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Nordstrand Big Single Opinions

#81
Davo-London said:
I had Cliff Bordwell put Big Singles in my custom ball bass and I really love them. Coupled with an Audere pre-amp you really can bring out the agression in the PUs with a dash of mids boost. But I love the bridge PU tone with a dash of bass and a dash of mids. Hmm creamy.

Davo
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It's the 'creamy' tone of these that I don't like. They sound much more like humbucking soapbar pickups than 'jazz pickups on steroids' to me. IMO, they 'suck the J out of a J bass tone'.

If you are looking to make your J bass sound fatter, less grindy, more creamy, with fatter low mids and mids, these are great. However, they sound nothing like a 'single coil J on steroids' to me.

Regarding hum, they hum like any other single coil when solo'd. Given how fat they sound with the bridge pickup solo'd, I'd HIGHLY recommend the Big Splits over the Big Singles. In my indirect A/Bing, they sound virtually identical, and solo'ing the bridge pickup with these 'Big' pickups is quite amazing if you dig the 'Jaco burp'... MUCH fatter and smoother than any standard J pickup.

However, none of these 'Big' pickups are appropriate IMO for 'juicing up' a J bass. They are cool if you like the way a J bass feels and looks, but would rather have a more modern 'soapbar' tone.

IMO and IME.
 
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#82
Hello.. Thought I'd chip in for a sec... I just replaced all the electronics in my custom jazz basses with the Audere Jazz circuit and Big Singles.. The sound is great.. Aggressive, full, fat and pretty bright.. The only problem is that I work in a theatre pit every night and due to the fact that the pick-ups are single coils (and very big ones at that!) they did pick up a lot of interference.. It's not something you would notice live with a loud band but if you are working in near studio conditions (ie. with cans, like I do) the buzz is annoying... I'm having mine replaced with the Big Splits which I'm told sound pretty near to the Big Singles but without the hum.. Think long and hard about whether you could actually put up with the buzzing (and yes, even with both pick-ups on full) before ordering.. Best of luck
 
#84
pmaraziti said:
Guys, little dilemma...

I'm looking to give more live to my MIA Jazz Deluxe... the Big Singles wouldn't fit the current cavity though... anybody compared them with the Nordstrand NJ5F ? Anybody has mounted the Big Singles on their jazz enlarging current pickup holes to fit the Big Singles ?

Thanks, Paolo
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i did this mod about 6 months ago,, it's passive, VVT. sounds & plays absolutely amazing, the Squier has a set of Big Singles

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and,, i've got a Peavey Grind that i modded about 2 years ago,, i put in a set of Fat Stacks / coil tap, & moved the neck pickup back so it's got the MM sweetspot covered,, again passive, VVT. this bass is a total funk machine.

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and both

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#85
MaHei said:
NorCalDog and I have both done that to our Squire Deluxe fivers. Best thing to do, if you don't have the experience and the tools, is to buy a template from Brian at BestBassgear and have someone do the routing for you.

I am very happy with the results, aesthetically and soundwise. I now run the bass passive VVT.
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cool man,, glad to see someone else here taking the plunge... :hiding:..
( pun intended ) :)

any photos ?
 
#91
Stewmc5222 said:
DSCF0020-1.jpg


this may be one of the coolest basses I've ever seen!

:bassist:
:bassist:
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It really did come out great, NorCal. Mine is similar, but it's defretted, has black hardware and I haven't dulled it (yet). I've been considering doing that to the finish since you first posted pics of yours, but haven't yet. Now that I'll have the bass apart again (to change the nut, install the Big Splits, and route another battery compartment) I just night go ahead with it.

That dull finish with the chrome hardware and retro knobs really looks great, especially with those Nordstrands.
 
#93
NorCal Dog said:
post a photo if you can
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Here ya go. I'm a terrible photographer and the bass could use a better cleaning before a photo shoot, but you get the idea ;)

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That weird spot on the last pic under the bridge p/u is a reflection.

My complete list of mods so far is; black hardware (incl. badassV bridge), defret (white inlaid lines), complete shielding of control and pickup cavities, Aguilar OBP-3 preamp, black Dunlop Strap-loks, Nordstrand Big Splits, handmade graphite nut and dual thumbrests. I may have missed something, it's kinda late and I've taken plenty of cold medicine... ah yes, my CLIFF EM ALLLL sticker! I've had one on almost all of my basses since the 10th grade. Obviously I wasn't aiming for pretty...

I only had time to play the bass for about 90 seconds after I got the Nordstrands in, so I only have two words... Holy Fu*&#ng S*#t!!!

OK, so that's three, but less than two minutes blew me away. What a HUGE upgrade, and I already had upgraded from the stock p/u's to Carvin Soapbars. If anyone out there has one of these basses, or any bass for that matter, and you're looking to upgrade anything, make an upgrade to Nordstrand p/u's your top priority. They make that much of a difference.

oops, I forgot to take a shot of the back, I discarded the neck plate and inset black neck screw bushings and routed an extra cavity for a second battery to go 18v. I had to position the second battery box between the control cavity and the bottom edge of the bass, since anywhere else would have interfered with existing cavities and/or screws.

When I'm feeling better, I'll polish her up and take some better pics.
 

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