EMG DC Series vs Active P/J soundclips?

I have the TW/P combination in my Spector and I can record some clips tomorrow evening when I'm back in town. Any particular clips or settings you'd like to hear?

 

If you go with active EMGs I would recommend the X series. I went from the TW to the TWX and the difference is outstanding. Also the TWX single coil mode doesn't suffer from the big volume drop that the TW experiences when in single coil mode. I wouldn't be surprised if the X series becomes the standard EMG pickup.

DCX will be very aggressive and with a lot of top end. CSX and TWX are more of a natural 'warmer' tone. The JX and PX have a lot of bite, but the P is wired in parallel so it's a bit different from a regular P. If you're going without another onboard preamp I'd recommend getting the ABCX blend control to handle the insertion loss. If you have a preamp already on your bass that you will use, you'll be good to go.

 

I believe it's the other way around - a boost in the jazz pickup mode. At least, that's what it sounds like to my ears when I switch into that mode. Still, it's an easy fix with a trimpot wired up to the switch.

The TW series is their typical CS (ceramic and steel) parallel humbucker (much warmer than the DC), but it has a switching option to allow for isolation of the rear coil and a dummy coil, so it's effectively a noiseless single like a jazz bass.

I got it because I have the DCs in another bass (my aggressive Schecter Studio) and I wanted something for warmer, P/J tones. I also like switching abilities, so I coupled the EMG TW (bridge) and EMG P (neck) with an Aguilar OBP-3.

I'll try to get some clips up for you tonight. I can't guarantee totally flat EQ because I don't have a preamp bypass option, but I can set the Aguilar EQ flat to give you a pretty good idea of the sound without any coloration.

 

It is much more likely that there is some modification to yours that makes it that way then, all the better!

Still going to say this: X series for the win.

 

Truth be told, I actually had a tech wire it because there's very little room in my Spector's control cavity for all of the stuff I have in it. I gave him the same schematics that came with the TW, so either he wired my switch up backwards from what I expected, or there's an issue with my pickup. Either way, I like the slightly beefier solo tone I get when I put it into (what I call) "J" mode.



OP: Here is a link with various sound clips from the pickups. EQ kept flat on all except one. I tried to improvise something that is along the lines of classic rock/metal. Please ignore the sloppiness.
https://www.yousendit.com/download/M3BreFlkNmNPSHcwTWRVag

I now realize that I need to adjust my pickup height and get a new B and E-string. Mine are deader than I'd like them to be.

 

And I see you have the same preamp as me too. Good choice! I'm running the dual 45TWX though, with Volume/Volume instead of Volume/Blend. I am also very tempted to place an order with SGD-Lutherie for a set of his ND-3's.

 

Also: Swapping out the TW for the TWX was painless, since they use the same connector on the pickup. I just unplugged old ones, plugged in new ones and away I went.

 

Talkbass's search makes it a bit hard to search for EMG, since it's such a short name, but there are some good clips posted.

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f38/emg-dc-cs-p5-comparison-soundclips-799204/

And this guy posted a bunch of videos on YouTube:

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Kh9c8pjiktk#

I recall spending a lot of time on those last year when I was upgrading my HZ pickups ...

Happy hunting.

 

I love the OBP-3. I have it in 4 of my 5 active basses. I too set my Spector up with vol/vol. As well, I have a GFS Modboard tremolo in the Spector. When I handed the tech all of the electronics and asked him to install it all, he said "**** it's like trying to build a ship in a bottle."

I'm still not convinced I can't get a second 9V battery in there, though. Hmm...

 

You would need different pots for the active pickups, however I am not sure if any soldering would be needed since you can utilize EMG's Quick Connect cables and pots.

 

The active and passive EMGs use different cables and pots. The active pickups have a three pin connector, and the passive HZ pickups have a 5 pin connector. The are not compatible.