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SGD Lutherie Pickups

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#282
tubby.twins said:
Just for fun, here's a clip of Bass #3 with both the Villex pickups in "blend" mode (parallel). I neglected to record this setting last time. It sounds a bit better than the Lane Poor "blend" setting - less clanky, but still not as rich as the SGD center pickup by itself. :)

Neck + Bridge (blend): http://www.gerb.ws/audio/sgd/fretless/vx_atwh_pnb.mp3
Click to expand...

I like this...rich and creamy with good top end and low end definition...
 
#283
Just for fun, I tried swapping the locations of the center and bridge pickups. The results were interesting.

The bridge pickup is now the "big fat bridge" model. (This is an updated version of the "original" bridge winding.) The center pickup is now the "thin focused bridge" special model. (It has thinner blades for a more focused tone and was specially made for me.) The neck pickup was unchanged.

The rotary switch settings are the same (parallel mode).

Neck (physical) pickup: http://www.gerb.ws/audio/sgd/fretless/sgd_atwh_pnn.mp3 (no change)

Neck + Center (virtual): http://www.gerb.ws/audio/sgd/fretless/sgd2_atwh_vnc.mp3

Center (physical) pickup: http://www.gerb.ws/audio/sgd/fretless/sgd2_atwh_pcc.mp3

Center + Bridge (virtual): http://www.gerb.ws/audio/sgd/fretless/sgd2_atwh_vcb.mp3

Bridge (physical) pickup: http://www.gerb.ws/audio/sgd/fretless/sgd2_atwh_pbb.mp3

----

The differences are very subtle, but I think I can hear a bit more thickness and fundamentals in the bridge pickup. Similarly, the center pickup sounds a bit more delicate in the lower mids, the upper mids are a bit more present, and overall it sounds a bit less similar to the neck pickup than before. The "virtual" pickup settings are also similarly changed. I still have 5 pleasing single-pickup tones.

I like these results after the swap. I think the progression from neck->center->bridge is a bit more tonally balanced, and it does an even better job of portraying the same bass tone in three different yet complementary ways.
 
#284
After swapping the bridge and center pickups (see previous post) I decided to do something radical. I swapped the Gecko fretless neck on this bass (made of purpleheart) with the Gecko fretless neck from Bass #3 in the pickup comparison post earlier, which has a neck shaft made of canary wood (a.k.a. tarara, arariba) with a macassar ebony fingerboard. (Correspondingly, the purpleheart fretless neck is now installed on the Gecko bass body with the Villex pickups.)

I was expecting a modest increase in the treble response, since macassar ebony is a harder wood and it usually has a more "bright" sound for fretless than a "warmer" wood like purpleheart. (Also, I'm told that canary wood is usually a brighter wood, and has a tone similar to hard maple. But the neck shaft wood plays a lesser role in a fretless bass.) The differences ended up being greater than what I was expecting.

The rotary switch settings are the same (parallel mode).

Neck (physical) pickup: http://www.gerb.ws/audio/sgd/fretless/sgd3_atwh_pnn.mp3

Neck + Center (virtual): http://www.gerb.ws/audio/sgd/fretless/sgd3_atwh_vnc.mp3

Center (physical) pickup: http://www.gerb.ws/audio/sgd/fretless/sgd3_atwh_pcc.mp3

Center + Bridge (virtual): http://www.gerb.ws/audio/sgd/fretless/sgd3_atwh_vcb.mp3

Bridge (physical) pickup: http://www.gerb.ws/audio/sgd/fretless/sgd3_atwh_pbb.mp3

----

The differences are quite dramatic. I can really hear the impact that the brighter fingerboard wood has on the sound, in all 5 positions. I hear more upper-midrange and treble detail, with a result of a pleasing bright and clean aspect to the tone. The purpleheart was much warmer and darker by comparison, so it didn't have this aspect. However, the results with the macassar ebony fingerboard are not overly bright - the pickups still sound very balanced and all the beautiful midrange detail is still there.

I don't know if I'll keep the basses in this configuration for the long term, but it certainly was fun to try out. As you might expect, other Gecko bass (with the Villex pickups) now sounds a bit darker and warmer than before, but not excessively so.

Based on these results, it's not difficult to extrapolate how the SGD pickups would work with fretless fingerboards of other woods, which fall within (or even outside) the range of brightness and hardness presented by these two extremes.
 
