SGD Lutherie Pickups

[grace & groove]

After 7 years I finally have a functioning soundcard connected to the stereo and listened to your samples. Very nice, and I'm even contemplating ordering some for the Conklin GT5.

I might want them in my GT5 fretless.

 

[DavidRavenMoon]

I liked Perry Mason too...had that stong bassy undertow going on.

That's an AMAZING piece of music! "Park Avenue Beat" by Fred Steiner. I have it on my iPod.

It's always been a big influence on me, since I was a kid. It's big and kind of spooky.

Stan Ridgeway told me he based the Wall of Voodoo song "Back in Flesh" loosely on that chord progression.

 

[DavidRavenMoon]

OK.. I'm back from the lab!

I've love to have some opinions on these... this is a set of final production passive neodymium pickups. These are EMG-40 size humbuckers. I'm also doing EMG-35 size.

Tone wise, this particular set is wound to be on the fat side. Each pickup has 4 conductor wiring, for series/parallel and single coil operation. I recorded them in series and parallel. each recording starts with the neck, then both, then the bridge.

In series (each pickup) they have a warm vintage type tone, but with a bit more clarity. The series recordings ends with me switching to a pick.

In parallel they have a much brighter tone.

The recording chain is as follows... the test bass has a cherry body, birdseye maple top, 7 piece maple/purpleheart neck, phenolic fingerboard.

Each pickup is wired to a 250K volume pot. 500K would be a bit brighter, but that's what I had in the bass (I finished these 3 days ago). No tone control.

In to the high Z input of a Roland VM-3100Pro digital mixer, and into TC Works, Spark XL stereo editor.

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I'd love to get some feedback on these. After 2 years I'm loosing my objectivity!

Two other sets are up next. They will be a little more neutral sounding.

Thanks for listening!

 

[GlennW]

They sound real good. I was surprised that they're wound fat, the neck in series sounded fine, but not unclear at all.

 

[Human Bass]

I really liked it!! More than your active stuff actually. The series had those tasty fat low mids, very P like. And parallel was jazz heaven, with great bark.

 

[DavidRavenMoon]

Thanks!

Yeah, as I was working on these I just kept wanting more cushion on the neck pickup, and then the bridge came long for the ride, which worked out perfectly on the new bobbins I'm using.

The active pickups are being redesigned....

 

[DavidRavenMoon]

Same bass and pickups... new strings. Also a little upper mid EQ.

This is just to demonstrate that these can get bright if need be.

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The test subject:

 

[alexlotta]

Good stuff.
It reminds me the tone i'm getting from my ceramic active Emg,when the strings on my Bass are not new.
Being Yours passive ,it's remarkable.My compliments
........
Ever MAde A MM type?
I would be really curious to hear "the punchy for definition_pickup" With the clarity of Emg_SoapBars like you got (i wonder if it sounds cool).
___
Also (for me) it would be cool to hear (afterwards) some "shapes" from an onboard preamp,to catch if the pickup can be shaped to suite change of tones ( slap and so on).

It's quite a while th. i follow Your experiments and clips..is extremely interesting Dave

 

[DavidRavenMoon]

Good stuff.
It reminds me the tone i'm getting from my ceramic active Emg,when the strings on my Bass are not new.
Being Yours passive ,it's remarkable.My compliments

Thanks! I think they extend a little higher and lower than EMG's, which is what that bass had originally. I started working on these pickups to replace the EMG's, which I had grown tired of. I haven't tried them buffered yet, but it should open the sound up more. Those clips also had 250K volume controls. They sound brighter with 500K

This was the clip with the bass set flat, and mids and highs boosted.

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Ever MAde A MM type?
I would be really curious to hear "the punchy for definition_pickup" With the clarity of Emg_SoapBars like you got (i wonder if it sounds cool).

I will be doing MM pickups as soon as I finish up the soapbars. What's going on at the moment is the design is finalized, I have the parts, now I'm having the covers foil stamped with my logo and I'm finalizing the connectors used on the pickup. They will feature EMG style quick connects. That way you never have to worry about the cable going bad, or being too short.

I also have a different bridge pickup I'm working on, just to have another option. It will have a less mid emphasized tone. Also at some point I'm going to do J and P pickups.

Oh and ceramic versions of the soaps.

Also (for me) it would be cool to hear (afterwards) some "shapes" from an onboard preamp,to catch if the pickup can be shaped to suite change of tones ( slap and so on).

It's quite a while th. i follow Your experiments and clips..is extremely interesting Dave

Tests with preamps will be next. This is the first time I've used totally passive pickups in about 20 years. It feels odd not having my bass and treble controls on the bass.

Here's a new clip on a different bass... same design, but with a bolt on neck. This bass had a new set of Dunlop nickel strings. They aren't as bright as the D'Addarios. 500K volume and tone controls. .047 tone cap.

This clip has some low and mid EQ boosted. Same drill... neck, both, bridge, and then the neck and the bridge with the passive tone control all the way off.

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[j3b3r]

The J's, Yeahhh

 

[alexlotta]

I'm finalizing the connectors used on the pickup. They will feature EMG style quick connects. That way you never have to worry about the cable going bad, or being too short.

I Love QuiCk connection .In that way i've compared the sound of My different emg's almost instantly ,
and swapped bridge/neck In 1 minute according to the bass sound i've needed for a particular song.

