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I'm getting ready to replace my SR305's anemic pickups either with some Aguilar DCB-G4s or some Nordstand Dual Blade Neos. It will be my first experience with Aguilar or Nordstand pickups, so it's a bit of an experiment. Based on good reports from TB-ers, I'm confident either set of pickups will sound good -- I'm just looking for some guts, some oomph the current pickups are lacking. Pretty much anything will be an improvement.
I put a set of Dunlop Super Bright Nickels on an SR375 (maple body) with similar pickups, and they brought it to life (they've been great on everything so far). Lots more on the bottom, good mids, and plenty on the top. Good balance thru-out. And they did the same for a pieced together SR645 (basswood body)- tried several other sets before, that just didn't do it.. Something about those SB strings...
- Jan 12, 2011
- 4,578
- 2,460
- Disclosures
- Artist, Trickfish Amplification Bartolini Emerging Artist, MTD Kingston Emerging Artist. Artist, Tsunami Cables
I have a brand new GIO SR 206 with spalted maple top and I'm diggin it. The fingerstyle tone is more than adequate at any level of discretion but the slap tone sounds well, inexpensive. I plan to upgrade to Aguilar DCB 6's (G5) EMG style Pups. They will fit without too much effort. The pre upgrade is still in the air. My choices are Aggie OBP3, Bart NTMB, or a Bass Mods. I heard Bass Mods pres were designed after Barts so I may go the cheaper route and choose the Bass mods. Still the DCB's and Bass Mods pre would be a drastic upgrade and improvement to what is a very nice Budget 6 string. I could not argue or resist, a mahogany body, and spalted maple top with gloss finish and 6 strings for only $349 and the construction, fit and finish are great for this price. The plain model is only $299 and is nice as well and provides much value for what you actually get.
- Jan 12, 2011
- 4,578
- 2,460
- Disclosures
- Artist, Trickfish Amplification Bartolini Emerging Artist, MTD Kingston Emerging Artist. Artist, Tsunami Cables
Aggie DCB's kick Azz. Heard them in a Custom Brubaker. all I can say is wow I like that tone.
While I appreciate the input, the strings are not the issue. I have the same strings in the Ibby and another bass that has plenty of guts -- the output of the Ibby is just anemic.
Not dissing the stock MK1's at all because I really like the overall vibe of the stock MK1's - they are punchy & aggressive sounding. The main reason I started looking into different pickups after a few months of the stock pickups is that I felt the bottom end on the MK1's was just a tad blurry & a little mushy IMO - not horrible, but it kinda bugged me after having played it a while. The MK1's could punch in the midrange for days & the highs were aggressive, (and I liked that) but they could also get a little harsh/strident if not kept in check. Again, overall, it was mostly just wanting to hear a tighter & more defined low end and maybe a little smoother high end.
I took a chance on the Aguilar DCB pickups and so very glad I did! I didn't want to lose the MK1's aggressive vibe, I just wanted to shore up a couple areas in the tone dept & the DCB's did exactly that in exactly the right areas I was hoping for. They have more definition in the low end, the mids are still nice & punchy (great attack & aggressive growl) and the high frequencies extend out much further than the MK1's, so they come across as less strident and more natural sounding, IMO. They have a wonderful "air" to them in the top end. This thread is spot on with further tone description of the Aguilar DCB's. The DCB's are modern sounding and aggressive, and they really keep that modern/aggressive/articulate vibe that I didn't want to lose in my SR-705's tone. Very happy camper here in the tone department!
I took a chance on the Aguilar DCB pickups and so very glad I did! I didn't want to lose the MK1's aggressive vibe, I just wanted to shore up a couple areas in the tone dept & the DCB's did exactly that in exactly the right areas I was hoping for. They have more definition in the low end, the mids are still nice & punchy (great attack & aggressive growl) and the high frequencies extend out much further than the MK1's, so they come across as less strident and more natural sounding, IMO. They have a wonderful "air" to them in the top end. This thread is spot on with further tone description of the Aguilar DCB's. The DCB's are modern sounding and aggressive, and they really keep that modern/aggressive/articulate vibe that I didn't want to lose in my SR-705's tone. Very happy camper here in the tone department!