#285
SGD Lutherie said:
Because the three pickups are fairly close together, you might have more variation between the neck and middle, for instance, if you were running them as humbuckers, and mixed all four coils at that point. That gives you a much different pickup pattern than virtually sliding the pickup more towards the bridge by 2". You hear the most variation on the middle/bridge combo, because of the differently voiced coils in the middle pickup.
Click to expand...

Well, I ended up re-wiring the bass tonight, after some consideration and after reading the suggestions provided by all. Each pickup's coils are now connected in series, as a single humbucker. No more "virtual" pickup settings at the moment.

Then I wired up all 3 pickups to a 2 pole 6 position rotary switch, to get all 6 possible combinations of each pickup by itself and two pickups blended together.

The results were outstanding. The single-pickup settings sounded slightly richer and fuller when in series, just like they did originally. There was a bit less high end, but I'm okay with that.

The "blend" settings of two pickups were surprisingly useful! I guess I shouldn't have been amazed as much, since you told me they'd sound better than most pickups I've tried in "blend" settings. Well, they do. All three "blend" settings were useful, and still distinctively different from each other and from the single pickup settings. The blended midrange is somewhat quieter and more "tame" than the single-pickup settings. None sound "clanky" to me (e.g. the Lane Poor blend setting in the sound clips earlier).

I was previously considering adding a passive midrange control to this bass, but with the addition of these 3 usable blend settings slightly less midrange, now I don't think I'll need to do that. Wow. I still think the single-pickup settings are going to sound best for soloing, with the extra midrange detail, but the blend settings are great for normal playing.

Granted, it was a bit late, and the kids were asleep, so I couldn't crank the volume to hear all the tonal differences. (I'll be able to do that tomorrow.) I'll try to record some clips soon for comparison.

Thanks!
 
#286
Good stuff! I like the neck swap tests. It's nice to hear wood differences in action.

I've been playing my jazz humbuckers for about a few weeks now. Ironically, I prefer them in single coil mode over any other configuration. In a dense band setting, both in series really helps in cutting through. These pickups with an Audere pre is a killer combination in sound versatility.
 
#287
Here's a preview for a new pickup model. I was going to wait and do a better demo, but tubby.twins liked it, and thought I should post it, so here it is.

This pickup is a sidewinder, so it senses the string the same as a single coil pickup. The goal of this pickup was an extended frequency range, especially the top end. My humbucker models do well on the lows, and have great highs, but don't sound like a single coil, and don't have that extension on the top.

The pickup and bass are passive.

So first for comparison, is a humbucker bridge pickup. This is one of the prototypes for the standard neo pickups, but is a slightly older design, and is installed on a bolt on neck SGD Scorpio 5 string. It had an old set of Dunlop nickel strings. Later in the clip I mix in the neck pickup. The neck pickup is the standard humbucker.

Link Removed

Next up is the sidewinder. Same bass, same strings, and nothing was changed for the recording after the pickup swap. This pickup is mounted at the bridge position. Later in the clip I mix in the neck pickup. The neck pickup is the standard humbucker. I also tone down the passive tone control.

Link Removed

Now with a fresh set of D'Addario XLs. This pickup is mounted at the bridge position. Later in the clip I mix in the neck pickup. The neck pickup is the standard humbucker. I also tone down the passive tone control.

Link Removed

Remember, this is a prototype, and I need to tweak a few things. :)

I welcome comments.
 
#289
The sidewinder appears to have more upper midrange and sounds more open, while the humbucker sounds thicker, darker, and has more lower midrange. For my taste, I find the sidewinder tone a bit harsh, but that might be the sensing position. Would you mind to record a clip at the neck position for both types?
 
#297
Alright, here's another series of tests.

First, I made a minor tweak to the pickup, still mounted at the bridge. I think this is in the right direction, as it has more body in the low end, and the upper mids are not as strident.

You hear one scale on the old, and then the new.

Link Removed

Now to the neck. I did not swap the bridge to the neck yet, but instead, here is a new design variation for the neck. In this clip I start off with the bridge (new version) and then after a bit I switch to the neck, and then mix the two for a while and then end with the bridge.

Link Removed

The neck pickup is wound with heavier wire and this version has ceramic magnets.

I have more work to do on both, obviously.
 
#300
i may be missing it david, but are there any clips of the humcancelling jazz pickups in a standard jazz? ive got that same ibanez that you recorded the clips with and its got a certain hollowness to the sound that remains regardless of what pickups you put in it. im curious to here them in a fender.
 
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