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SGD Lutherie Pickups

  • Thread starter Thread starter CapeBass
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#841
Rockin Mike said:
Hi David,

Still diggin' your pickups. The Sidewinders turned my Ibanez into a real bass.

Now I'm looking to do the same with my backup bass, but maybe go in a different direction for some variety in the sound. What pickup set would you recommend for kind of a "Modernized Rickenbacker" flavor? Like this guy:

Invalid Link Removed

Would your Neos go there? The bass is an Ibanez SR-535.

I understand lots of factors go into the final tone. I'm not trying to clone that guy's rig, just indicating the direction I want to go.

Thanks
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I think the Sidewinders do a real good Ric tone, but since you already have a set of those the Neos would give you a different set of tones. Since the guy in Spock's Beard has Jazz pickups in his Ric copy, you might like the narrow Neos. They sound like fat singles.
 
#843
fenderVI said:
Hi David, I got a Click N Ship notification on the 28th January does that mean the pickups are ready soon? I'm waiting on some Jazzbuckers. Cheers. Paul Abrahams. SYD Australia.
Click to expand...

Hi Paul, yeah. They should have shipped by now too, but I had a last minute issue with something that I had to fix. But they will be on their way any day now.
 
#844
Months ago I ordered a SGD 2-Band Preamp and requested center detent pots (the preamp is boost only, the detents are so I can feel the halfway point) and David readily agreed to my request. In short order I received the preamp but I didn't put it in right away as some life issues distracted me for a while.

Fast forward a few months and the preamp was used to replace the factory preamp in a MusicMan Sub 4. Before the swap the preamp was decent; it did what it was supposed to and the bass sounded pretty good. Very good I thought, until I swapped it out. The SGD preamp sounds better (to my ears) in every way that matters. As I lacked a couple of parts and was getting a setup from Chuck at Bass Emporium so I had him put it in for me (thought it's not a complex install), and he noticed a significant difference as well. The tonal range the bass is capable of has been greatly increased. Instead of just adding some low end it thumps, and if you crank the highs the attack is very sharp. Before the swap I had been thinking of a pickup replacement, but now I realize the only thing holding the bass back was the preamp.

If I get another SUB (maybe a 5er) I will definitely be doing this exact same mod. I'd also like to give props to Chuck at Bass Emporium for the sweet setup. The bass is currently strung up with DR coated strings (black strings, white bass, white pickguard).
 
#845
Swapped out my EMG's out of my Spector Euro this weekend, for a set of SGD ND3 40's.

Still has the "Spector" sound when the pan is centered, but has completely different sounds, when either solo'ed to the bridge or neck. Still using the same audere classic 4band pre. I'm considering to remove the classic 4band, for an active/passive 3zb and add a "split" coil switch for each pickup..........Think it might make it versatile.
 
#846
Rickett Customs said:
Still has the "Spector" sound when the pan is centered, but has completely different sounds, when either solo'ed to the bridge or neck.
Click to expand...

That's good to hear, since one of my gripes with EMGs was they sound like EMGs. I was trying to come up with something that sounded like the bass, and not so much the pickups.
 
#847
David,
Since you do shield the bottom of the pickups (or at least from what I see in the bottom of the casting), would this perhaps reduce any of the noise, when run in single coil? Provided that the cavity and such are grounded properly?

That may be the next move for this instrument.

SGD Lutherie said:
That's good to hear, since one of my gripes with EMGs was they sound like EMGs. I was trying to come up with something that sounded like the bass, and not so much the pickups.
Click to expand...
 
#848
Rickett Customs said:
David,
Since you do shield the bottom of the pickups (or at least from what I see in the bottom of the casting), would this perhaps reduce any of the noise, when run in single coil? Provided that the cavity and such are grounded properly?

That may be the next move for this instrument.
Click to expand...

They are very quiet in single coil mode. I had a non working coil in one of the Jazzbuckers in my Ibanez and didn't realize it until I got very close to my computer and heard a slight whistling noise.

I was wondering why it was extra bright.

Parallel gets a very similar tone as well, and is fully humbucking. And you can use a north and sound coil from each pickups and they will hum cancel.

You wil also find that the two coils in the bridge pickup sound different from each other when switched into single coil mode.
 
#858
Thought you guys might enjoy this demo video from a bass I finished about a year ago. The bass is a fretless 5 string I built and the pickups are series 3 Neo's with an EMG bqc preamp. The video was recorded live off the camera mic and since it was done in an apartment I couldnt get as much volume as I wanted so you may hear a small amount of string noise coming directly off the bass. I am playing through an Alembic F1-X preamp, a QSC plx 1202 and an Epifani UL3x10. I'm just making stuff up in the video so dont mind that. There is a section of just the neck pickup, just the bridge pickup and then both blended evenly together. I've been performing on this bass for a year and get nothing but compliments on the tone. And +1 to David for being a cool guy with a great product.

Brandon-YouTubesharing.mp4 video by phatdaddy791 - Photobucket
 
#859
Big B. said:
Thought you guys might enjoy this demo video from a bass I finished about a year ago. The bass is a fretless 5 string I built and the pickups are series 3 Neo's with an EMG bqc preamp. The video was recorded live off the camera mic and since it was done in an apartment I couldnt get as much volume as I wanted so you may hear a small amount of string noise coming directly off the bass. I am playing through an Alembic F1-X preamp, a QSC plx 1202 and an Epifani UL3x10. I'm just making stuff up in the video so dont mind that. There is a section of just the neck pickup, just the bridge pickup and then both blended evenly together. I've been performing on this bass for a year and get nothing but compliments on the tone. And +1 to David for being a cool guy with a great product.

Brandon-YouTubesharing.mp4 video by phatdaddy791 - Photobucket
Click to expand...

Are your ND3s the "wide" or "narrow" aperture pickups?
 
#860
Big B. said:
Thought you guys might enjoy this demo video from a bass I finished about a year ago. The bass is a fretless 5 string I built and the pickups are series 3 Neo's with an EMG bqc preamp. The video was recorded live off the camera mic and since it was done in an apartment I couldnt get as much volume as I wanted so you may hear a small amount of string noise coming directly off the bass. I am playing through an Alembic F1-X preamp, a QSC plx 1202 and an Epifani UL3x10. I'm just making stuff up in the video so dont mind that. There is a section of just the neck pickup, just the bridge pickup and then both blended evenly together. I've been performing on this bass for a year and get nothing but compliments on the tone. And +1 to David for being a cool guy with a great product.

Brandon-YouTubesharing.mp4 video by phatdaddy791 - Photobucket
Click to expand...


Congrats on your bass & the playing too
 
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