity about average, maybe a little better. Some finger transfer but nothing that was a problem.


Very interesting pups. Quite a bit of flexibility in tone through technique and controls. Could pretty much dial in or out strings. Very refined character to the pups but with rawness. Hard to describe pups that vary so much but what consistently comes to mind is a clear, refined, full toned, Fender J. Maybe along the lines of a Duncan hotstack. Some suprisingly rich, pure, articulate tones to tubular to transparent, depending on settings. Growl, bulge, some bark, burp, and punch. Good candidate for a solo pup and work well with a pick. I was consistently struck by the solo tones coming out of these pups. E string much more pronounced on some settings. The lean to the solo side makes it much easier to get some sweet sounds solo than tones that work to music but the tones were there to be had. Good bottom end and mid range with a top end that was easy to control.

Used a lot more neck pup than usual and often near a 1:1 mix, though neither pup was a stand alone. Good warm midrange J tone and never quite got the P I wanted but it's in there somewhere. I could go low end, mid, or top end, or a mix. Clear, dull, and will see what else with more time.

Pups played acceptably or better to all tunes though tone was actually nailed on very few of them. Volume, sensitivity, tone, clarity, and cut were balanced (except the occassionally pronounced E string) but was a chore to obtain that at times.

Didn't mess with a preamp but will and will ad that later.

Contrary to my feeling that cost/benefit on the boutique end is skewed, it's readily apparent these pups are top flight material - and I'll be spending more time with these Smith's than I'd planned.

 

[A9X]

KEN SMITH J45''s

Passive 2 Wire J Humbuckers
9 poles so they work for 4 or 5 string basses
3 1/2" neck with 3 5/8" bridge

Interesting. Do you have a pic because these sound similar in description to the [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]. The BL's are decently enough priced, but apparently have a long lead time. Might just order a PJ set to play with.

 

[luknfur]

Interesting. Do you have a pic because these sound similar in description to the [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]. The BL's are decently enough priced, but apparently have a long lead time. Might just order a PJ set to play with.

Interesting, hadn't seen the 9 pole deal before and now 2 of them. I did have pics but I just had to clean my disc due some ebay spyware crap. I haven't reloaded the digicam software yet. Pretty sure the Ken Smith site has a shot of them under accessories - if not in the basses themselves.

They're a beefier looking pup than normal - chunkier form with tapered poles even though they barely protrude at all. A small Smith in white written script in the center of the pups (something Fralin might think about doing). Noticeably heavy for J's.

Couldn't really tell anything from the Lawrence pic and there was no mention as whether they were singles or HB's. Could well be Smith has Lawrence make the pups for him. Like Sadowsky and Dimarzio.

 

[luknfur]

Got the software reloaded so here's a pic.

 

[luknfur]

2 big 2 small. Where's Goldielocks when ya need 'er!

 

[A9X]

My guess is they are Lawrence made, whether custom wound or simply relabelled I dunno. I saw somewhere on the Lawrence forum that staggered polepieces were an option.

 

[luknfur]

My guess is they are Lawrence made, whether custom wound or simply relabelled I dunno. I saw somewhere on the Lawrence forum that staggered polepieces were an option.

Yep, off hand, I'd wager the same. After all, how many 9 pole pups do you see around.

 

[A9X]

Yep, off hand, I'd wager the same. After all, how many 9 pole pups do you see around.

I'm trying to find the funds for some Lawrences now. Be interesting to divert them via you first to see if they sound the same and get you to add them to the list of reviewed J's (if you're interested).

 

[luknfur]

I'm trying to find the funds for some Lawrences now. Be interesting to divert them via you first to see if they sound the same and get you to add them to the list of reviewed J's (if you're interested).

Appreciate the offer and I've had thoughts about shipping that Status preamp your way. Sold the Status pups. I put the Smith's on the auction block before I stuck them in the bright bass - and resulting second thoughts. So my guess is they'll be history come Sunday - as far as any direct comparsion. And my memory is ............... unreliable. But will see how the world turns and go from there. But thanks for the offer regardless.

 

[luknfur]

Fralin J Bridge? (guy said it was a neck pup but it's the length of a J-L)

Passive 2 Wire Single Coil

Loaded into an acoustically mid range bass. Output about average. Some hum killed by touching strings. Less sensitive to attack than average. Some problematic finger transfer with mids or trebles up but not at the levels I used. A common setting was vol 2, Bass cut 3 1/2 (scale of +/- 5 with 0 = flat), Treble cut 4. I kicked in some volume, bass, or mid off channel 2 when needed (channels can be combined).

