That's an awful lot of full strength magnets to put under the strings. I wonder if you could have two of them on a bass without all kinds of string pull issues in the upper register. It must sound absolutely HUGE though. Can't wait to hear clips.
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New Nordstrand BigMan
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My Stammie has the Bart X45J route in the neck and I've been pondering a double MM or just expanding the neck route to a P2 sized for a while so I can have more pickups choices. I wonder if a FatMan (two FatStacks in the MM case) is coming down the road.
I read somewhere(and I can't find it now), that they recommend putting this only in the bridge position because of this.
It's on the thread of comments on their facebook post when it was first announced.
I really want to hear the thing.
I know Carey is currently building a VM4 that he plans to put the BigMan in. Very cool top (spalted maple I think?) and he said that if somebody wants to claim the build they can pick the finish (clear, burst edges etc). If I knew what the BigMan sounded like I might be sorely tempted.
I know Carey is currently building a VM4 that he plans to put the BigMan in. Very cool top (spalted maple I think?) and he said that if somebody wants to claim the build they can pick the finish (clear, burst edges etc). If I knew what the BigMan sounded like I might be sorely tempted.
Agreed. I'm tempted to try one in my Roscoe Century 5 that currently has a MM5.2 in it, but I like it quite a bit as is and don't really want to lose the Music Man sound. Makes me want another one to do that with...
I'd think wired in parallel it would have to at least be in the same neighborhood as a traditional MM but yeah, I want to know what the tonal differences are.
This.
I've been pondering a triple routed bass that uses FatStacks and a rotary switch - you could combine the FatStacks in single coil mode to give the effect of two singled in parrellel or series, as desired, without the extra load of a now redundant coil, and still be able to switch them into a cumcancelling single coil mode - basically the gnarliest quad coil pickup ever.
Add another fat stack to the neck and you'd have the same options, but you could comine the neck and middle for a J sound, or the middle and bridge for a MM sound.
Is there one optimal location for a pickup like this or is there more than one sweet spot which could provide excellent but different tone and focus? I'm curious about a moveable sweet spot with the BigMan pickup. For example, if the Musicman location is one sweet spot toward the bridge and the P-bass location another toward the neck, a continuous route could connect the two. The pickup could be moved to either location as desired to provide two distinctive vibes. Aside from the Westone sliding rail has this type of build been done successfully elsewhere with a traditional body and different hardware?
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The only successful implementation I can think of is the Mike Pope signature bass from Fodera which allows the bridge pickup to adjust about an inch in 1/8" increments.
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Wow that's georgeous and right along the lines of what I was thinking, except make the BigMan adjustable between MM and P-bass positions and perhaps some in-between. Nice to see that it's been done and looks nice to boot.
I don't know what you consider a successful implementation, but Gibson had a sliding pickup on a few iterations of the Grabber - see here for a good shot: https://flic.kr/p/jzAtQp
Lower priced for sure but that should work too. Wonder if a series/parallel switch could be used for this pickup with a voltage divider on the series to keep the volume consistent?
One might also consider the HS configuration with a BigMan at the bridge, Big Single at the neck, and a 3-position switch. Having 3 different Big Single pair lineups would provide a wide range of coverage and tones.
One might also consider the HS configuration with a BigMan at the bridge, Big Single at the neck, and a 3-position switch. Having 3 different Big Single pair lineups would provide a wide range of coverage and tones.
Warwick built a bass with two sliding pickups for Guy Pratt.
Wood and Tronics have a sliding bridge pickup system.
I'm curious about the Big Man, too.
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I like the Wood & Tronics video. That system looks well thought out and sounds very good. A sliding system does add complexity though, so perhaps a Nordy vM5 with BigMan bridge and Big Single neck pickups would be the most practical way to get different dual Big Single alignments. A 3-way switch to select between BM1/BM2, BM1/BS, and BM2/BS pairs into the Nordstrand 2B-MM preamp with series/parallel switching could be a gnarly tone monster if the extra Big Single doesn't add too much magnet under the strings as pointed out earlier.
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The W & T version certainly looks slicker, perhaps more solid, but that Warwick lets you move both pickups, and all over the place.
Mike Pope's sliding pickup system, on his signature Fodera (I think W&T might have taken inspiration here):
TBer DirtPoor Robbins actually has a more clear (not rushed amid the noise of NAMM) demo of the Mike Pope sliding pickup, posted in the Fodera thread.
Finally, turns out there's another thread, recently posted, on the topic of sliding pickups. I've posted these videos there, as well. If I find more specifically on that topic, I'll probably post it there, to avoid cluttering up this thread too much -- though those sliding systems are certainly instructive as to pickup placement.
I've thought about a Big Man in the bridge with a switch to select either coil or both along with a Big Single or Big Split at the neck (though I don't know if there would be hum issues, with three coils), but, yeah, I'm unsure if all those magnets would be an issue or not.
DirtPoor's demo does a nice job of showing the different voicings that a moveable rear pickup offers. Those Foderas are killer, just a bit out of my price range but they way they implement the rear adjustment seems to work very well and it doesn't have to move much to affect the tone. Perhaps with the BigMan, a gap twice the width of the pickup would be enough.
The reason I mentioned BigMan + Big Single 2+1 configuration is to have 3 identical coils but only 2 in service at any one time. The BM1/BM2, BM1/BS, and BM2/BS switching provides 3 different pairings of 2 single coils, but with the 3rd coil not part of the circuit I don't think there should be hum issues. I figure this would also work well with the 2B-MM preamp and series/parallel switching. Perhaps Carey or one of his crew will eventually weigh in on this idea.
The reason I mentioned BigMan + Big Single 2+1 configuration is to have 3 identical coils but only 2 in service at any one time. The BM1/BM2, BM1/BS, and BM2/BS switching provides 3 different pairings of 2 single coils, but with the 3rd coil not part of the circuit I don't think there should be hum issues. I figure this would also work well with the 2B-MM preamp and series/parallel switching. Perhaps Carey or one of his crew will eventually weigh in on this idea.
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Are you thinking separate volume controls to go along with the switching, or just one master volume? I was going to stay entirely clear of single coils because of hum, but I like where this is going. I also like to play with favoring one pickup or another slightly, so I might be looking at some hum, but it could be worth it. If you're willing to put up with the hum of just playing one coil, you could have even more options with a 5-way, Strat-style switch, or a combination of switches.
Based on the Pope and W&T vids, I think even a route that allowed half-an-inch of adjustment would make a significant difference! If you figure out a way to do it as slickly as they do, let me know!
There's still the issue of all that magnetic pull... but maybe it wouldn't be a problem.
Really interesting idea. You could use a four way rotary switch with a knob that would give neck + front coil of the BigMan, neck + rear coil of the BigMan, both coils of the BigMan (in parallel like the other two positions) and both coils of the BigMan in series.
Could be cool.
