Perhaps, a sliding pickup, à la the first Alembic (although that had two sliding pickups) or a Grabber?
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Show us your Martin Keith Basses
- Thread starter 77stingray
- Start date
Yes, I've considered doing something like that before, but I'd rather just stick with two permanently placed pickups. It's not that I want to move them around to achieve different tones, it's that I want to have a certain tone with only one pickup that physics dictates requires the two. I can live with that.
I LOVE a single pickup bass. That's my preference, but there are also times when having both gives a great sound. I mean, I still think a great P bass is perfect, but I also don't eat tacos every day (ok...bad example...I totally would)
Just to be clear, my preference is two pickups wired in parallel relative to each other...Jazz bass idea. However, I tend to prefer each individual hum-canceling pickup to be wired in series relative to itself. Then again, I have series/parallel switches for each pickup. For certain things, I do prefer parallel and am glad I have the switches! I also have really dense, bright woods on my main bass. The Martin will have an Alder body, so that will warm things up a little compared to a Euro Maple body...that might make a difference in settings that I prefer. Totally different pickups coming too...we shall see.
The BigRig pickups are fabulous. You're going to love them!
I get what you are saying.Same here. That high C just seems to dictate the same tonal direction for me with pickup choices.
Awesome! I really think the BigRig pickups were the right choice for this instrument...so looking forward to playing them!
Maybe it is series on the Aeros of my six, but it sounds clearer in the mids down low, so I've assume they're parallel. Whenever I play an instrument with switching dual coils, I usually prefer parallel to series, which can sound bloated down low to me.
After putting new strings on my bass, and realizing how annihilated they were...I may just end up with BigRigs again....LOL
Now that I think about it more, all the basses that I have played where I prefer series wiring per individual pickup have all been very narrow aperture pickups. I do actually prefer parallel wiring per individual pickup on the few wide aperture dual coil pickups I have owned...go figure! These have never had a high C-string or Alder body either. It will be really interesting to see what I go with on the new Martin!
Had a rehearsal last night. Brought my Ristola with roundwounds, but wanted to say that the BigRigs were absolutely brilliant. I have them on push/pull pots to run them Parallel, but left them in series the entire time. I have a real love for the BigRigs.
I would want it to be 33. The 33" scale is just perfect for me.
Beginning to also think about sticking with a mahogany body and maybe an ebony board. That's what I have for my other basses, and I was reminded why at yesterday's all day rehearsal
Ahh...OK. You seemed to like the 32" scale on your fretless, but I know your other instruments have been 33", so I wondered about the designated scale for the headless.
I love an Ebony fingerboard! Would that be an African Mahogany (Khaya genus) body or a true Mahogany (Swietenia genus)?
Good question on the mahogany! Will have to ask what mine are, but I believe the second.
The 32" scale was an experiment, and one that didn't work for me in the end. I'm too used to what the 33" scale does. Martin will eventually build a new neck for my fretless. What Martin accomplished with the 32" is really incredible, but I want to stick to 33 across the board (ha!).
Very cool!
Do you prefer the 33" over the 32" scale more for the added tension on the B-string, or is it something else? That's nice that Martin can build a new neck to switch out. I can appreciate wanting to keep all of the scale lengths uniform with all of your instruments. Nice pun by the way.
I'll be here all week...try the veal....tip your waitress! LOLVery cool!
Do you prefer the 33" over the 32" scale more for the added tension on the B-string, or is it something else? That's nice that Martin can build a new neck to switch out. I can appreciate wanting to keep all of the scale lengths uniform with all of your instruments. Nice pun by the way.
It is mostly the tension on the low B. I did use it on my next record, and it sounds beautiful, but I've gotten used to the low B with a 33" scale. I feel like the low be on the 32" needs a bit more finessing, while with the 33" I can pull on it and it'll react a certain way. Plus, yeah...I'd love to keep my main instruments with the same scale length. I do have a P bass that I hold on to for more traditional gigs or recording, and I have an old 34" scale Yamaha 5 string that I converted to a fretless (sounds great!), but those mostly sit in the closet.
