• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Most pickups on a bass. the low down.

#23
I'm sure 9 EMG pickups would have string pull as well as phase problems as well.

If I remember reading correctly on the darkstar web site, that some of the early darkstars if two were used would stop the strings.

Here

I found it:

Question:
Will the double bar magnets pull the strings or kill the vibration/sustain?

Answer:
That depends on how high the pole pieces are in relation to the strings. Remember those little screw heads? The pickup needs to be placed at the right height to start with of course, to be "normal". We can confer on what that is for your bass. I have over-done it before. The red DeArmond Starfire you see in the website photo has ceramic V magnets instead of alnico V. Originaly I had 2 mags in the neck DS and 2 in the bridge DS. The pull was so strong at the neck (normal pole piece height) that the flux did stop the string literally! It stopped the string and left these awfull harmonic overtones....bletch! I ended up taking one bar mag out of that DS and the bass sounds fine now. The alnicos don't have that problem. In fact you're going to notice INCREASED sustain due to the iron content of the DS. The 8 steel laminations saturate and release the energy slowly. This is what gives the DS it's unique sound. It's very subtle but you'll "get it". There's also something cool that happens with the speakers that I've rarely experienced with other pickups. Leaning into the spk cab allows the notes to sustain forever. Works with solid and hollowbodys. Great for ending a tune on a sustained whole note. Guaranteed to piss off your guitar player
Click to expand...

So yeah I would imagine 9 EMG's would have some string piull.

Peace

-Benny
 
#24
shrimphead said:
I beg to differ, IIRC in the US a patent was awarded for exercising a cat with a laser pointer :eyebrow:
Click to expand...

Patents can also be awarded for the innovative use of existing technology - hence as simple as it may be a kitty laser toy!

IMHO sticking 9 plus pick-ups on a bass is not innovative enough for a patent, unless you've discovered a way to prevent the phase issues or the dampening effect, etc, etc. Maybe the inventor has?
 
#25
MrHyde said:
i recently built a bass with 9 emg pickups [3 humbuckers and 6 pickups i built into the fretless finger board], a peizo bridge pickup, and an emg midi. this is enough electronics that i get every sound out of it, and fry my brain figuring out how i fitted all the wires in there. [i used a hammer]. i was wondering if anyone knows of a bass with more pickups on it. i aslo put a tremlo on it if anyone cares.
thanks,
Mr Hyde.
Click to expand...

To put it succinctly, "The WHY question occurs to me".

Just because something is possible doesn't mean it's an improvement, or even a good idea.
 
#27
After re-reading the OP, I think the idea is that the bass is probably a six-string with one individual pickup mounted on the fingerboard for each string. I believe that I've seen such a setup with upright basses before. Thus, there are actually only (ha!) a total of four magnetic pickups for each string, plus the piezos. Could Mr. Hyde confirm that, or possibly explain the configuration a bit more clearly?
 
#28
MrHyde said:
i recently built a bass with 9 emg pickups [3 humbuckers and 6 pickups i built into the fretless finger board], a peizo bridge pickup, and an emg midi. this is enough electronics that i get every sound out of it, and fry my brain figuring out how i fitted all the wires in there. [i used a hammer]. i was wondering if anyone knows of a bass with more pickups on it. i aslo put a tremlo on it if anyone cares.
thanks,
Mr Hyde.
Click to expand...

Read the OP carefully, 9 pups built into a fretboard seems pretty revolutionary to me...
 
#32
I had a bass made completely out of bass pickups, including the neck and headstock. The back of the bass was made from 9 volt batteries that powered the rest of the bass.
I tried to take pictures, but the powerful magnetic pull of the bass ruined any attempt to take a digital photo. And my standard camera was unable to focus because the magnets were pulling the aperature out of whack.
 
#33
bassman1185 said:
After re-reading the OP, I think the idea is that the bass is probably a six-string with one individual pickup mounted on the fingerboard for each string. I believe that I've seen such a setup with upright basses before. Thus, there are actually only (ha!) a total of four magnetic pickups for each string, plus the piezos. Could Mr. Hyde confirm that, or possibly explain the configuration a bit more clearly?
Click to expand...

You beat me to it... great minds and all that. ;)
 
#34
Mikeyd74 said:
I had a bass made completely out of bass pickups, including the neck and headstock. The back of the bass was made from 9 volt batteries that powered the rest of the bass.
I tried to take pictures, but the powerful magnetic pull of the bass ruined any attempt to take a digital photo. And my standard camera was unable to focus because the magnets were pulling the aperature out of whack.
Click to expand...
Now wait a second, that was my idea! You stole it from me!:mad:
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back