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pickups and electronics for metal and classic rock

E

erang

Aug 19, 2012
6
0
#1
Hi
im building a 5 string bass and trying to decide wich pickups to use, i want active/passive electronics and soapbar shaped pickups
the sound im looking for is rickenbacker british rock sound on one hand and on the other, wide range high gain metal sound( meshugghaa, overkill, pantera)

any recomendations on pickups brands, combinations ,electronics?
 
#2
So your basically looking for passive pups with active electronics. There's a few to choose but not sure their gonna get you what you want. Emg-hz's, Bart's, delano's top the list. Probably gonna want a J /j or p/j in the soapbar shape . Emg TW's will do that but then the loose the active passive thing. I would say go all active but that's me. Your choice of pre is gonna make a big difference as well.

2 of your metal tones are spector guys btw. If that tells you anything.
 
#4
thanks grendle, spector is usually all active emg as far as i know, that was my first option, but i still wants a passive active option
lets say i'll got with emg, whats the best combination of pickups and pre ?
not locked on the soapbar shape if thats a problem

about distortion pedal, sure , it makes a big different but the guitar is self should sound perfect before using any other processing so i cant take this in account when looking for pickups
 
#5
erang said:
thanks grendle, spector is usually all active emg as far as i know, that was my first option, but i still wants a passive active option
lets say i'll got with emg, whats the best combination of pickups and pre ?
not locked on the soapbar shape if thats a problem

about distortion pedal, sure , it makes a big different but the guitar is self should sound perfect before using any other processing so i cant take this in account when looking for pickups
Click to expand...

Best is subjective, lots of guys like BQC set up, the Spector tone pump and HAZ 9v are tops too. Depends if you want mid controls or not. There are a lot of pre's to choose. Why are you wanting the passive option?
 
#6
i just like the passive tone, theres something in passive that i dont hear in active systems and i would like to have that options sometimes, its not my main goal and i can pass on this if it makes things complicated... just thinking it can be nice to have one bass that can be used for everything but i dont want it to loose "balls" for that :)
i do want a mid control, i will look into those preamps
what do you thing about nordstrand pickups and pres'?
 
#7
erang said:
...what do you thing about nordstrand pickups and pres'?
Click to expand...

You might consider the NJ5 pickups with a 3b-4A preamp from Nordstrand. I put a similar setup in a 5 string and could get a huge range of tones, including some seriously good metal tones (and that was on a fretless, though it did have roundwounds).

grendle said:
2 of your metal tones are spector guys btw. If that tells you anything.
Click to expand...


...and you should make an important note about where the pickups are located on each of these guys' basses. Pickup position is just as important as pickup style/brand.
 
#8
grendle said:
Best is subjective, lots of guys like BQC set up, the Spector tone pump and HAZ 9v are tops too. Depends if you want mid controls or not. There are a lot of pre's to choose. Why are you wanting the passive option?
Click to expand...

are those pre's availble for buying? couldnt find it anywhere

i asked norstrand and he recomanded using his big singles but he said it could be noisy,

about pickup positioning, im free to put them where i want, whats the best place ? my bass is 36"
 

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