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I changed my BTB 405QM stock pickups with Aguilar Super Singles and a Bass Mods pre . Mine didn't have the Barts ,it had the Ibanez pickups and pre . The overall sound from the bass sounded too midrangy and prossesed to me . The Ibanez pre worked pretty well but the basic sound of the pickups was there no matter how EQ'd. I wanted a more open sound more like what the bass sounded like acoustically .
The Super Singles are Jazz single coils in a soapbar housing . They fit in the pickup routes almost perfectly except for an 1/8" gap at each end . The pole pieces line up great with the 19mm spacing at the bridge . They sound just like what I wanted and maybe better . They have a very big bottom and a great open midrange with that Jazz growl too . Love the sound now . The Ibanez pre was good but I wanted to be able to go passive too and the Bass Mods pre does that just fine . I was trying to sell this bass for a while in the classifieds but I played it at a benefit outdoors this weekend and it just killed . Very , very clear and detailed sound , all my mistakes were readily apparent . I just need to practice more .
Life is good !
The Super Singles are Jazz single coils in a soapbar housing . They fit in the pickup routes almost perfectly except for an 1/8" gap at each end . The pole pieces line up great with the 19mm spacing at the bridge . They sound just like what I wanted and maybe better . They have a very big bottom and a great open midrange with that Jazz growl too . Love the sound now . The Ibanez pre was good but I wanted to be able to go passive too and the Bass Mods pre does that just fine . I was trying to sell this bass for a while in the classifieds but I played it at a benefit outdoors this weekend and it just killed . Very , very clear and detailed sound , all my mistakes were readily apparent . I just need to practice more .
Life is good !
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Did you change the preamp also?Not dissing the stock MK1's at all because I really like the overall vibe of the stock MK1's - they are punchy & aggressive sounding. The main reason I started looking into different pickups after a few months of the stock pickups is that I felt the bottom end on the MK1's was just a tad blurry & a little mushy IMO - not horrible, but it kinda bugged me after having played it a while. The MK1's could punch in the midrange for days & the highs were aggressive, (and I liked that) but they could also get a little harsh/strident if not kept in check. Again, overall, it was mostly just wanting to hear a tighter & more defined low end and maybe a little smoother high end.
I took a chance on the Aguilar DCB pickups and so very glad I did! I didn't want to lose the MK1's aggressive vibe, I just wanted to shore up a couple areas in the tone dept & the DCB's did exactly that in exactly the right areas I was hoping for. They have more definition in the low end, the mids are still nice & punchy (great attack & aggressive growl) and the high frequencies extend out much further than the MK1's, so they come across as less strident and more natural sounding, IMO. They have a wonderful "air" to them in the top end. This thread is spot on with further tone description of the Aguilar DCB's. The DCB's are modern sounding and aggressive, and they really keep that modern/aggressive/articulate vibe that I didn't want to lose in my SR-705's tone. Very happy camper here in the tone department!
No, I kept the stock Ibanez preamp. I was going back-n-forth on the idea of going with an Aguilar OBP-3 along with the DCB's, but after much debating & comparing between all the boost & cut frequencies between the 2 preamps - especially the two mid-frequency points on the Aguilar (400Hz & 800Hz) vs the stock Ibanez (250Hz & 600Hz). I found the lower-mid point of the stock Ibanez preamp is more to my liking than the Aguilar's & that the Ibby's 600Hz point is close enough to Aggie's 800Hz to give still give me a nice mid-scoop for slapping. The other frequency points seemed almost identical in the low & high frequencies areas of boost & cut, so I decided to stay put with the stock preamp. I didn't really have any complaints with it to start with. I was merely wondering what kind of tone shaping differences the OBP-3 would bring to the table vs the stock preamp.
I've occasionally seen some negative TB comments regarding some of the Ibby preamps on some models of their basses - but I find the stock preamp to be entirely useful, musical, quiet & quite effective at tone shaping for my tastes. Maybe some of those preamp criticisms could actually be due to misdirected dissatisfaction with some of the stock pickups - don't know, but to each their own I suppose. But I have no complaints with the stock preamp - it sure sounds great with the DCB's and I'm not entirely sure whether changing it out would garner as big a return on investment sound-wise as the DCB's have proven.
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