Pickup advice. EMG or Nordstrand

[Ljk225]

For a 6 string fretless bass with two bridge pickups (like a warwick thumb) I need to pick between Nordy Zen Blades (humbuckers) or EMG dual coils. I'm looking for lots of burp and mwah. Leaning slightly towards EMG because I've heard actives work great with fretless and bassist Szymon Miɫosz uses them to achieve a great tone. On the otherhand, the nordstrands sound very nice aswell. This is a personal preference type of choice but I'd like to hear what some of you would do. Having a battery really isn't an issue; my guitar's emgs last forever. Audere preamps also work with both active and passive so it really just comes down to sound of the pickups.
Cheers

 

[klattman]

Both are near the top of excellent. I would say the nordstrands will impart more shape/character and the EMGs will be more flat/pure.
I would, and have, gone with nordstrands on my modded fretless because of the aggressive mids (I got the version with the most mids).

I also really like EMGs on one of my fretted basses, as I get lots of snap.

You can’t be wrong either way…

 

[JimmyM]

So you want us to choose pickups for you? I’m good but not THAT good!

There are good reasons to pick both. They’re terrific companies and I don’t think you’ll have any problems with either. But I endorse EMG so EMG

 

[Ljk225]

Both are near the top of excellent. I would say the nordstrands will impart more shape/character and the EMGs will be more flat/pure.
I would, and have, gone with nordstrands on my modded fretless because of the aggressive mids (I got the version with the most mids).

I also really like EMGs on one of my fretted basses, as I get lots of snap.

You can’t be wrong either way…

That's the hard part. They're both good!

 

[tubedude]

That's the hard part. They're both good!

But very different. EMG's can be a little clinically clean. The Nords have more of a rich character.

 

[KevInDaBassment]

...Audere preamps also work with both active and passive so it really just comes down to sound of the pickups...

Because of that statement, EMGs ^

I've paired the JX pickups in a 5'er (the only 5er I like) with their BQC preamp, but the Auderes are fantastic preamps too. If "Character" or "Warmth" is considered a plus for the Nords, pairing a preamp with the EMGs makes that a moot point IMO, as the EMGs will be far more malleable. Whatever character is there can be imparted on the EMGs easier, with any other shaping being handled by your amp or pedals.

Just make sure you get one of the X-Series pickups, as I've had more favorable results out of the box with them. Just my $0.02

 

[JimmyM]

Because of that statement, EMGs ^

I've paired the JX pickups in a 5'er (the only 5er I like) with their BQC preamp, but the Auderes are fantastic preamps too. If "Character" or "Warmth" is considered a plus for the Nords, pairing a preamp with the EMGs makes that a moot point IMO, as the EMGs will be far more malleable. Whatever character is there can be imparted on the EMGs easier, with any other shaping being handled by your amp or pedals.

Just make sure you get one of the X-Series pickups, as I've had more favorable results out of the box with them. Just my $0.02

I’m going to be a contrarian here and say I didn’t care for the extended highs and lows of the X series, but I get why some people do, so it’s all good.

 

[gerryjazzman]

Interesting that I had a very similar experience. A few years ago I did a Warmoth Gecko fretless 5 string build and wanted it as simple as possible. Didn't want any fancy on-board preamps, EQ, etc. I wanted just a bridge pickup and had an EMG 40TWX lying around from a previous experiment, so I spec'd just the one EMG 40 size pickup so I could try it with that and still have the option of trying something else later. It just has a single push-pull volume for the single/dual coil select and the active tone control, i.e. 2 knobs. I actually did try a single Zen Blade in it awhile later and while it sounded nice, it lost the heft that I got from the TWX being just the one bridge pickup, so the TWX went back in and stays to this day. I turned the pickup 180 degress so in single coil mode, the J blade of the pickup was closer towards the neck to keep it from sounding too thin. I would say it works well.

Now since you are going with two pickups, that may not matter as much but in either case I would have it routed for the EMG (45 size I expect) so you have the option to swap both types of pickups. You could do EMG DC or CS pickups (X or non-X), but with a pair of TWX's for instance you have a number of tone options with single coils or dual coils. You could do series / parallel / (maybe single too) with the Zen Blades as well but my experimenting with the Zen, at least in the bridge pickup, the series connection sounded best to me for that application.

Here is the bass in question. Plenty of girth, growl, and mwah in this thing.

 

[SoniaMara]

Interesting that I had a very similar experience. A few years ago I did a Warmoth Gecko fretless 5 string build and wanted it as simple as possible. Didn't want any fancy on-board preamps, EQ, etc. I wanted just a bridge pickup and had an EMG 40TWX lying around from a previous experiment, so I spec'd just the one EMG 40 size pickup so I could try it with that and still have the option of trying something else later. It just has a single push-pull volume for the single/dual coil select and the active tone control, i.e. 2 knobs. I actually did try a single Zen Blade in it awhile later and while it sounded nice, it lost the heft that I got from the TWX being just the one bridge pickup, so the TWX went back in and stays to this day. I turned the pickup 180 degress so in single coil mode, the J blade of the pickup was closer towards the neck to keep it from sounding too thin. I would say it works well.

Now since you are going with two pickups, that may not matter as much but in either case I would have it routed for the EMG (45 size I expect) so you have the option to swap both types of pickups. You could do EMG DC or CS pickups (X or non-X), but with a pair of TWX's for instance you have a number of tone options with single coils or dual coils. You could do series / parallel / (maybe single too) with the Zen Blades as well but my experimenting with the Zen, at least in the bridge pickup, the series connection sounded best to me for that application.

Here is the bass in question. Plenty of girth, growl, and mwah in this thing.

View attachment 7287480

that's a beefy bass!

 

[gerryjazzman]

that's a beefy bass!

Thank's Sonia. I actually bought a neck Zen Blade after that so I had a pair. I put them in another bass (all passive) and they sound great in that one. I have another set coming in P2 size to try in an Ibanez GVB36. I expect them to sound great as well. The Zen was just not the right pickup for my fretless application.

 

[SoniaMara]

These pickups are wildly different tonally (the active v passive being the most obvious reason). It really depends on what your tone needs are! Usually when we get questions about EMG tone, we send people to EMG. That is how different we are tonally, across the board.

 

[tubedude]

I don't have am EMG allergy but this combo is heaven

 

[Ljk225]

I don't have am EMG allergy but this combo is heavenView attachment 7299127

I actually considered this at one point on the fretless i have now (when i had already bought the nordstrands so it was too late anyway). My thinking was the nordstrand was bright and lacked bass while the neck pickup had a weird sound that i didn't like. so maybe a bartolini with more bass and fundemental for the neck to give the bridge a boost. Gets a thumbs up from me

 

[tubedude]

I actually considered this at one point on the fretless i have now (when i had already bought the nordstrands so it was too late anyway). My thinking was the nordstrand was bright and lacked bass while the neck pickup had a weird sound that i didn't like. so maybe a bartolini with more bass and fundemental for the neck to give the bridge a boost. Gets a thumbs up from me

I replaced the bridge with the Nordy as an experiment. I liked.it so much I installed a custom set in my multiscale. Love the tones!