Very quick, un-optimal* initial impressions of "wide" Ceramic Sidewinder neck and "wide" Neo Sidewinder bridge.
*Ibanez SRT800dx with very old Rotosound SB66 steels. Pickup heights not fine tuned. bridge ground wire not yet connected. back cover off. spare 250k pots as a holdover until 500k pots arrive in mail. Fingernails too long.
The Ceramic neck sounds basically exactly like the samples, which is great, because I love it. Again, the pickup height is not fine tuned, but the pickup seems a little lower output than I was expecting. Its not bad or even all that low, I would call it medium or "standard". Its Just not what I had made up in my mind. tweaking the height and getting a 500k pot and fresh strings will likely fix this, since this thing is made to speak in the higher frequencies. I should re-emphasize, though; it sounds JUST LIKE the samples. I love the sound from this thing soloed.
The Neo bridge pickup is huge and ballsy. Wow. Higher output, hits hard in the low mids and lows. Tons of nasty mids. and evades that "nasally" overtone that some soloed bridge pickups emphasize a little too much. Its basically exactly what I wanted. I took a chance by asking for a neo sidewinder. Even though I LOVE the sound of two ceramics together in the samples, the bridge by itself seemed a little average. Really, I tried to fix something that wasn't broke. But I think that I made a good decision. I still kinda want to try a dual ceramic sidewinder setup, though!
both pickups together: Very interesting, unique/cool growl. In my experience, mixing pickups can often not sound great. These two pickups sound very different from eachother when soloed. Together, they somehow manage to make some sweet sounds. Its not the same as the sound of two ceramic Sidewinders, but its great in its own right. That low end beef from the Neo really comes through. I think the mixed sound will be even cooler when I get the pickups height adjusted properly. (I taped the pickups in with dual sided tape, as they are DC35 shape in DC 40 routes, so no screw holes yet). My only very initial complaint is that the neo colors the highs a little "modern" when both pickups are together. Really though, it could actually just be a character of this particular bass.
more to come as I get setup properly and try out a few varieties of fresh strings.
UPDATE: After perfecting pickup heights and a couple different strings
first I will re-adress my only real complaint with the pickups I ordered ("Wide" Ceramic sidewinder neck/"Wide" Neo Sidewinder bridge): I had said that my only complaint was that the highs in the neo were a little more "modern" sounding that I had expected/wanted. That is still true, but the effect is much less noticeable with newer strings and different brands. when I first put the pickups in, I had old stainless rotos on the bass. I like aged rotos. but something about them brought out that modern character a little more. All the fresh strings I've tried, its not really been an issue.
Overall impression of these pickups is still really good. Due to the different magnets, they sound very different from eachother. This is both great and not so great. Great, in that I have a lot of sounds to play with and can match many tones. Not so great, because each pickup individually have a hard time sharing EQ settings. I mostly play with both pickups on, though. It should be made clear, that this is a problem stemming from my own usage scenarios and not with the pickups themselves. These things sound fantastic.
now some completely subjective impressions of different strings, with these pickups, on an Ibanez SRT800dx:
S.I.T. nickel rock brights (actually nickel plated steel): These sound deep with these SGDs. particularly with the neo. deeper than other strings I've tried. Their top end isn't so sweet, its a little "harder", more abrasive, focused in lower highs frequencies. The gauge I got is too heavy for this bass, though. So I may have to revisit these strings.
DR Sunbeams: I didn't like these at all. lacking in fatness/fullness. The top end has a unique/brilliant sound to it. But its all these strings really spoke with. and there were just too much overtones resulting from hand position changes. Just no the strings for this bass/pickup combo.
DR dragon skins: these weren't brand new, as I had saved them from a short sting earlier on this bass, with different pickups. Before, I found them to emphasize low mids too much, with an unremarkable top end and high mid. With my SGD's, they opened up a lot. better top end and high mids. A little sterile, but supported by good, fairly ballsy low end. Much better than sunbeams and overall a decent string choice for these pickups. Plus, the coating effectively kills overtones, as advertised. That may also contribute to the "steril" quality, but Its a fair trade.
Fresh stainless rotos: I've had trouble ever making these sound bad. full, ballsy sound, as expected. a little too much overtones fresh from the pack, but I know these strings well, so I know that goes away after a few days of solid playing. Highs don't extend as much as I would like and still a little modern sounding on this bass/pickup combo. Digging in with these gets some good, nasty stuff out of these SGDs, though. and that neo pickup really reaches into the deeper frequencies. I can't wait to try nickel rotos, another favorite of mine.
Soon I will be changing the bridge on this bass, as the current stock bridge has D and G saddles that vibrate no matter what I try. I will be interesting to see how the tone changes. I've also got some new nickel elixirs waiting to be tried. I like them a lot on my Jag. Not sure if I will be able to wait and install the new bridge first!
