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Lindy Fralin vs. Aero J-bass!

Aero vs. Fralin

  • Lindy Fralin

    Votes: 38 43.2%

  • Aero

    Votes: 45 51.1%

  • Other (please state in post)

    Votes: 5 5.7%
  • Total voters
    88
A

ArpeggiFish

Feb 24, 2008
182
0
#1
Hi,

I was wondering which would be better for great versatility. I am further modding my Jazz Bass. I want it tone to be like the tone for the bass solo for day of the baphomets (Mars Volta). I would also be using an Audere preamp. I'm also going to put a Wenge/Wenge neck on it for more growl.


Thanks


-Arpeggi
 
#2
Hmm.. My choice for that tone is not up there. Of your choices, Fralins are closest. But I think you would really REALLY dig Has-Sound Hot-J's. Fralins can be heard on the lakland website.. they might be a little too polite. Hot-J's grind like no other when you dig in and they have this nice bell like top that rings right along with the growl.

:D IME IMO, of course.
 
#7
Never pl;ayed thru LF's, but Nordy's, Fender, oem Lakland. One distinct feature of the Aeros I use ( Alnico 5) is the low end. Its HUGE. I dont mean the lower mid bump of vintage pups, I mean the fully articualte B string they bring to the mix.

You can make them sound too hot by getting them close to the string, or more "modern" by setting the height a bit wider like 5.5mm.

Aeros with Alnico 5 magnets are killer.

1st studio session, we ran the bass ( Lakland JO5) flat thru a SansAmp DI. THe engineer was taken aback at the flat passive sound, and there the bass stayed untouched for all six scratch tracks. We spent a few minutes cleaning up the errant 'burps' in those six tracks and I was done, never even bothering to rerecord through the Mesa pre.

Aeros. Top of the line imho.
 
#10
I haven't heard many single coil J pickups that are as aggressive and grindy as the Aero's that Lakland was using in the DJ model.... really aggressive. I dug them.

I've only played the Fralins in the JO Lakland and was not particularly impressed... somewhat thin sounding, and upper treble response was a touch clacky to my ear.

My favorite single coild J pickup is the Seymour Duncan Antiquity (I believe the Sadowsky single coil option is based on this pickup). That is the closest tone I've heard to a true vintage Fender J tone... just wonderful.... plenty of grind, but enough low end to sound great in passive mode also.
 
#11
KJung said:
My favorite single coild J pickup is the Seymour Duncan Antiquity (I believe the Sadowsky single coil option is based on this pickup). That is the closest tone I've heard to a true vintage Fender J tone... just wonderful.... plenty of grind, but enough low end to sound great in passive mode also.
Click to expand...

as a current owner a couple of a couple of vintage fenders i hear fralins as closer to what vintage pickups sound like. i keep hearing people mention grind and growl as traits of vintage fenders and if anything they are more mellow with that extended high end than anything being made my aero,nordstrand,duncan, etc. none of the other 60's fenders ive owned over the last 10 years have been as aggressive as some of these newer pickups either.
 
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#12
narud said:
as a current owner a couple of a couple of vintage fenders i hear fralins as closer to what vintage pickups sound like. i keep hearing people mention grind and growl as traits of vintage fenders and if anything they are more mellow with that extended high end than anything being made my aero,nordstrand,duncan, etc. none of the other 60's fenders ive owned over the last 10 years have been as aggressive as some of these newer pickups either.
Click to expand...

I hear what you are saying there. I guess I live in more of a '70's J' sort of space, and the Seymours just kill for that tone. The Aero's seem to move that tone to even the next level of aggressive grind, and I don't particularly view them as 'vintage' in any way... they are just killer, grindy, aggressive single coils. The Seymours seem to catch that late 1970's thing that I really dig.
 
#13
KJung said:
I hear what you are saying there. I guess I live in more of a '70's J' sort of space, and the Seymours just kill for that tone.
Click to expand...

yeah, but even the 70's basses (or pickups i should say) are like that to my ears. im on my 3rd late 70's jazz in the last 10 years right now, and theyve all sounded exactly the same. a buddy of mine has an early 70's j and the tone from those pickups is still that open high end with some growl, but non of the grind i hear from todays pickups. with the late 70 sound, i hear the aggressiveness coming from the wood and not the pickups.

when i went to carey nordstrand to get some repair work done, i was complaining about my general un-happiness with super light weight swamp ash vs northern. he essentially said they compensate for that with their pickups. and thats what im hearing. pickups that are wound hotter than the old ones to compensate for really light wood, but that ends taking away some of that openness i prefer.
 
