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Pickup Recommendations (EMG35 Size)

Willy B

Willy B

Aug 30, 2013
656
419
Raleigh, NC
#1
I'm looking to upgrade the electronics in my Schecter HE-4 which, currently has the stock EMG B64 3-band EQ and EMG 35TW pickups. I find it to be brittle-sounding at times and harsh in the mids. I already have a Darkglass TC Pre that I plan to have installed but, I am shopping around for replacement pickups too and would like to get some recommendations. I have my eye on Nordstrand but am not sure whether to choose series, parallel, alnico III.

The bass has a mahogany body, quilted maple top and maple/walnut thru-neck, if that helps.
 
#3
mmbongo said:
Lots of options! Look into Delano, Aguilar, and Bartolini as well.

The thing to ask is, what type of sound do you want? Single coil, humbucker, MusicMan-ish?
Click to expand...

I am not familiar with the Dark Glass preamp but the pickups listed here are all good selections. I have experience with all of these pickups in Roscoe basses and the descriptions to follow are how my ears experienced the tone.

The Barts will give you a low mid bump with somewhat tame upper mids and the highs and lows seem a little muddy.

The Aguilar pickups will give you some nice upper mid attack while maintaining a tight bottom, upper mids can get aggressive and highs can get slightly brittle if pushed.

The Delano pickups are very balanced and probably my favorite pickup, they have a nice tight bottom, nice low round mids, paired with an OBP3 preamp they can get some nice smooth upper mid attack and you can get a glassy high without sounding clanky.
 
#4
mmbongo said:
Lots of options! Look into Delano, Aguilar, and Bartolini as well.

The thing to ask is, what type of sound do you want? Single coil, humbucker, MusicMan-ish?
Click to expand...

Thanks, I am looking into those- going by the description I am tempted by the Delano SBC.
I mainly play rock but I want a sound that is modern, rich, clear, warm and versatile.

CrashClint said:
I am not familiar with the Dark Glass preamp but the pickups listed here are all good selections. I have experience with all of these pickups in Roscoe basses and the descriptions to follow are how my ears experienced the tone.

The Barts will give you a low mid bump with somewhat tame upper mids and the highs and lows seem a little muddy.

The Aguilar pickups will give you some nice upper mid attack while maintaining a tight bottom, upper mids can get aggressive and highs can get slightly brittle if pushed.

The Delano pickups are very balanced and probably my favorite pickup, they have a nice tight bottom, nice low round mids, paired with an OBP3 preamp they can get some nice smooth upper mid attack and you can get a glassy high without sounding clanky.
Click to expand...

Thanks!
 
#5
Willy B said:
Thanks, I am looking into those- going by the description I am tempted by the Delano SBC.
I mainly play rock but I want a sound that is modern, rich, clear, warm and versatile.Thanks!
Click to expand...

I just realized you are in Raleigh, do you know where Connsignment Music is located in the Holly Shopping Center right off of Capital Blvd? I think he may have a Jazz bass with Delano pickups in it, though they will not sound the same as soapbars but it will give you an idea of how good the pickups sound.

Call Frankie at Best Bass Gear, he will give you a better price than listed on their Website. Invalid Link Removed
 
#8
CrashClint said:
I just realized you are in Raleigh, do you know where Connsignment Music is located in the Holly Shopping Center right off of Capital Blvd? I think he may have a Jazz bass with Delano pickups in it, though they will not sound the same as soapbars but it will give you an idea of how good the pickups sound.

Call Frankie at Best Bass Gear, he will give you a better price than listed on their Website. Invalid Link Removed
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip, Clint.

loveandbass said:
lemme know if youre gonna unload the 35TWs. I may be interested. are they the quick release?
Click to expand...

Ok I'll let you know. I don't know what you mean by "quick release" though.

LoveThatBass said:
You must be speaking of their standard single coil pickups. The Aguilar Dual coil noiseless are not brittle in the least.
Click to expand...