Tone I used mostly was a soft, fuzz, fender-like P tone that was fairly balanced low end through mid range tone with little top end and accent on upper lowend/lower mids. May sound a bit strange but it was pleasantly different and worked well to about 85% of the tunes. Some bulge on the E and A strings which was a bit hard to get rid of and got in the way of a decent Reggae tone. Some punch if I dug in and no growl to speak of. This was playing through channel one of the Poly with the channels one and two combined.

There was no problem getting growl from the pup and some J tone by playing through just channel two (not combining channels). Some nice rawness to tone as well.

Narrow range of sounds that played well to music. D & G strings tended to fade a bit or be too bright in the mix but nothing that wasn't useable. No solo sounds noted. Didn't run it through a preamp.


FLUFF:

Ended up picking up a single Fralin pup and figured it would give me some idea about what Fralin pups are about. I've tried it in neck and bridge position in combination with some other pups but really didn't get anything of particular note in doing so. Struck me as being a fairly clean, thin toned Fender. That was playing through channel 2 of the Poly combined with one. Thought I'd try it mid position as that worked well for an EMG J once, it would give me more of an idea about how useful a pup it may be, and maybe give me something useful to report regarding Fralin pups in their own right.


It's my understanding Franlin's are designed after vintage Fenders and I suppose some Fender pups are similar but the Fenders I've had to date were either less clear and more full than the Franlin on channel 2 combined or more clear and full than the Fralin on Channel one combined. Playing the Fralin through just channel two and not combined with one was getting into the familiar Fender tone. A matched pair of Fralin's would be worthy of exploration.
I'm looking forward to further exploration with this single pup. A single J mid position apparently is not a bad way to go as the two I've tried that way have been equal or better to most pup pairs it seems.

I don't normally jack around with the amp so much but it demonstrates how you need to know your equipment in order to pull tones out of a set of pups. Cause those killers pups you're looking for may be the ones you just got rid of. No doubt I've shipped my share. A different bass or different rigging may be a better match for a given set of pups, but it's prudent to give pups a thorough check through what you run before they're jetisoned.

 

[luknfur]

Bartolini 94J's

2 wire Hum-canceling Singles? (older version of current split coil 9J1 which is supposedly a tad brighter at the bridge).

Also read comment on the Bottom Line from a guy that worked for Modulus that stated these are actually quad coil pups and were used in their PJ basses when they installed Barts.


Loaded into an acoustically bright bass. Outputs noticeably less than average - 15% ballpark. No hum. Average sensitivity to attack. Noticeable finger transfer but nothing of consequence. Depending on setting, sounded like Bart J's but also exhibited a pleasant soft P tone. Even though bass was adequate, these struck me as mid range pups - not dark and not bright. Decent bulge on E string and occassionally on the A, a touch of burp on some settings, a little growl. Clear, rounded, pleasant tones in general. Typical Barts in that sense. They seemed soft in tone more often than not and really sounded better solo than to music.

I don't know that either pup is one I'd use alone but the bridge struck me as thinner than typical and the neck pup more like a bridge pup without the heavy darkness I associate with a Bart neck J. Neck had the usual proportionately louder volume but tone was extremely mid oriented. Fact is, I could basically get the neck and bridge pups to sound like each other. And it's possible they may be the same because according to the Bart site the Current 9J4 neck and bridge are the same pups. Even so, I couldn't use a lot more of the neck pup than I usually do cause the tone would become unbalanced.

Played acceptably or better to all tunes but, with a few isolated exceptions, no outstanding pairing to tunes that I could get up about. Easy pup to work with to get tone 75% of the time. To give some idea of the character of the pups the controls for the most workable setting were around: Bridge - Vol. 1 1/2, Bass cut 3 (+/- 5 with 0 = flat), Treble cut 1; Neck - Vol. 4, Bass cut 3, Mid flat, Treble cut 1. Could dial in a tone and work off of it and not have to do a bunch of tone searching for style changes. And tones could be made full or thin as needed. But I did have several occassions where I couldn't just get the mid frequencies I wanted.

Regarding volume, tone, sensitivity, clarity, and cut: fairly even across the board other than it took a couple of pup adjustments to keep the E string from being too pronounced and the A string frequently seemed faintly lower in volume than the other strings.

Didn't run them through a preamp.

