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Pickup & preamp recommendation for mid-heavy fretless sound

H

HeathenHeart

Guest
Apr 29, 2014
21
16
39
#1
Hey, I'm building my first custom 6 string fretless bass, and I'm undecided on the electronics.

The tone I'm looking for is that aggressive, hot, mid heavy tech-death fretless sound. Think Dominic Lapointe, Linus Klausenitzer and early Digiorgio.

So far my frontrunners are:
- Aguilar DCB + OBP3 (seems to me like the "standard" choice)
- Aguilar DCB + Darkglass Tone Capsule (better mid control, no treble, my favorite at the moment)
- EMG 45DC + EMG BQS (my favorite PUP for a fretted bass, but I feel it's slightly mid scooped).

I 'm out of the loop on the newer Nordstrand and Bartolini pickups, so are they worth considering? Which model is comparable to those?

Am I missing any potential candidates? Any other suggestions?
Thanks a bunch!
 
#3
I can't speak to pickups - I use Barts and haven't needed to look further.
Preamps:
ACG preamp rocks. It's what I use.
The Bartolini NMTB has a "Fretless" version that is pretty rocking too.
I'd love to hear the Darkglass in person.
 
#5
HeathenHeart said:
Hey, I'm building my first custom 6 string fretless bass, and I'm undecided on the electronics.

The tone I'm looking for is that aggressive, hot, mid heavy tech-death fretless sound. Think Dominic Lapointe, Linus Klausenitzer and early Digiorgio.

So far my frontrunners are:
- Aguilar DCB + OBP3 (seems to me like the "standard" choice)
- Aguilar DCB + Darkglass Tone Capsule (better mid control, no treble, my favorite at the moment)
- EMG 45DC + EMG BQS (my favorite PUP for a fretted bass, but I feel it's slightly mid scooped).

I 'm out of the loop on the newer Nordstrand and Bartolini pickups, so are they worth considering? Which model is comparable to those?

Am I missing any potential candidates? Any other suggestions?
Thanks a bunch!
Click to expand...

What are you using in terms of strings and fingerboard material? Those plus electronics would give the full picture.
 
#6
I have settled on the Bartolini Classic Bass Dual Coils as my preferred sound for fretted and fretless, as they have a warmth in the lower mids that I can't live without. I've found that my preferred preamp for fretless is the Audere. The four band option, with the ability to independently adjust the upper and lower mids, seems to work really well for getting variations on the classic fretless tones we all know so well.
 

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