Nordstrand product descriptions

[eastcoasteddie]

I had no idea J. Peterman was real! I thought it was just from Seinfeld

So did I...until I received an actual J. Peterman catalog in the mail.

 

[neddyrow]

we can't all be Wendy's twitter feed

and if you call/e-mail them, you will get a phone call from a person who will answer all of your questions....one who knows what they are talking about.

 

[NKBassman]

we can't all be Wendy's twitter feed

and if you call/e-mail them, you will get a phone call from a person who will answer all of your questions....one who knows what they are talking about.

If I was on Twitter, I'd follow Wendy's. Savage.

I've emailed Nordstrand before and always received very prompt and helpful service.

 

[TheMaynorD]

Yeah i love nordy electronics. Some of if not the best out there.

But trying ti find out what the zen blades DO tonally is impossible. Im sorry Carey but the tao center of tone tells me nothing.

The number system i do really appreciate. It gives me a point of comparison.

Honestly thiugh their customer service is top notch and by emailing the shop they will give you a much more in depth review and recommend the best electronics for you.

 

[jibass]

Maybe they will release an updated Flux Capacitor.

 

[micguy]

I have a bunch of their pickups - wonderful stuff, and they are very easy to do business with. Call or email, they'll answer any reasonable questions, and they'll even do special stuff (80 percent winds, etc) for very reasonable upcharges.

I suppose they could post equivalent circuits of all their pickups on their web site, and although that would be factual, it'd convey no more information to the majority of their customers than what they currently post - I'd be in hog heaven, but I'm rather unusual, and....it'd be far less entertaining.

I do give kudos to folks like EMG that post resistance and inductance numbers (on passive pickups) - that's a plus to guys like me, who have some clue as to what's going on in a pickup.

Anyway, it's OK if is strikes you as odd, but if you want more relevant info, give 'em a call - they might surprise you with their straightforward reply.

 

[Lunatique]

I'm completely in favor of adding some humor to marketing and copywriting, but Nordstrand's style of humor sucks IMO. I've read far more clever and funny copywriting that's still informative. Nordstrands is just random and requires no actual writing and marketing skill.

 

[NKBassman]

I'm in conversation with Stew at Nordstrand right now. I'll share any relevant info I can get on the 51 Split-J pickups.

 

[petrus61]

It literally reads like Ali-Express product descriptions. That said, I’m not mad about it.

 

[PeaveyPlayer]

Tell it to Carey

lol

as far as I’m concerned I just bought the pickup knowing what it was and if I had further questions then I emailed

 

[NKBassman]

Tell it to Carey

lol

as far as I’m concerned I just bought the pickup knowing what it was and if I had further questions then I emailed

lol I'm pretty sure I did make a similar comment on Carey's instagram one time and he said he loves the ad copy just the way it is. So there's that.

Have you tried the 51 Split J?

 

[npbassman]

I agree that the product description that the OP posted is a little silly and if I were in the market, that description probably wouldn't have helped seal the deal for me. With that said, my 'go to' bass is loaded with Nordy NP4 and I can't say enough good things about it. It may be the best P pickup I've played and I'm 100% happy with it.

Interestingly enough, what prompted me to pull the trigger on that model was a clip that Andy Irvine posted on his FB page. Yes, I did look it up on the Nordstrand website afterwords to check it out but the live demo was mostly it. At the time, I didn't remember the NP4 description being as campy and uninformative as the one OP posted so I just took a look now. While it does have the line of "has the capacity for juggernaut slap and unrelenting fervor that will surely dismantle the ergonomics of any crowd that has lost all sense of groove", the rest of the column is very informative, at least to me. I actually find that one line kind of funny but if the entire section was like that...mmm, yea

Maybe whoever wrote the one in question is new. Either way, I'd cut em' some slack. They make a great product.

 

[And I]

I'm thinking of buying some big splits for my P/MM to go with the 3b/4a preamp I slapped in it. That the Nordstrand marketing team smokes as much weed as I do is really not a deterrent for me.

 

[roller]

I love Nordstrand products... really dig them.

But yeah, they'd be better off without the wine bottle label-esque wording and just give it to us straight.

And I know they've got it in 'em as they've guided me well in the past with straightforward, no-nonsense descriptions.

Big props to the OP for bringing this up.

 

[b_carville]

Let's face it!
There's a helluva lot of stoners in this biz!