#14
narud said:
yeah, but even the 70's basses (or pickups i should say) are like that to my ears. im on my 3rd late 70's jazz in the last 10 years right now, and theyve all sounded exactly the same. a buddy of mine has an early 70's j and the tone from those pickups is still that open high end with some growl, but non of the grind i hear from todays pickups. with the late 70 sound, i hear the aggressiveness coming from the wood and not the pickups.

when i went to carey nordstrand to get some repair work done, i was complaining about my general un-happiness with super light weight swamp ash vs northern. he essentially said they compensate for that with their pickups. and thats what im hearing. pickups that are wound hotter than the old ones to compensate for really light wood, but that ends taking away some of that openness i prefer.
Click to expand...


That could be the case. Again, I agree that the Aero's are quite aggressive, but the Seymour Antiquities just nail that tone to me perfectly (that 70's J tone). Neither the Fralins nor the Nordstrand single coils do to my ear, although they sound nice, with the Nord's being more mid warm (they do a great job of punching up the Sadowsky J instruments in the mids IMO) and the Fralins being very pure sounding, and again a little 'thin' to my ear (although I only heard the Fralins in a moderate weight, 60's position Lakland JO).

I guess it just depends on the tone in your head, and also, as you mention, the actual density of the body wood of the bass you are using. IMO and IME.

These pickups all sound quite different, and they all sound good to me!
 
#16
KJung said:
My favorite single coild J pickup is the Seymour Duncan Antiquity (I believe the Sadowsky single coil option is based on this pickup). That is the closest tone I've heard to a true vintage Fender J tone... just wonderful.... plenty of grind, but enough low end to sound great in passive mode also.
Click to expand...
Ken, are you talking about the regular Antiquity (I guess they'd be called 1's) or the Antiquity II's ? Have you heard both and can you compare them. I pretty much have settled on one of the Antiquity's but I'm just not sure if I want the I or II. I like the reviews saying the II's have a great low end because I'll be using them in a loud 3 piece rock situation. But I don't want such a huge, over excentuated low end to the point it loses it's natural Alnico tone. I'll be running passive.
 
#17
chiplexic said:
Ken, are you talking about the regular Antiquity (I guess they'd be called 1's) or the Antiquity II's ? Have you heard both and can you compare them. I pretty much have settled on one of the Antiquity's but I'm just not sure if I want the I or II. I like the reviews saying the II's have a great low end because I'll be using them in a loud 3 piece rock situation. But I don't want such a huge, over excentuated low end to the point it loses it's natural passive Alnico tone. I'll be running passive.
Click to expand...

I'm only familiar with the I's (the ones that are made to look beat up a bit!), which I assume are very similar also to the Sadowsky single coil, which I believe are based on the Antiquity I (could be II's though... I've only heard a couple Sadowsky's with the single coils and only checked them out in active mode, which kind of covers up these subtle differences... they sounded GREAT whatever they were). I have not heard the II's. The I's sound very 'traditional' to me, and work great for a 70's type tone (or maybe I should just say a somewhat aggressive tone)... vintage but with some grind and sparkle to my ear, but not quite as over the top as the Aero single coils.
 
#18
I'm with ecufunk. Fact, AERO will tell ya , ya better like the acoustic sound of the bass, as they'll pick that up. They do. My Sklyine JO5 is heavy, and it has a beautiful deep and long acoustic tone. SO much so, I couldnt use the std 4mm hieight off the pickup, too deep and dark!

Which is why i read somewhere here that wood makes no idfference. Yeah, only if the pups suck ( inferior and cheap) OR if they are designed to color the sound.
 
#20
I'm building a 6 string bass now that will have Aero JB6AE (single coils with Alnico 5 mags) and I got them based on things I'd read, such as you guys have been saying about them being punchy and aggressive with a solid B (and hopefully a solid high C as well). I HOPE (and am confident) that I'll be able to give sparkling reviews of them once I actually get to play 'em. Has anyone played on an Aero equipped 6'er?

My bass will be pretty heavy as it's about 2 1/4" thick , so I imagine it will be a pretty deep tone, but I hope it still sparkles and grinds the way I need it to! I'm going to be playing all styles, but gigging death metal with a whole step downtuning. :bassist: :bassist:

As for the poll, sorry I can't help, but in either of those cases, you should have a great sounding instrument!
 

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