A number of people have found these appealing, Modulus apparently one of them. Not bad company to keep for sure. I may try it in another bass but it's not a pup I would classify as a keeper at this point.

 

[luknfur]

FENDER MARCUS MILLER COMPARISON (Set 1 and 2)
2 wire singles

FLUFF

The MM comparison I'd previously stated I'd do. I thought it would be of some interest to post a review comparing two sets of the same pups if for no other reason to create an awareness of how different an experience with the same pups can be. I've tried various pup height adjustment to get the second set to sound like the first but without success. There was some indication that I may just need to play with knobs more to make that happen. Will see.


To minimize verbage, the first set of MM's reviewed will be referred to as 1 and this set 2.

Loaded into the same bass as the other Millers with everything but the pups remaining constant. Volume better than average. Typical single coil hum killed by touching strings. Sensitivity to attack was about average. Finger transfer tended to a bit much and irritating in the form of a "pat" sound as opposed to a crunch (and variations thereof) exhibited in the 1's. This "pat" was not so easily compensated for with tone and techniqe adjustment. The 1's could sound the same way but it was easily adjusted out. Didn't try a pic but I'll comment that at a later date as I've some question about these pups and will be experimenting more with them.

No doubt these are the same kind of pups but with more bass that easily became boomie with a narrow window of useful tones when the boom was adjusted out. Pretty much just the typical thin Fender tone (fortunately very useful) and that's about it. Could get a few identical tones as the 1's with extreme cuts on all tone controls and dropping neck volume practically to zip but lattitude for adjusting controls to get useful tone was miniscule. For example one identical tone was achieved with the following setting - channel 2: vol. 2 1/2, Bass cut 4 1/2 (+/- 5 with 0 = flat), Mid cut 4, Treble cut 4 1/2; channel 1: vol 1/2, Bass cut 4 1/2, Treble cut 4. With control cuts and playing back toward the bridge more, they could be used with the amp set on seperate channels but these were too boomie regardless when using combined amp channels. With 1's the two channels could be used interchagnebly on a given tune with no tone adjustments to get some appealing variation.

No problem getting some bulge on E & A strings but it was hard to dial it out. With the 1's I typically vary bass and mids to get tone while leaving treble constant. With these adjustment was more productive with bass and treble. Growl, warmth, and all the subtle (and not so subtle) variations in tone had with the 1's were not to be (bassie, muddy, thuddy, tubey, dead, etc.) They did have some rawness about them. Tone tended to be clearer on the 2's but in a way that tended to seperate it more from the music than fit with it - lacking transparency.

Even so they played acceptably to right at 90% of the tunes and excelled to around 15% of those. With the 1's no workable tone was locked in but these were very limited to variation in tone that worked. I could get the E & A strings about where I wanted and the D & G weren't right and visa versa. In addition, unlike 1's, varying technique with these had minimal affect on variations in tone. Volume, clarity, sensitivity, and cut were even across the board for working tones. Didn't run them through a preamp but trying them with the GEB-7 graphic EQ may not be a bad idea.

 

[luknfur]

THE IDEAL PUPS

This may or may not be of use to anybody but it's something that has been distilled from all the pups I've ran. These are some characteristics that I've found to be exhibited by my ideal pup set. Fairly rare in my experience to get them ALL in one set of pups and so far only the first set of Marcus Miller J's loaded into one of my basses stand out as coming close (and even it has less than desireable tones on the E string above the 12th fret). Pups only - no preamps, no effects. Not listed in any order of priority.

Pups that work to a broad range of musical styles

Non-dIstracting, little, or ideally complimentary finger/pic transfer

Some useable tonal variations (not as in from J to P but like going from full to thin tones (ie.transparency), etc.)

Ability to produce a couple convincing variations in sounds (like J to P, Ric, URB, whatever)

Pups that don't require a lot of tweaking to get desirable variations in tone

Pups that produce useable variations in tone by varying hand position and technique

Average output or better

Flexible string balance in volume, sensitivity, tone, cut, and clarity(from equal balance to variations - typically in pairs with the E & A or D & G strings: like fading the D & G strings but having clarity and punch on the E & A)

Pups that produce useable tones the length of the board

Capacity to excell in at least one desireable property like growl, burp, etc. which can be dialed in, out, and variations in between

Pups with a taste of rawness

No hum of consequence

Adequate bottom end; full, useable, flexible midrange; top end that does not interfere with bass and mids and ideally compliments them

Pups that respond well to both finger and flat pick

Adequate sustain