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My 'basstasters' for Jazz pickups

#41
JimmyM said:
OK, well I guess then I'm just not a sophisticated enough listener to tell the differences. Or maybe my hearing isn't what it used to be. I don't know. All I can say is I heard what I heard. I'm not going to debate what I heard.
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Absolutely. No insult intended. If we hear different things, so be it. I've heard many guys play me what they consider to be "the killer tone" and to me it sounds like crap. To each his own, I would no more dispute what you hear or don't than I would tolerate the same.



JimmyM said:
trust me when I say that it's not a bummer not to hear those subtle differences. I don't like spending money on gear, and not having to buy pickups all the time makes me very happy.
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This was my point in using the word "blessed"...I was being serious. I've spent an awful lot of money on pickups and other tweaks over the years. If I wasn't so picky, it would help me out quite a bit.
 
#43
JimmyM said:
I will, however, agree with Carey that a test like David's shouldn't be the only criteria you use when judging pickups.
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Definitely, my aim was more for people to be able to hear comparitive differences.
I don't like spending money on gear, and not having to buy pickups all the time makes me very happy.
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I wouldn't say I buy pickups all the time, as I said before 5 of my 6 basses are stock. Just at the time of having the Geddy Lee, I felt like doing a comparitive experiment. Since I didn't particularly like the stock sound, I should have probably just sold it straight away since it certainly wasn't a cheap exercise :) But to me it was worth it.
 
#44
Marcus, I wasn't really directing that last post at you per se. It was just a general post to everyone who kept telling me I was wrong about what I don't hear in different pickups. So bottom line, some of you hear the differences in pickups. I, for the most part, don't. I will try to be less militant about my beliefs in the future. However, when I see something like, "I've been playing for a month. What pickups should I replace mine with so I sound better?" I'm still going to tell them to practice.

:D
 
#45
Carey said:
It should also be noted, that the pickups output is in no way related to the level of the recording in this test.
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Firstly Carey, thanks a lot for the input.

Yeah, I do apologize for the not perfect consistency. It was my first time doing home recording, using a Korg PXR4, and I certainly learned as I went along. Unfortunately, some clips are quieter than others but not due to difference in relative output levels.
 
#47
David,
No problem with my input. I have a lot of ideas about tone, but I try not to be too pushy and opinionated about what I like and that you all should like the same thing... ;)
Like I said earlier, there are a lot of colors we can bring to our basses, through technique, string selection, pickup selection, wood selection, amp selection, cable selection, and cabinet selection. Finding the color that inspires you as a player is the trick, and for some people that happens quickly and for others it takes a long time, and sometimes never happens. (Look at all the basses some members have bought and sold...)

Oh, and I wasn't trying to be critical of your recordings - it can be tough to get a good level in an MP3 or a wave file. Recording on computers is not the same as it was using an analog cassette deck with the nice sliders and level meters of the old days.
I just wanted to make sure that folks understand that it wasn't the pickups that had the low outout.
Thanks again for posting this David.

Any chance of adding the NJ4SV? :eyebrow:
 
#48
JimmyM said:
...when I see something like, "I've been playing for a month. What pickups should I replace mine with so I sound better?" I'm still going to tell them to practice.:D
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Absolutely. Those kind of posts are about as meaningful (no offense to anyone) as the "Who's the fastest and what recordings can I get of his/her fastest playing?" type threads. Geez...

It's funny how some people (not you) can get about what they are hearing. I wear contact lenses. Because my vision is sub-standard. There ya go, other people can see better than I can and see greater detail at equal distances. Why is it such a crazy leap to suggest some people can hear greater detail than others? No one would flinch at the suggestion that two people can look at the same sign from the same distance and one can see greater detail than the other. But have 2 people listen to the same thing (like cables or pickups or whatever) and have one of them say they can hear differences/details they other can't and all Hell breaks loose. "No you can't. You might think you can, but you don't. It's just marketing hype." and on and on.

Maybe there really is a difference with everything...cables, pickups, wood, whatever. And just maybe some people can hear more differences than others. Why is that such a radical idea...? :eyebrow:
 
#49
Welp, I guess I learned a lesson about stuff like that then. And yeah, it's OK to refer to me as one of those people. I buy the cheapest cables because I can't hear a difference between them and Monsters, and I do think a lot of it is marketing hype, and if you look around here, you'll see old posts where I have said exactly that. On the other hand, I'm not broke. Well, actually I am, but not from buying electric bass equipment. I'm broke from buying upright equipment. But I can dig what you're saying, and point taken. Now let's bring on the whisky and dancing girls!
 
#50
what about a Nordstrand single coil jazz? Are you going to test those out? Has anybody else tested them?

Looking for a jazz to add to a MM pickup. I like the clips of the Nordstrand MM pickup. Wondered if the single coil or SE would be a better choice. I know the single coil would hum more, but it might also have more jazz bass growl to it. just wondering...

thanks for the clips! VERY helpful!
 

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