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Slight "chorus" sound on a P bass pickup....

two fingers

two fingers

Opinionated blowhard. But not mad about it.
Inactive
Feb 7, 2005
33,959
116,685
55
Eastern NC USA
#1
Brand new bass.
Nordstrand NP5.
Pickup by itself (solod).
Separated from the bridge pickup by a three way selector switch (not a blend knob).
Mounted with two magnets on the bass side and three on the treble side. (See pic) But I have seen pics online of them mounted both ways.

I have read about "phase issues" between a neck and bridge pickup, but never on a split P bass pickup.

It seems to sound fine to me otherwise, but, then again, I have never heard one of these pickups so I don't know if phase issues are causing it to thin out or not. I really have no idea what I'm talking about when it comes to this type of this so I'm just spit balling.

Yes, I contacted Nordstrand via their web site. But it's a holiday so I wouldn't expect to hear back from them until tomorrow at the earliest. I just thought I would run it by you guys to see what you think.

Fire away with any questions.

Thanks!
20170704_131532.jpg
 
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#3
jallenbass said:
It only sounds like that when the P is solo'd and not with both pickups? That would rule out twisted strings.

The pickups don't look too close to the strings unless the magnets are super strong.

As you can tell I've got nothing.
Click to expand...

The bridge is a top loader so I'll check the twisted string theory later. If it's a twisted string it would just make the sound on that string, correct?

Thanks.
 
#5
two fingers said:
Brand new bass.
Nordstrand NP5.
Pickup by itself (solod).
Separated from the bridge pickup by a three way selector switch (not a blend knob).
Mounted with two magnets on the bass side and three on the treble side. (See pic) But I have seen pics online of them mounted both ways.

I have read about "phase issues" between a neck and bridge pickup, but never on a split P bass pickup.

It seems to sound fine to me otherwise, but, then again, I have never heard one of these pickups so I don't know if phase issues are causing it to thin out or not. I really have no idea what I'm talking about when it comes to this type of this so I'm just spit balling.

Yes, I contacted Nordstrand via their web site. But it's a holiday so I wouldn't expect to hear back from them until tomorrow at the earliest. I just thought I would run it by you guys to see what you think.

Fire away with any questions.

Thanks!
View attachment 1169812
Click to expand...

Hello. You may find some suggestions here:

The usual culprit is the strings and pickup being too close to each other. Since any particular strings may react differently to any particular pickups, past measurements of string or pickup heights can't necessarily be used once either part is replaced.

In other words, whenever you swap in a new pickup, it's a new deal: you may have to readjust the distance of the strings from the pickup as a measurement independent of either your ideal pickup height or ideal string height.
 
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#6
Snaxster said:
Hello. You may find some suggestions here:

The usual culprit is the strings and pickup being too close to each other. Since any particular strings may react differently to any particular pickups, past measurements of string or pickup heights can't necessarily be used once either part is replaced.

In other words, whenever you swap in a new pickup, it's a new deal: you may have to readjust the distance of the strings from the pickup as a measurement independent of either your ideal pickup height or ideal string height.
Click to expand...

Some good info in those old threads. Thanks.
I'll try pick up height later. The bridge pickup seems a bit close for sure and even if it isn't "on" those magnets are tugging at the strings.
 
#9
two fingers said:
Brand new bass.
Nordstrand NP5.
Pickup by itself (solod).
Separated from the bridge pickup by a three way selector switch (not a blend knob).
Mounted with two magnets on the bass side and three on the treble side. (See pic) But I have seen pics online of them mounted both ways.

I have read about "phase issues" between a neck and bridge pickup, but never on a split P bass pickup.

It seems to sound fine to me otherwise, but, then again, I have never heard one of these pickups so I don't know if phase issues are causing it to thin out or not. I really have no idea what I'm talking about when it comes to this type of this so I'm just spit balling.

Yes, I contacted Nordstrand via their web site. But it's a holiday so I wouldn't expect to hear back from them until tomorrow at the earliest. I just thought I would run it by you guys to see what you think.

Fire away with any questions.

Thanks!
View attachment 1169812
Click to expand...

