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NS Design Club

#381
jglunt said:
I don't doubt you're right. Though I haven't specifically owned an X-series EMG, I love EMG active pickups, and I believe the X-series EMGs are active, correct? I wouldn't put an EMG-HZ passive on a bass of mine if you gave me one. When I bought the WAV4, I was misled into thinking the pickup on it was active by a statement in a YouTube review. I had a pair of EMG-HZ passive pickups on a Schecter bass I had about 16 - 17 years ago. Even with the 3-band active EQ and a blend control, I could not get any articulation out of them. Of course, all this is just my opinion, and we know what opinions are like.
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Yeah, you're right. When I was doing research into getting this bass, the videos I saw made it seem like the PU's and electronics are the same among all 3 models.

Yes, the CR series are custom made actives, and the preamp is also custom.
I can't find any info on the EQ points for the preamp, but have deduced its 40hz for bass and maybe 10KHz for treble, but Im not sure about the treble. Maybe its down to 5 KHz and just a wide shelving.

These EMG-X are very responsive and dynamic - the most alive pickups I've played. Usually I'm not a fan of EMG's for being compressed and not alive, so I thought I'd want to replace these but no way now - they're perfect.
 
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#382
Shortytaco said:
I'm finding the best sound -- to my ears -- is to use 90% piezo and 10% EMG. I should add I'm playing classic rock with one group of guys, and jazz with another.
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I'll try that, thanks.

The first time I played this bass was in California during a set break for a band.
The bass player had just gotten the CR5 to replace his Cirrus. I'd never heard of this bass before. I went up on stage after some drinks and smokes and asked the drummer if I could jam. I didn't even know it had a piezo. I was tinkering with the knobs by the second song and remember thinking to myself - "Wow, this is the first bass where I actually like the pickups blended towards the bridge!"
Lol. Turns out, I was blending in the piezo
I was gonna walk off stage and let the band play after the second song, but everyone wanted me to keep playing. So I did. The notes came out so effortlessly and I never had a bass like this that let me play all over the neck without overtones or dead spots. I fell in love. I didn't know what bass it was exactly til about a year later when I saw one on sale online. Then it all clicked. So I saved up and got it.
 
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#383
Loving the sound of the NXTa Radius but it's 2.5 lbs heavier than what I'm used to. I'm using an old Comfort Strapp (3 1/8" at its widest) and wonder if there's a wider/better padded strap I could get to avoid shoudler pain. (Yes, I know I'm a big wimp.)
 
#384
My rig. Can I have a number?
 

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#389
My Radius NXTa fretless bass sounds great with the bridge pickup, a very organic acoustic sound. But I'd like to get more 'mwah' out of it. I'm using the DR round wounds that are made for this bass, but wonder if a different set of strings would make a difference?
Also, I've never used a pre-amp or pedal EQ -- could something like that help me? I don't think I want chorus or reverb, just something to get a ore acoustic sound.
thanks!
 
#390
Shortytaco said:
My Radius NXTa fretless bass sounds great with the bridge pickup, a very organic acoustic sound. But I'd like to get more 'mwah' out of it. I'm using the DR round wounds that are made for this bass, but wonder if a different set of strings would make a difference?
Also, I've never used a pre-amp or pedal EQ -- could something like that help me? I don't think I want chorus or reverb, just something to get a ore acoustic sound.
thanks!
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I find huge differences on my CR5 by adjusting pickup height. Very big differences in tone and feel
 
#394
Bliff Curton 2 said:
Sorry the soap bars mag pickups

But yes actually some sound differences in adjusting the bridge/piezo height too. The amount of downward pressure on the piezo conductor makes a difference
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The downward pressure cannot be changed without changing the string action too. As optimized string action is more important for me I have to accept the downward pressure at this setting.
 
#396
Shortytaco said:
Thanks, I'll look into bridge height.

What about using a pre-amp, compressor, and other add-ons? Looking for that acoustic upright bass tone on my Radius bass.
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The piezo is able to produce massive subbass when bass eq is cranked up. This helps to get closer to an acoustic tone. I have my CR5 fretless strung with LaBella LT flats, string action set not too low to allow a more percussive tone, piezo PU only, Hi cut switch at -6dB and bass eq set to 80-90% max.
 

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