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Show us your 3 pickup basses!
- Thread starter Doner Designs
- Start date
I bought a Musicman Big Al 5SS a few months and have absolutely fallen in love with it. The build quality is top notch, the look is pretty out of the ordinary, and it has a mind boggling level of tonal variety that makes it easy to sound great in any playing situation.
I can't say it overtook my two (different model) Stingrays, at least not yet, but it's certainly their equal and the three of them share the number one spot in my small collection.
I can't say it overtook my two (different model) Stingrays, at least not yet, but it's certainly their equal and the three of them share the number one spot in my small collection.
I had Eric's Guitar Shop do the routing for a third pickup on my Schecter Stiletto Elite 5, turned out pretty cool if I may say so.
From neck to bridge:
EMG 40P5
EMG 40DC
EMG 40CS
Control layout is V/V/V/BTC control.
From neck to bridge:
EMG 40P5
EMG 40DC
EMG 40CS
Control layout is V/V/V/BTC control.
- Apr 18, 2008
- 16,004
- 1
- 31,699
- Disclosures
- I'm highly opinionated and extremely self-assured
Yes, EMG stuff is easy peasy to experiment with for a (electronics) novice like myself, especially with the soap bar size pickups and the quick connect stuff. I bought a Ray35 about a year ago and noticed it's not for me; yes, it's one of the coolest looking 5 string basses out there, love the design. But for me it's not that comfy to play, and I don't always need that MM sound. That's where the idea for the additional pickup on the Schecter came from originally. That and the video in the link below:
I measured the Ray35 pickup location and scaled it up the 35" scale length of the Stiletto, et voila, the middle position is more or less where a MM pickup would sit on a 35" Stingray. Yeah, not super exact science, but good enough for me. I knew it wouldn't be the exact Stingray sound, but that'd be fine.
Overall it's a pretty powerful bass. E.g. I like to play on just the 40P5, it's a little more old school sounding, and playing Yes stuff with Richtie Castellano's Helix Rickenbacker patch that way is a lot of fun. Soloing the 40DC in the middle is Stingray-ish enough for me, pretty ballsy, low B sounds great. As expected the 40CS at the bridge has more treble and snap, great for playing harmonics. Combining the P5 and 40CS gets into PJ/JJ territory, scooped sound. Still experimenting with the P5/DC and DC/CS combos. It's cool to blend in the DC at 50% or so with either the P5 or CS to fatten up the sound a bit.
I measured the Ray35 pickup location and scaled it up the 35" scale length of the Stiletto, et voila, the middle position is more or less where a MM pickup would sit on a 35" Stingray. Yeah, not super exact science, but good enough for me. I knew it wouldn't be the exact Stingray sound, but that'd be fine.
Overall it's a pretty powerful bass. E.g. I like to play on just the 40P5, it's a little more old school sounding, and playing Yes stuff with Richtie Castellano's Helix Rickenbacker patch that way is a lot of fun. Soloing the 40DC in the middle is Stingray-ish enough for me, pretty ballsy, low B sounds great. As expected the 40CS at the bridge has more treble and snap, great for playing harmonics. Combining the P5 and 40CS gets into PJ/JJ territory, scooped sound. Still experimenting with the P5/DC and DC/CS combos. It's cool to blend in the DC at 50% or so with either the P5 or CS to fatten up the sound a bit.
- Apr 18, 2008
- 16,004
- 1
- 31,699
- Disclosures
- I'm highly opinionated and extremely self-assured
Cool! With three pickups and a two-pickup control plate, how are the electronics configured?
Switches: Neck Pickup On /Off- Middle Pickup On/Off - Treble Boost On/Off
Dials: Neck Pickup and Middle Pickup Volume (evenly balanced) - Bridge Pickup Volume
I had asked for switch to be On/Off for each pickup and Volume/ Tone Knobs, but the tone did almost nothing until you maxed it out.
This configuration gives me much more control over the tone. The bridge pickup is so much brighter than the others it acts as a treble boost (which was what I was hoping for in the tone knob).
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Love the positioning of the neck pickup! A little less mud than right up at the neck.
Thanks Green Knight. The neck pick up sounds great, and gives no mud whatsoever.
It's actually amazing the variety of tones I can get from this bass, the neck sounds quite unique when combined with the P split coil, which I favour. The sound is also unique when mixed with the jazz pup or all three together, unlike anything I've ever heard. After all the nice basses I've had over the years, this my college bass made in the basement of a guitar shop (The 12th Fret) by the teacher doing a guitar building class, inspires me as much as any.