I'll keep the DCBs in mind too.

Looks like I'll be deciding between Aguilar DCB, Delano SBC Dual-coil and Nordstrand Dual-coil (probably series wind, not sure about the alnico III or V option). So if anyone can compare any of these or wants to sway me...and does anyone know if any or all of these are passive?
 
#11
Also consider the Lace BassBar. I put a pair into my PentaBird (maple/walnut set-neck), and they have a beefy tone with lots of output. No harshness in the upper frequencies. Love them!
 
#13
First, I would check your preamp and the rest of your gear first and adjust the eq and your speaker cab tweeter settings. The EMG 35TW has three coils, which the push-pull selects either the side-by-side or the stack configuration. The stack configuration does emulate their J pickup, which can be bright, but the side-by-side emulates their CS model, which is their warmest, fullest toned model.

Also, if your bass has the bridge pickup too close to the bridge, it will cause the J setting to sound brittle. I had to flip my bridge EMG 40JX around so the coils were in the traditional spot instead of too close to the bridge. By doing so all the fundamental I was missing out of the bridge pickup returned with no change in the e.q.
 
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#14
iiipopes said:
First, I would check your preamp and the rest of your gear first and adjust the eq and your speaker cab tweeter settings. The EMG 35TW has three coils, which the push-pull selects either the side-by-side or the stack configuration. The stack configuration does emulate their J pickup, which can be bright, but the side-by-side emulates their CS model, which is their warmest, fullest toned model.

Also, if your bass has the bridge pickup too close to the bridge, it will cause the J setting to sound brittle. I had to flip my bridge EMG 40JX around so the coils were in the traditional spot instead of too close to the bridge. By doing so all the fundamental I was missing out of the bridge pickup returned with no change in the e.q.
Click to expand...

I appreciate your suggestions. I have spent a lot of time messing with the eq and other things and have never really been satisfied. I am hoping the preamp swap will change that. Might be all that's needed but, I wouldn't mind trying some new pickups either.
I like your idea about flipping the bridge pickup around though, might give that a shot.
 
#15
CrashClint said:
I am not familiar with the Dark Glass preamp but the pickups listed here are all good selections. I have experience with all of these pickups in Roscoe basses and the descriptions to follow are how my ears experienced the tone.

The Barts will give you a low mid bump with somewhat tame upper mids and the highs and lows seem a little muddy.

The Aguilar pickups will give you some nice upper mid attack while maintaining a tight bottom, upper mids can get aggressive and highs can get slightly brittle if pushed.

The Delano pickups are very balanced and probably my favorite pickup, they have a nice tight bottom, nice low round mids, paired with an OBP3 preamp they can get some nice smooth upper mid attack and you can get a glassy high without sounding clanky.
Click to expand...

I think I am going to go with the Delano SBC dual-coil pickups. Thanks again for the recommendation.
 
#16
Willy B said:
I think I am going to go with the Delano SBC dual-coil pickups. Thanks again for the recommendation.
Click to expand...

I am glad I could help. I think you are going to love the nice modern tone of these pickups, they cost a little mre but I think it is worth the extra. Let me know your thoughts when you get everything installed.
 
#17
CrashClint said:
I am glad I could help. I think you are going to love the nice modern tone of these pickups, they cost a little mre but I think it is worth the extra. Let me know your thoughts when you get everything installed.
Click to expand...

Will do! Although it will be a while, I'm going to have to get a tech to do the install.

I hope they are worth it. The thing with the pickups and preamp I have now is, I plug into my Cafe Walter and I am just hearing the sound of the bass, no coloration or anything. And it sounds great. But then the bass just doesn't seem to get along with whatever amp I am using. That said, it still sounds pretty good through my GK MB800 and Hathor 1203. I had toyed with the idea of finding a rig that would be more uncolored, or PA-like, like an Acoustic Image amp, for instance. But we'll see what the pickup/preamp makeover does.
 

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