Chef
In Memoriam
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Nordstrand big singles... experiences?
- Thread starter Willem
- Start date
But I have finally swapped the EMG's in my bass for Nordstrand Big Splits. I love 'm. I got hugely closer to my ideal tone and only need minor EQ'ing on my amps 12 band.
My tone sits nicely below the guitars and interacts with the kick greatly depending on which string I play and right hand position. My technique which includes lots of fret clank to cut through is really aided by these pickups. With the EMG's it sounded boomy and brittle and harsh. Now I sound more natural, organic and focussed and boomy if I want to. I don't really like the bridge pickup though. I always keep the neck at 100% and mix the bridge pup in to the taste of the day. But the differences between neck 100% and both full on are small.
I have always been happy with the feel, playability, look and unplugged sound of my bass. Now I'm happy with the sound plugged in. Solo and in the mix.
My tone sits nicely below the guitars and interacts with the kick greatly depending on which string I play and right hand position. My technique which includes lots of fret clank to cut through is really aided by these pickups. With the EMG's it sounded boomy and brittle and harsh. Now I sound more natural, organic and focussed and boomy if I want to. I don't really like the bridge pickup though. I always keep the neck at 100% and mix the bridge pup in to the taste of the day. But the differences between neck 100% and both full on are small.
I have always been happy with the feel, playability, look and unplugged sound of my bass. Now I'm happy with the sound plugged in. Solo and in the mix.
I 've been considering a set of these babies for my Cort A5, it has MK1 pickups (licensed by Bartolini) which I am pretty sure well, kind of suck. However the pickups specifications mention that the string spacing must be 19mm at the bridge. The Cort is 16.5mm 5 strings. Do you think there will be problems with the output of individual strings?
Chef
In Memoriam
Yes.
When I talked to Nord, they said 18-19 would work, less than that would be problematic.
I'd sure eamil them though, they might have a different answer, and, they can custom make stuff.
When I talked to Nord, they said 18-19 would work, less than that would be problematic.
I'd sure eamil them though, they might have a different answer, and, they can custom make stuff.
...and custom stuff they actually do, for a small price increase (~50$) and a wait of 4-5 weeks. 
Here are some comments from a great TBer: Chef
''The Valenti Geddy Vee has Big Singles, and a Nord 3 band preamp. I can't say enough about this combination. The preamp is very pure and usable throughout it's entire range. This bass really is closer to a trad J sound than the DC5's, but that should be no big surprise as they really are single coil all the way''
That's what makes me decide to go with custom big singles...
Nino Valenti is using underwound Big singles in his basses.
They sounds closer to a standard j-bass pickup. They are a little brighter then the original big singles...
''The Valenti Geddy Vee has Big Singles, and a Nord 3 band preamp. I can't say enough about this combination. The preamp is very pure and usable throughout it's entire range. This bass really is closer to a trad J sound than the DC5's, but that should be no big surprise as they really are single coil all the way''
That's what makes me decide to go with custom big singles...
Nino Valenti is using underwound Big singles in his basses.
They sounds closer to a standard j-bass pickup. They are a little brighter then the original big singles...
I have an Ibanez BTB510E
and it came with a Bartolini ITMB preamp (18v version of an NTMB) and Bartolini dual coil pups wired in series. Thick low mids and subdued highs - not my cuppa tea.
I just got a set of Big Singles in the mail that I bought from another TB'er and I've got an Audere Classic 4-Band pre on order. I'll post pics of the process and give my thoughts when it's done - I can't wait! I'm loving the fact that they come with shielding foil with a grounding wire on the back of the pickups - that combined with full coper foil shielding I put in each of the pickup cavities should help with any noise I get.
I noticed that there isn't an indication of which one is the neck and which one is the bridge pickup - does it matter?
and it came with a Bartolini ITMB preamp (18v version of an NTMB) and Bartolini dual coil pups wired in series. Thick low mids and subdued highs - not my cuppa tea.
I just got a set of Big Singles in the mail that I bought from another TB'er and I've got an Audere Classic 4-Band pre on order. I'll post pics of the process and give my thoughts when it's done - I can't wait! I'm loving the fact that they come with shielding foil with a grounding wire on the back of the pickups - that combined with full coper foil shielding I put in each of the pickup cavities should help with any noise I get.
I noticed that there isn't an indication of which one is the neck and which one is the bridge pickup - does it matter?
