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#203
I feel the need to note that John has been a total pleasure to work with. He's put up with me through the course of what I believe to be close to 50 PM's thus far and worked with me despite some stupid and preventable mistakes on my end that have set us both back, especially him in time and effort. He hasn't complained one bit. When the experimental pickups didn't work out, he was on top of it. I must say, thanks John for the the top notch customer service, even when I hadn't paid a dime! :D

That said, as of tonight I'm planning to have him to make two matched J humbucker sets for my Carvins and possibly a H/S/H set for my FujiGen Ibanez 470S. I feel like that along with the public thank you are the least I can do. (Yes, they will all be sampled.)
 
#205
I know I promised clips tonight, but I'm having some technical difficulties getting a good recorded tone. I'll keep working on it, but I don't want to upload something that doesn't sound anything like the pickup when I play it through my amp. Rest assured the difficulties have everything to do with my recording setup and not the pickup itself. ;)
 
#207
I am a fellow luthier located in Norwalk, Ca. I'm re-vamping a Indonesian Squire Bronco. I've fabricated a new pick-guard along with routing an EMG PA series jazz in the bridge position. As well, i've installed a seymour duncan 412095 pre amp a fully articulated carvin bridge (azimuth adjustment) carvin black chrome tuning keys, and a switchcraft locking cable jack. I tried using a couple different p-bass pups (reflex, emg, and bartollini) but didn't get the vintage sound I wanted. If you could provide a p-bass neck position of your building it would be very appreciated! Being located in the LA area I'm sure I could interest other players in hand-made jewels like yours. Decent (vintage bass pups) of high quality and reasonable cost seem to be an oxymoron!
Regards, Outcaztbass (T.D. Cleary)
 
#208
Thoughts on the (series) DP127 before the change: It's dark and retains the classic P bass tone with more high mids and a deeper low end. I wouldn't call it humbucker tone but it really sits in the mix of my admittedly full metal band without any EQ. It has a lot more high mids in the mix than I'd like, but sounds pretty cool on it's own. It'd do blues soooo well. Think darker P bass in general.

First impression of John's pickup is that it speaks exactly what the bass says. What is reproduced is extremely clear so everything that the DiMarzio covered up, I hear now. It'll probably sit great in a mix. It's definitely nowhere near as dark as the DiMarzio which seems like a mudbucker in comparison. Because my bass has always been bright and mid heavy, also courtesy of Roto 66, that's a good bit of what I'm getting through the amp. Lots of high mids. The high end is so clear and articulate, even through my SVT-II. I ran it into my Genz Benz 610 and turned the tweeter down for once! Most of my other basses sound dull through this setup and I struggle to get bite. This one does bite in the good way! Think of it this way... Where we have modern rig versus "wooly" Ampeg rigs, this is a very modern pickup versus wooly classic P. It pickups up the nuances of your playing and especially your playing position.
 
#209
Yvarg said:
Yes I have, and so far I'm pretty pleased with the results! I'm not much of one to describe sound through words, but I'll try. The highs are pleasant, not shrill but also not dull sounding. The mids are great and the bass is very present. Overall it's a nice and growly bridge pickup that doesn't suffer from sounding thin at all (which can be a problem with how close I put it to my bridge). I'd call it the lovechild of a Q-tuner and Bartolini. :D
Click to expand...

christw said:
Thoughts on the (series) DP127 before the change: It's dark and retains the classic P bass tone with more high mids and a deeper low end. I wouldn't call it humbucker tone but it really sits in the mix of my admittedly full metal band without any EQ. It has a lot more high mids in the mix than I'd like, but sounds pretty cool on it's own. It'd do blues soooo well. Think darker P bass in general.

First impression of John's pickup is that it speaks exactly what the bass says. What is reproduced is extremely clear so everything that the DiMarzio covered up, I hear now. It'll probably sit great in a mix. It's definitely nowhere near as dark as the DiMarzio which seems like a mudbucker in comparison. Because my bass has always been bright and mid heavy, also courtesy of Roto 66, that's a good bit of what I'm getting through the amp. Lots of high mids. The high end is so clear and articulate, even through my SVT-II. I ran it into my Genz Benz 610 and turned the tweeter down for once! Most of my other basses sound dull through this setup and I struggle to get bite. This one does bite in the good way! Think of it this way... Where we have modern rig versus "wooly" Ampeg rigs, this is a very modern pickup versus wooly classic P. It pickups up the nuances of your playing and especially your playing position.
Click to expand...

