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Passive "Hi-Fi" pickups for Precision bass
- Thread starter jamerson_fan
- Start date
Seymour Duncan SPB-3 - Quarter Pounder
There may be other scooped P pickups out there but that's the only one I know of for certain. It is pretty scooped, it doesn't sound like a traditional P pickup.
I just added a Q-filter to my SX P. Bill Lawrence design, sold by Wilde Pickups. It is a passive midrange filter, so you can vary midrange cut from none thru a large range of great tones all the way to "way too much midrange cut".
The project will be complete next week when I swap in a concentric, stacked tone control so I can have both the standard tone control and the Q-filter midrange cut. I've had that option for thirty years on my first bass, a Gibson Ripper (also a Bill Lawrence electronics design) and will never have a passive bass without it again. Silly that I waited a year before doing this mod.
Otto
The project will be complete next week when I swap in a concentric, stacked tone control so I can have both the standard tone control and the Q-filter midrange cut. I've had that option for thirty years on my first bass, a Gibson Ripper (also a Bill Lawrence electronics design) and will never have a passive bass without it again. Silly that I waited a year before doing this mod.
Otto
jamerson_fan said: ↑
"Hi-Fi"-sound (lots of bass AND treble, scooped mids)
So you don't want hi-fi?
Oh, fer Christ's sake, he's referring to the ordinary person's stereotype concept of hi-fi.
You should have recognized that.
"Hi-Fi"-sound (lots of bass AND treble, scooped mids)
So you don't want hi-fi?
Oh, fer Christ's sake, he's referring to the ordinary person's stereotype concept of hi-fi.
You should have recognized that.
Vintage spec is worth consideration. Consider the Fender 58 American Vintage pickups or something similar. The 58s have a very balanced sound with a really nice high end.
These are lower output pickups. Lower output is accomplished by less turns (all other variables such as magnets being equal). More turns results in a hotter pickup, but there are relatively more mids and less highs. Furthermore, by not hitting your early gain stages as hard, the lower output pickup may result in less distortion/saturation -- for a more hifi sound.
They are also Alnico V - which gives a natural mid scoop.
These are lower output pickups. Lower output is accomplished by less turns (all other variables such as magnets being equal). More turns results in a hotter pickup, but there are relatively more mids and less highs. Furthermore, by not hitting your early gain stages as hard, the lower output pickup may result in less distortion/saturation -- for a more hifi sound.
They are also Alnico V - which gives a natural mid scoop.
I thought ordinary people took "hi-fi" to mean high fidelity, i.e. the sound is faithful to the original. Any other interpretation is illogical.
PS - sorry for the late reply.
- Apr 18, 2008
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Never heard that one before...
Ok… I googled "alnico 2 vs 5". The first hit was: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
blueman335 wrote in message #4 (emphasis mine):
A2 - Lots of mids, not much treble, loose low end, low output, and lots of vintage dynamics. Used in the bridge and neck.
A3 - Like an A2 but with more treble and less low end. Pretty much used in the neck slot, but has potential for fattening up the bridge.
A4 - Flat EQ, and for that reason some consider it bland. Lets the natural EQ of the guitar and PU come thru. Moderate output. Good in the neck or bridge.
A5 - Most popular alnico. Fairly high output, lots of treble and bass, scooped mids. Great in the neck slot (if not too bassy), and can be thin in the bridge.
That didn't take much more effort than your response.A3 - Like an A2 but with more treble and less low end. Pretty much used in the neck slot, but has potential for fattening up the bridge.
A4 - Flat EQ, and for that reason some consider it bland. Lets the natural EQ of the guitar and PU come thru. Moderate output. Good in the neck or bridge.
A5 - Most popular alnico. Fairly high output, lots of treble and bass, scooped mids. Great in the neck slot (if not too bassy), and can be thin in the bridge.
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- Apr 18, 2008
- 16,008
- 1
- 31,708
- Disclosures
- I'm highly opinionated and extremely self-assured
Congratulations on your Google-fu.
1. Quoting a single discussion amongst guitarist corksniffers doesn't turn it into fact.
2. A guitar player's ideas regarding "bass", "mids", and "treble" are very likely different than a bass player's.
3. The real reason I take issue with your statement: While an A5 magnet might produce a mid-scooped tone as compared to other magnets in the same pickup, that's not what your over-generalization implies. As stated, you're claiming that every A5 pickup on the market has a mid-scoop, and that's just not true. There are many other factors at work in pickup design.
1. Quoting a single discussion amongst guitarist corksniffers doesn't turn it into fact.
2. A guitar player's ideas regarding "bass", "mids", and "treble" are very likely different than a bass player's.
3. The real reason I take issue with your statement: While an A5 magnet might produce a mid-scooped tone as compared to other magnets in the same pickup, that's not what your over-generalization implies. As stated, you're claiming that every A5 pickup on the market has a mid-scoop, and that's just not true. There are many other factors at work in pickup design.
1. Only you are stopping yourself from reading further. Shrug.
2. Slightly different, I'd say. See 1.
3. Nonsense. I did not say, imply, or claim "every A5 pickup on the market has a mid-scoop". I only said AV "gives a natural mid scoop". If you want to make up something I didn't say for argument… you're on your own. Ta.
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If you jump back to the post where I wrote Alnico V "gives a natural mid scoop", I also wrote about how the pickup's turn count affects its frequency response.
There's much more to a bass than the magnet type used in the pickup. The magnet is one of many contributors to the resultant sound.
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