Thanks for the teasers
I noticed you seem to like how they work with a preamp. How do they work in passive?
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Nordstrand Hum Cancelling Big Blade Pickups
- Thread starter bucephylus
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- big blade hum humbuckers nordstrand pickups
Thanks for the teasers
I noticed you seem to like how they work with a preamp. How do they work in passive?
From the demos, the Big Rig pickups have a wonderful rich tone to them but they seem to be a bit rounder and don't punch quite like the Big Blades. Still no word on release date for the HCBB's?
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Somehow, I missed your post; apologies.Thanks for the teasers
The Pope preamp is extremely transparent. The passive tone is pretty much the same. Just less of it. I have zero doubt that straight into a studio board passive, the HCBB's would be stellar. BTW, Adrian Smith, who spearheaded the development of these pickups ONLY plays them passive.
I suspect Carey won't let them loose until all the manufacturing details are perfect. My set is an evaluation set, not a product. Carey is a perfectionist.
Yup, you're right.
We actually went through a couple of tweak with those HCBB (or BBSW). Right now on my bass I have a "stock" neck and a 3% overwound bridge. I use them mostly in parallel (lowest output) but I just love them that way!
In series they have a "standard" output, just fine in passive, but parallel they are a little on the soft side (I use them active exclusively and boost the preamp probably 3/4 up)
We actually went through a couple of tweak with those HCBB (or BBSW). Right now on my bass I have a "stock" neck and a 3% overwound bridge. I use them mostly in parallel (lowest output) but I just love them that way!
In series they have a "standard" output, just fine in passive, but parallel they are a little on the soft side (I use them active exclusively and boost the preamp probably 3/4 up)
Wow! I have a Big Split/DC5 series set in my Sadowsky NYC 5-24 Modern...I like the Big Split, not sold on the DC5...I swapped the Big Split bridge pup to tame the high end a tad. I'm wondering if a set of these Big Blade "sidewinders" would do the trick...they sound like they would be amazing! I have a Kent Armstrong sidewinder J neck pup in my other bass that sounds great... It's wired with a switch to choose single/series/parallel, and is almost dead quiet in the single coil setting. I wonder if that could be done with these...
Maybe a dual coil Big Blade would work in the bridge position?
Or a Big Rig?
I emailed nordstrand this week for an update on when this pickup might be released, and got a response from Adrian saying "sometime this Spring is the goal, but definitely by Summer."
Got an update from Adrian that he expects to have the parts finalized this week, and then it's a matter of getting them all in house for production
He also suggested that people like me contacting him for updates gives him more motivation to get it finished.... Cough*cough*wink*wink
He also suggested that people like me contacting him for updates gives him more motivation to get it finished.... Cough*cough*wink*wink
Sorry for the OT.
Not sure I understand what you said here - did you end up with a Big Split in the neck position & a DC in the bridge?
I keep going round & round about modding a Lakland 55-01 with one of the following combinations:
pair of DC (wound for parallel) -> [~Correction: based on corrections to video labeling this actually should be 'wound for series'~];
pair of Big Rig;
Big Rig - neck + DC (wound for parallel) - bridge [~Correction: based on corrections to video labeling this actually should be 'wound for series'~].
P.S. Probably add coil split switches only for the DC pair not for the mixed config.
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Yes. I have a Big Split in the neck with a DC (series) in the bridge. It’s a great combo.
Thanks!
That gives me a bit more confidence on mixing types.
I've been playing my SR5 H since '98 & I don't like the sound of the 'B' string in parallel or series mode (well, I do use those on a very few songs).
I run it Single-coil (+ phantom coil) & then bump the SR5 bass control just enough to fill out the tone a bit.
My thought after hearing some good quality clips of a bridge DC5 running parallel [should actually be series / video was mis-labeled] that uses some low 'B' string, that's pretty much the sound in my head.
I may bounce the Big Rig (neck) + DC (bridge) idea off Cary N to see how he thinks they'd work.
I suspect the Big Rig in neck position would come in tone-wise somewhere in between the Big Split & the DC.
I think I'd tend to be favoring the bridge PUP with the blend control, so if the BR has a bit less output than the DC that would not matter, in fact get me closer to the mid position of the balance control.
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Just heard from Adrian that he is trying hard to complete the commercial version of the hum cancelling Big Blades. Wishing him fair winds...
Sorry to continue my OT ramblings, but the video I was basing my parallel / series preference with the DC5 pups was apparently labeled backwards according to comments made by Maurilio Mina.
Here's the video:
So, I think what would fit with the tone in my head is a DC5 wired series for the bridge pup & a DC5 wired parallel for the neck pup.
Output level of the bridge pup would dominate over the output of the neck pup which is how I'd balance them with the blend control if the output were the same anyway.
Ramble over!
I've got my bass set up with series/parallel switching on push-pull knobs. Actually it's series/single but the 'single' is still humcancelling because the pickup is a quad coil. Same basic effect as series/parallel though. Series is higher output, less treble, thicker midrange.
With blend in the center, I vastly prefer the two pickups on different modes, like you describe. If you've got a few knobs on the bass anyway, like an EQ section, consider doing what I did and doing switching for both pickups hidden via knobs. Keeps the controls looks clean.
Yeah, apparently the Nordstrand DC's windings are currently optimized for either parallel or series (with the parallel being less of a volume change if you coil split). If I went with the Series optimized bridge pup & Parallel optimized neck pup, I don't know if I'd go for the coil-splitting switches or not, probably not.
I'd love to hear your Kingston, though.
@bucephylus As you know, I'm thinking about copying this setup on my MTD 635. Can I ask if you when with two volumes, or volume and pan?
It seems like two volumes would give me more sonic possibilities, but one volume would be easier to manage overall level quickly. Just trying to think it through.
It seems like two volumes would give me more sonic possibilities, but one volume would be easier to manage overall level quickly. Just trying to think it through.
I confess I have gone over to the dark side using Vol-Pan. Somewhat a product of regular use of Sadowsky preamps. I do still use instruments with two volumes. Pan is a bit better at keeping volumes near level when adjusting different balance. Separate Vol is better for boosting. Kind of hard to say which is better. Each has different pluses. Wish I could provide better guidance.
That's very helpful actually. I realize it's a preference. Thanks for all your help! I'm getting ready to pull the trigger on my project.
Well written post
I had a set of these in an Ibanez Soundgear.
While I really liked how they sounded, the issue I had was that it didn't really function like "A bass" and more like "A guitar downtuned an octave"
I'm not sure if the problem was the bass or the pickups.
I had a set of these in an Ibanez Soundgear.
While I really liked how they sounded, the issue I had was that it didn't really function like "A bass" and more like "A guitar downtuned an octave"
I'm not sure if the problem was the bass or the pickups.