I just had some Big Singles installed in my Hanewinckel along with a Nordy 3-band pre. I have my own thread in this forum if anybody wants to read my thoughts.
I didn't install the pickups, but I'm not sure it would matter. Still, it might be worth an e-mail to Stew or Carey to make sure.
Can you post a link here to that thread you started?
I'm sure you're right about it not mattering which pickup goes where since they're the same size. I emailed Nordstrand and shot a PM off to maurilio (who works there) about it though just in case.
Do I just look for the one with the closer pole pieces or is there an indicator on the bottom of the pickups?
The folks at Nordstrand ROCK!!
I bought a set of Big Singles from a guy here on TB. It looks like he got two neck pups when he bought them and probably didn't know it because he turned around and sold them without installing them. When they arrived one was still sealed in the plastic and the other one had been opened. When I realized that I had two neck pickups and they were (now) both opened I figured I was sunk! How would the folks at Nordstrand believe that they weren't used or something like that.
I called the company and talked to a guy out there and he said it looks like I've got two neck pups. They're going to priority mail me out a bridge pup and I just need to send one of the neck pups back when I get it. That's what I call customer service!! I didn't even buy them from them!
You're running a great company out there, Carey!
I bought a set of Big Singles from a guy here on TB. It looks like he got two neck pups when he bought them and probably didn't know it because he turned around and sold them without installing them. When they arrived one was still sealed in the plastic and the other one had been opened. When I realized that I had two neck pickups and they were (now) both opened I figured I was sunk! How would the folks at Nordstrand believe that they weren't used or something like that.
I called the company and talked to a guy out there and he said it looks like I've got two neck pups. They're going to priority mail me out a bridge pup and I just need to send one of the neck pups back when I get it. That's what I call customer service!! I didn't even buy them from them!
You're running a great company out there, Carey!
I loved the BS's in my Valenti. Great character and cranked they sound like the best snarling agressive P ever.
Basic questions:
- would you choose big singles for your only/primary J bass?
- can they jaco?
- do they sound much different than standard J's with mids and or lows boosted just a touch via a pre?
- do they they tend more toward rock or toward warm? would you use them more for geddy or de la?
- is there a wood combo (alder/ash/maple/rosewood) that they seem to call out for?
- are they everything, or do they have a thing?
Answers to these questiosn would help me decide if I want them for a J I'm having made (replacing a J with ultrajazz and OBP-1 as too scooped and too modern in the highs for me, btu otherwise great).
Thanks!
- would you choose big singles for your only/primary J bass?
- can they jaco?
- do they sound much different than standard J's with mids and or lows boosted just a touch via a pre?
- do they they tend more toward rock or toward warm? would you use them more for geddy or de la?
- is there a wood combo (alder/ash/maple/rosewood) that they seem to call out for?
- are they everything, or do they have a thing?
Answers to these questiosn would help me decide if I want them for a J I'm having made (replacing a J with ultrajazz and OBP-1 as too scooped and too modern in the highs for me, btu otherwise great).
Thanks!
I'll tell you one thing - you might need deeper pickup routes for BS's. My bass previously had Bartolini dual coil pups and I had extra room for raising or lowering them if I needed. I've had to chisel wood out of the routes so that I can move the BS's. Part of it is that the wires on the Barts came out of the edges while the BS wires are soldered at the bottom of one of the ends of the pickup. I just want to make sure I can lower the pickups from the strings - couldn't do it the way it was before.
Interesting that you brought up pickup route depth. My tech thought he was going to have to make my routes deeper as well. My neck route was in the 13-15mm range, and the bridge route was in the 12-13mm range. The pickups are apparently 20mm deep. It turns out my tech did not have to make the routes deeper, and, so far, the adjustability works for me.
Oh, and here are some pics I took yesterday.
Link Removed
Link Removed
I don't think most people would have to make any adjustment. I was a bit stumped myself because the BS pickup shell and the Bart pickup shell were the same thickness. The issue for me is that the Bart pups had 4 solder lugs underneath and the pickup route had holes where these would fit if I lowered the pickups. It turns out that most of the pickup route was higher so I needed to chisel some of the wood out. I think mine is a fairly unique case. I'm going to have to deepen the pickup screw holes so that the screws will go all the way down.
I always seem to get myself in these kind of situations with basses. Something that would be easy on any other bass is tough with the bass I'm trying to do it on!
Which is why I tend not to do these types of projects myself. That and I've never soldered anything in my life...
