I think that's called a P-P. Don't play with your P-P!I made a few small changes to my reverse double P.
Before:
After:
Also, what happened to the swirl painted body?
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EMG Club!
- Thread starter Warpeg
- Start date
Also, what happened to the swirl painted body?
- Apr 18, 2008
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- I'm highly opinionated and extremely self-assured
I think that's called a P-P. Don't play with your P-P!
Also, what happened to the swirl painted body?
The swirl body is super cool, but the ergonomics of that instrument were less than stellar. Honestly, Leo’s original blocky neck heel is an abomination, and every manufacturer who slavishly copies it should be reprimanded.
The Rick design, by contrast, offers completely unfettered access to all 22 frets.
Oh, I don't disagree. I was more interested in where the body ended up. One could, if interested, make something out of it.
The swirl body is super cool, but the ergonomics of that instrument were less than stellar. Honestly, Leo’s original blocky neck heel is an abomination, and every manufacturer who slavishly copies it should be reprimanded.
The Rick design, by contrast, offers completely unfettered access to all 22 frets.
Do any of you experts know? I popped out my 80's-era J bridge last night to install a fatter piece of foam to accommodate the shim I installed in the bass, and the bottom of the pickup had a label that said "LJ5". I would have thought this would mean "Long" (as in, for the bridge position) "J" for "Jazz" and the five-string size. But this is a four string and I checked the measurements and this vintage pickup set is the same as the current 4-string measurements. Did it mean something different back then? Definitely not a 5 string set. The pickups have the beige-coated bottom piece.
The LJ5 and SJ5 have identical length bar-magnet sensor components inside... the SJ5 IS shorter though.
I've seen a few basses over the years that were LJ5+LJ5 - they were 4-strings too!
Yeah it looked like about 0.1 inch difference. Not sure about why "5", but hey.
I figured it was worth dropping in here and posting my findings when taking a dive into EMG-world.
I got a Spector Bantam 5 recently, my first Spector and my first active EMGs (I have had the GZR in a couple basses). It came with 40DCs stock, and I wasn’t thrilled with the sound. I did some homework and figured it would be easier to try different quick connect 40 series pickup combos to see if I liked anything rather than getting a set of big singles or big blades from Nordstrand and having to change the wiring.
I borrowed a few from my gracious friend, and bought a couple more, and here’s what I tried. All were X series:
DC and CS in both positions. CS definitely sounded better to me, but still far off.
DC and CS with 40P5, again in both positions. The double coils overwhelmed in the bridge position, not the sound I was looking for. P5 in the bridge and CS in the neck actually wasn’t bad.
40P5 neck and 40JA in the bridge, pretty clear but sounded thin to me. I know that’s closer to the classic Spector sound, but it wasn’t really my thing.
40P5 and 40P5, now this sounded really good to me. Focus, clarity, definition in the mids, a clean fatness that you can easily boost or cut naturally. But still left me wanting a bit more. There was a hollowness in the mids, not like they were scooped, but like they just weren’t cutting through. So I ordered a set of 40P5AX from emg, hoping the alnico magnets would give me what I want. Boy was I right, I’m loving the sound of this bass. Growl and complexity in the mids, but a deep low end when I want it. I usually pan a little bit toward the neck, but even at 50/50 it sounds great and doesn’t have a scooped tone-sucking sound. I’m very happy with the decision to stick it out with the EMGs and find what worked!
I got a Spector Bantam 5 recently, my first Spector and my first active EMGs (I have had the GZR in a couple basses). It came with 40DCs stock, and I wasn’t thrilled with the sound. I did some homework and figured it would be easier to try different quick connect 40 series pickup combos to see if I liked anything rather than getting a set of big singles or big blades from Nordstrand and having to change the wiring.
I borrowed a few from my gracious friend, and bought a couple more, and here’s what I tried. All were X series:
DC and CS in both positions. CS definitely sounded better to me, but still far off.
DC and CS with 40P5, again in both positions. The double coils overwhelmed in the bridge position, not the sound I was looking for. P5 in the bridge and CS in the neck actually wasn’t bad.
40P5 neck and 40JA in the bridge, pretty clear but sounded thin to me. I know that’s closer to the classic Spector sound, but it wasn’t really my thing.