 

[Yellow Bang66]

This irks me. I was just on the Nordstrand website today and saw a new product... '51 Precision style split-coil pickups in Jazz shells! Cool!

Then I went to the product page to get more information, and trying to read the product description makes me go crosseyed. It's like marketing department smoked anything and everything that would burn and then busted out the thesaurus. Where they couldn't find a word, they're now simply making up nonsense. This isn't the first time they've done this, and I've noticed this descriptive trend escalating over the last few product releases (see Zen Blades), but this one absolutely takes the cake.

Excerpt:


Now, don't take my complaining as a knock against the company or their product. I have Nordy pickups in my Jazz and P basses and really like them. In my opinion, Nordstrand are (perhaps arguably) one of the most high profile and reputable bass pickup manufactures out there today, and continue to push the state of the art with new interesting products that far exceed "niche" market applications.



And they are of course free to run their business and describe their products however they see fit. But, in my opinion, this is absolutely terrible product marketing.

Am I crazy? Over reacting? Is 35 too young for a "get off my lawn" moment? Maybe it just disagrees with my practical sensibilities and preference for technical information. Maybe I just expect a little more professionalism and/or straight-forwardishness from such a renowned and respected pickup builder. I don't know... at the end of the day, big deal right?... it definitely won't stop me from buying their stuff because I already know it's top quality. But for anyone visiting that page for the first time and trying to read that nonsense hoping to get some feel for what the product actually offers, might not take the company seriously.

Thoughts?

Wow! I've worked in marketing for over ten years and have experienced alot of BS! it can be very difficult for a manufacturer to distinguish themselves from the competition. especially if its a new product that isn't clearly developed to fill a niche. trying to describe a product with no defined "need"... just plain hyerbole! it reads like the marketing dept. is trying to impress the big boss with over hyped sales speak. i'm surprised this made it through the marketing presentation! almost every pitch is "copied" from similar product pitches,mostly from the competition. it's almost like an intern was responsible for writing the description for this and no one else could do better, and they just went with it.

 

[PraiseBassing]

Nordstrands product pages offer very little help... However, if you can get in touch with Adrian Smith, he is very helpful!

 

[NKBassman]

At the risk of exposing my true identity to anyone at Nordstrand reading this thread , here is the response to my questions from Stew at Nordstrand:

Do they (or can they [51 Split-J]) come with radiused pole pieces to compensate for the tight-ish vintage radius on my Geddy Lee jazz?

There is a radius on the standard ’51 Split-J of 12” which will work just fine for your Geddy model, but you can order a 9.5” radius as a $0 option when you order. All you need to do is include that in the notes field before you finalize your order. I just spoke with our production manager and he’s reasonably sure the 9.5” radius shouldn’t be a problem if you want to get the custom radius.

Would you say the neck position does a convincing single coil P bass tone? Or is it still leaning more Jazz? How is the tone with both pickups on?

The guts of the pickup are essentially the Tele-style P, which is a bit different from the (split) Precision design. So by itself the Tele-P is a little more focused and not as thick sounding. So with the ’51 Split-J, if you solo the neck pickup and roll back the tone, you get a nice but slightly more articulate P sound. Then you run the set wide open, they very definitely have a J character.

Would you say they're any thicker sounding than a "standard" J pickup? Compared to the classic split-P pillowy low end.

The ’51 Split-J is not any more thick or cushion-y than our J pickups, but I’d say they have a somewhat softer edge with a bit more of a vintage sound. They definitely don’t have the same presence or cut as the NJ4 or the NJ4SV.

 

[Shovelbone]

rugcut eroticism???? Shouldn't that be rug-burn eroticism?

 

[SactoBass]

I had a thought - is it possible that this is all completely tongue-in-cheek? Perhaps they're deliberately (and outrageously) parodying the nonsense descriptions that we see from other manufacturers? Are they so sophisticated and hip that their intensely sarcastic mockery has sailed right over my head?

Hmmmm...

CT: that is *exactly* what it is. Unfortunately, their sorry attempt at humor fails miserably. It reminds me of Will Farrell...the harder he tries to be funny, the more pathetic (and less funny) it gets.

So I totally agree with @NKBassman on this. That copy is a waste of brain tissue. You won’t find that kind of juvenile nonsense at Jason Lollar’s website. I have Lollars on all of my Fender basses, and I’m a happy camper.