Wow! Thanks for the great reviews. I'm really looking forward to hearing you guys lay down some bass lines.
 
#210
A few more thoughts from later last night. I let two of the guys from my band hear it (our drummer, Cody and rhythm guitarist, Dave) along with my little brother.

My brother caught me mid-setup when the pickup looked level from my view, but was not. I fixed the string to string balance and barring the first "ew, that sounds weak compared to the DP127," he ended up liking it too with a clear head. (It is sensitive to distance by the way! A soft player could get MASSIVE volume!)

Cody, he doesn't pay too much attention to our tones, but he said he likes it. His favorite tone i brought to the table was P bass into massively overdriven Bass VT though. Not sure how to take that.

Dave, when I told him that it was clear, looked at me with curiousity. I played in the upper register for a minute and got "DUDE! That is clear!" He said he likes that one a whole lot mote than the DiMarzio.

So, I think it's popular around here. :p Samples to come after breakfast and a little studying for finals!

Afterthought: with some compression, these have huuuge potential for modern slap pickups.
 
#212
cyrusstark said:
I'm very curious about these. I know you're busy with production right now, but i would definitely be interested in buying one later on.
Click to expand...

One reason I'm busy with the production and I haven't got all the freebies out is, paid orders have priority. Every time I get a paid order for a single, or a set of pups they go to the top of the list. I have been able to get a few of my free samples inbetween paid orders. I'm also always trying new ways to inprove my designs, sound quility, better looking castings and more types of pickups.
So if anyone out there is wanting to order a pup or a set, but your concerned your order will take awhile to be processed. Don't worry, I'll be right on it. :)
 
#213
My old DP127 test is found here: http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=678039&highlight=dp127

Quick clip doing the same things: http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_songInfo.cfm?bandID=1089216&songID=9556403 It's fingers then pick for most riffs. Sorry about the fret noise. I just dropped it from CGCF to BEAD to match the other clip. I think a setup and light compression would do miracles for the bass right now.

I think what's really telling is exactly how clear the upper register chorded / melodic riff is. That's the one that made Dave say "Dude, that is clear!" Comparing that to the DP127 which just sounds like mud right now is night and day. I kind of like both though. It's just apples v oranges.

Of note: This bass has a set of Roto 66 Drop Zones on it with approx ~30 hours between recordings so it's going to be bright naturally.
 
#216
christw said:
My old DP127 test is found here: http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=678039&highlight=dp127

Quick clip doing the same things: http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_songInfo.cfm?bandID=1089216&songID=9556403 It's fingers then pick for most riffs. Sorry about the fret noise. I just dropped it from CGCF to BEAD to match the other clip. I think a setup and light compression would do miracles for the bass right now.

I think what's really telling is exactly how clear the upper register chorded / melodic riff is. That's the one that made Dave say "Dude, that is clear!" Comparing that to the DP127 which just sounds like mud right now is night and day. I kind of like both though. It's just apples v oranges.

Of note: This bass has a set of Roto 66 Drop Zones on it with approx ~30 hours between recordings so it's going to be bright naturally.
Click to expand...


Im curious as to any differences in recording techniques/equipment. The Dimarzios seem to have more bottom end-am I hearing this right? How does the output compare?
 
#217
The DiMarzio was recorded exactly the same way. My technique was the same both times and used an extra heavy Fender pick for the pick both times. The DiMarzio sits at about 20k (massive output) where as Johns pickup is 11k. Most of the DP127's output is muffled lows and mids. Johns pickup sounds very much like my Duncan SPB-1 with a very present high end.

I feel like the nature of this specific bass is to not be too deep in general. It never had the super present lows that some of my others did except with the DP127. I don't want to say it was the pickup John gave me that sapped low end because his other pickups certainly did not.
 

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