40P5 and 40P5, now this sounded really good to me. Focus, clarity, definition in the mids, a clean fatness that you can easily boost or cut naturally. But still left me wanting a bit more. There was a hollowness in the mids, not like they were scooped, but like they just weren’t cutting through. So I ordered a set of 40P5AX from emg, hoping the alnico magnets would give me what I want. Boy was I right, I’m loving the sound of this bass. Growl and complexity in the mids, but a deep low end when I want it. I usually pan a little bit toward the neck, but even at 50/50 it sounds great and doesn’t have a scooped tone-sucking sound. I’m very happy with the decision to stick it out with the EMGs and find what worked!
Hey guys I am a fan of EMGs I have used them since the 90s when I was guitar playing Christian Rock and Metal I had a Zion guitar my favorite setup was SA/SA/81 I also used them in my Telecaster and guitars since then. Now I have been playing bass for the last 16 years in my church out of need for a bass player so I just now been starting to use EMGs I put a set of Geezer Butlers in my 32 year old Ibanez SR800 love them. But my question is does EMG make a bass pickups that will drop in my Yamaha TRBX with out rerouting .
As far as I know you needed wider ones to fit on my old RBX basses
So.. on a 4 string I used a 5 string pickup
so an Emg 40 size pickup
EMGs are 3.5, 4 and 4.5 long by 1.5 wide.
Here's a pretty comprehensive listing of all the SB sizes.
Bass Soapbars - Bartolini Pickups & Electronics
If your dimensions are accurate, they're not an exact match for anything.
- Apr 18, 2008
- 16,002
- 1
- 31,693
- Disclosures
- I'm highly opinionated and extremely self-assured
My two most recent EMG-equipped builds.
First, a Rickenbacker-shaped build made from walnut shop scraps and a discounted Korina body blank. This is a double-reverse EMG P5 setup, with a selector switch and the standard EMG volume and tone controls. Nothing fancy, just a sledgehammer rock tone.
The other is quite different: A Gibson RD shape, 33” to 35” multiscale, headless, with DC-X and CS-X pickups routed through an ACG EQ01 filter preamp. A ton of tonal options here, in a visually striking yet surprisingly comfortable bass.
I took the Korina to rehearsal earlier this week, and was not disappointed! The RD I will take later today.
First, a Rickenbacker-shaped build made from walnut shop scraps and a discounted Korina body blank. This is a double-reverse EMG P5 setup, with a selector switch and the standard EMG volume and tone controls. Nothing fancy, just a sledgehammer rock tone.
The other is quite different: A Gibson RD shape, 33” to 35” multiscale, headless, with DC-X and CS-X pickups routed through an ACG EQ01 filter preamp. A ton of tonal options here, in a visually striking yet surprisingly comfortable bass.
I took the Korina to rehearsal earlier this week, and was not disappointed! The RD I will take later today.
- Apr 18, 2008
- 16,002
- 1
- 31,693
- Disclosures
- I'm highly opinionated and extremely self-assured
I've done some recording with the reverse-double-P Korina. This tone is a killer rock bass tone; it sits in the mix with weight and authority, and more than a little snarl. What do you guys think? More specifically: When other people say "I don't like how EMGs sound", is this the tone they're talking about?
KorinaRDP.m4a
KorinaRDP.m4a
I think it sounds great. I never can understand what tone they are talking about when they say "I don't like EMGs", because they never really expand on the "why". I tend to prefer them, but I also know they can be dialed around to varying different tones too.
It's almost always either a setup issue, or a low/dead battery. Some EMG pickups will make some sound even with an almost dead battery. In the 90s I used to see a lot of people run EMGs with virtually dead batteries, and they had what I'd consider a character-less sound to them. On the flip side, I've seen quite a few EMG-Equipped basses from that era that, while they had perfectly good power, they were set WAY too far from the strings - sometimes nearly half an inch away. Some people may like that sound, but it's really too far away from the strings for any "character" to come through.
I've also seen Lace Sensor pickups set too far from the strings - also creating a fairly "meh" sound.
The pickup height thing is just people who didn't read the instructions or they heard conflicting reports that raising your pickups close to the strings was an issue - not really so for EMGs. But back then there wasn't as much access to correct setup instructions so the myths of the day often prevailed with luddites.
My theory is, those people repeat only hearsay. I like EMGs a lot.