It helped You to compare the sounds i believe.

But CAN You go With Single/Series/parallel switch on those connectors ,if You want them "direct replacement" for Emg?

Maybe yes doing 2 different connectors out from the pickups,
or sort of.
That would be great and also commercially interesting,

I don't have the single/p/series on my emg's ,and could be interesting having a direct replacement for them to try,

without to mod the electronics inside (or not too much ,at least).

_________

 

[DavidRavenMoon]

But CAN You go With single/Series/parallel switch on those connectors ,if You want them "direct replacement" for Emg?

Maybe yes doing 2 different connectors out from the pickups, or sort of.
That would be great and also commercially interesting,

I don't have the single/p/series on my emg's ,and could be interesting having a direct replacement for them to try, without to mod the electronics inside (or not too much ,at least).

Yes, my pickups have 4 conductor cables (5 connectors on the quick connect, one for shield ground), so you can wire them up series/parallel/single. I have parallel sound clips in one of the posts above. You can also run one coil from each pickups for a 2 single coil with hum cancelation like on a Jazz bass because the outer coils on each pickup are opposite. I have a wiring diagram for that.

You can only do that with passive EMG-HZ pickups, but not the active EMG's.

That's one of the things I didn't like about the active EMG's I used a 40-P5 at the neck, and a 40J at the bridge on one bass, and a 40-P5/40-DC/40-DC on another. I would have liked the P in series better, but they are stuck in parallel.

This is one of those necessity is the mother of invention things... I had a need, so I just did it myself! So I pretty much put all the features I want personally. I figure someone else will as well.

 

[12bass]

To clarify, you are making passive dual-coil pickups with quick-connects? Are they a standard coil pair, like a regular humbucker, but using neodymium magnets and with separate outputs for each coil? What sizes are you planning to offer? And IIRC, you mentioned a future external preamp option, correct? Active tone, or just a buffer/boost?

 

[DavidRavenMoon]

To clarify, you are making passive dual-coil pickups with quick-connects? Are they a standard coil pair, like a regular humbucker, but using neodymium magnets and with separate outputs for each coil? What sizes are you planning to offer? And IIRC, you mentioned a future external preamp option, correct? Active tone, or just a buffer/boost?

That is correct. They are passive dual blade humbuckers, quick connects and 4 conductors and a drain wire... standard wiring. Neodymium magnets. Also ceramic versions for a different tone.

Presently I'm doing EMG-35 and EMG-40 soapbars. I'd like to do EMG-45, but I haven't sourced the parts yet. Next up are 4 and 5 string MM, and standard humbucker size. I can also do Bartolini BC4 and BC5 sizes.

In the near future I plan on P and J styles, but they are totally different designs, so I'm still working on them.

For preamps, I have a buffer I've been using, and I'm currently working on two preamps. One is a LP filter system, and the other is a more standard 2 or 3 band unit, with a Wal style mid boost option.

None of the sound clips of the passive pickups I posted have a buffer or preamp being used. Just right into the hi-z input on my Roland mixer.

I'm also totally redesigning the low Z pickups, and they will be mated with a dual filter preamp, à la, a classic active bass.

Now I just have to find the time to finish everything...

 

[alexlotta]

eheh see That quick connect was interesting?

I'd like to do EMG-45, but I haven't sourced the parts yet

I've already contacted You about a while ago through myspace (i found You by looking infos about Neodynium),

Hope You''ll find the way to add EMG45's to Your arsenal.

I think that for 6-string instruments ,that Kind of pickups
-Powered by Neody and ceramic - is more coveted,
due To the natural Extended High range of the intrument ,

i was About to ask You just now about 45 but You already answered now.
What parts are difficult to find ? Cases?

 

[DavidRavenMoon]

What parts are difficult to find ? Cases?

Yes, and the bobbins too. I was making my own bobbins for a while now, but that's really time consuming.

I'm sure someone makes them... or I'll have to make my own.

 

[DavidRavenMoon]

OK.. last preview before they go live.... (in a week or so)

Here's my latest pickup design which features asymmetrically tuned coils ... I call this the Big Fat Bridge pickup. It has more of everything compared to the previous design... and is perfect for those who love to play on the bridge pickup soloed. Also blends perfectly with the neck.

Once again.. what you are hearing is totally passive neo powered pickups. Would also work great with the preamp of your choice.

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[mrufino1]

Man, this is too tempting- I can't wait to talk to you next week!

 

[SGD Lutherie]

OK I lied.. Yet another preview. They are available put just not online yet...

Here's a set of TI Jazz Flats... kind of a flatwound greatest hits.

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And the same bass, new set of D'Addario XL's and a new Hipshot aluminum Type A bridge (the flat clip was the same bridge).

In this clip the first three phrases are passive... both, bridge, then neck, then you hear me switch in an EMG-BTC preamp with the bass and treble slightly boosted. Then I crank the highs and play a familiar riff cycling though the pickups. Then I turn down the highs and boost the lows (bridge, both, neck).

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[SGD Lutherie]

Man, this is too tempting- I can't wait to talk to you next week!

And so you did... and you got to play the basses in person.

I'll try to get to your next gig with a bass in tow... but sorry the flats are off the bass now. But I could put them back on.