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EMG vs DiMarzio for recording

D

discopirgo

Nov 4, 2023
3
0
#1
Hello fellow Bass Players
I‘m looking forward to Upgrade my 5 String Bass for Recording but i dont know which pickups i should get.
Years ago i‘ve bought an used Harley Benton HBZ 2005 for like 80 Euros but Never Used it because i mainly used my 4 String with flatwounds when i needed to record Bass Lines.
Now i‘m working on an Album with a local artist which needs a much More modern and Open Sound so i Planed to use my 5 String.

Because im living in germany there are Not Many options other than:
EMG J5
DiMarzio Ultra J
Fender Ultra noiseless
Bartolini BA 57

what would you get if youre looking for an Allround modern Sound ?
 
#3
Stylee Mousse said:
First of all, is you 5 properly set up and with good strings? You may well find new pickups are not needed
Click to expand...


Im using daddarios for now but im looking forward to use either hi beams or rotosounds when changing pickups.
My Main Problem with the current setup is the flat Sound and the suprisingly high noise Level i got with the stock pickups altough they are active
 
#7
discopirgo said:
I‘m looking forward to Upgrade my 5 String Bass for Recording but i dont know which pickups i should get.
Click to expand...
What size are your current pickups? There are generally two different sizes for 5-string Jazz pickups.

“Fender” size - bridge length = 4.10” (104mm), neck length = 3.98” (101mm)
“Dimarzio” size - length = 3.735” (95mm)

This might narrow down your choices.
 
#9
I much prefer the EMG pickups for recording: more even (some say sterile, others say accurate) response, and most importantly, a noise floor of at least -100dB across the board. I have an EMG 40J in the bridge position of one bass, and a DM Ultra in the bridge position of another bass. Each has great tonal contrast to a typical P-pickup, but I still prefer the EMG's for recording.
 
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#10
It would be hard to beat EMG for this application (I'll throw in a kudos on the Hi-Beams too), they are very clean and will likely install without needing to solder anything. Sometimes they'll have less output than people expect, but the studio should have no problem dealing with them since they are very low noise.

I'd spend some time getting the pickup height correct too, as they may sound unbalanced if not.
 
#11
I'm a DiMarzio fan myself and will recommend them over most other pickups... however, since you're after a modern tone, I hate to say it because ive had nothing but problems with them and avoid them like the plague (is detest to strong a word?), the EMG might be better suited for your needs.
 
#12
discopirgo said:
Hello fellow Bass Players
I‘m looking forward to Upgrade my 5 String Bass for Recording but i dont know which pickups i should get.
Years ago i‘ve bought an used Harley Benton HBZ 2005 for like 80 Euros but Never Used it because i mainly used my 4 String with flatwounds when i needed to record Bass Lines.
Now i‘m working on an Album with a local artist which needs a much More modern and Open Sound so i Planed to use my 5 String.

Because im living in germany there are Not Many options other than:
EMG J5
DiMarzio Ultra J
Fender Ultra noiseless
Bartolini BA 57

what would you get if youre looking for an Allround modern Sound ?
Click to expand...
The ultra J would be my choice but use what sounds good. It will record well
 

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