P basses have always sounded a bit, or a lot, chorus-y to me. As someone in this thread said, lower the pick-up to reduce the effect. As you can imagine, the closer the string is to the pick-up, the more the string goes in and out and around the magnetic field and, presto, chorus-y sound. Lowering the pick-up worked for me.
 
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#12
two fingers said:
By the way, Adrian Smith at Nordstrand emailed me back on Independence Day! Talk about customer service.

He said the same thing you guys said. Probably pickup height. But he asked me several questions seemed genuinely concerned. Impressive.
Click to expand...
Their email support is top shelf, imo. They have helped me with the bass in my avatar concerning pickup height, electronics info. Great company, great products. That bass is also sensitive to this if the pups get too close to the strings. They are quite far off now, and the chorus is gone. Still good output.
 
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#13
two fingers said:
Brand new bass.
Nordstrand NP5.
Pickup by itself (solod).
Separated from the bridge pickup by a three way selector switch (not a blend knob).
Mounted with two magnets on the bass side and three on the treble side. (See pic) But I have seen pics online of them mounted both ways.

I have read about "phase issues" between a neck and bridge pickup, but never on a split P bass pickup.

It seems to sound fine to me otherwise, but, then again, I have never heard one of these pickups so I don't know if phase issues are causing it to thin out or not. I really have no idea what I'm talking about when it comes to this type of this so I'm just spit balling.

Yes, I contacted Nordstrand via their web site. But it's a holiday so I wouldn't expect to hear back from them until tomorrow at the earliest. I just thought I would run it by you guys to see what you think.

Fire away with any questions.

Thanks!
View attachment 1169812
Click to expand...
They are saving you the cost of a chorus pedal. Man, that is cool.

Hoping it was resolved quickly!
 
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#16
Have you checked that each of the split are in the right direction? I mean North South?
Have you checked for magnetic string pull? Screw them down as far as possible, don't mind that the output is too low, but you can hear if the chorusy sound is still there. Keep in mind though, that OTHER PICKUPS (PICKUP) along the length of the string can contribute to this too, without THAT pickup being activated (i e being heard at the output). So screw that one down too, if needed.

My tip is that you should look at the string while it's oscillating. You'll see the slow chorusy motion or "phasey" with that it contains two or more longer waves of motion, that is not present when the tone should be perfect. If you had other pickups installed in it BEFORE, and you used the exact same strings, then it's not the twisted string phenomenon (which it very well can be...and mind you...too! apart from any magnetic string pull, or accidentally turned on the pickups). I had this too way back on a "conuterfeit" Ibanez JP bass with both J and P pickups. I did maintenance on it (stock pickups) and discovered that it was an out of phase sound and lacking output. I discoever I had put the P pickups the wrong way around. But! Not any "chorusy" sound. So the thing is not really about if it is a 3-2 five string, it can happen too to any regular 2-2 4 string P pickup. In the way in which they are placed.
 
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#17
This is one of the reasons I've dodged neodymium pickups lately. They are mostly too strong output on bass, and thus, very prone to magnetic string pull at least compared to the other ones out there. On top of this, they're too lightweight, and I need mostly to bring the body part of the bass down in weight to buck neck dive. For example, som Neo pickups are 25 gram, and EMGs are 110 grams each.

But anyway, in order for you to buck MSP (magnetic string pull) on those ones, you have to screw them down so much in height that you have no output left, and the remaining output is about the same as other ones out there. With the added "fringe benefit" that you don't have anything to rest your thumb on! ;) Whatever added benefits from them, they turn out a clear case of diminishing returns.

I don't think Nordstrands do that many neos methinks, but I am not sure. They do these for Dingwalls I think. Nordwall, or Dingstrand...:D I use Nordstrands Big Splits myself, they're stock on some LTD/ESP basses now.
 
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#18
Are you sure the 3-2 configuration is right? If they're the same size it ought to look like this:

e=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv211%2Fvalenti1%2FDave_Wilson_P5%2FD_Wilson_P5_015.png



692395249_S7mrc-M.jpg



You seem to have the "2" on the top/lowest strings. Which means... well you figure it out! try swap them places out! I do not know WHICH direction they should have, like the "2" one at the lowest strings or the highest. But it ought to be of importance in terms of bucking noise and phase anomalies. If anyone of these split pieces are RWRP (reverse wound reverse phase) it is paramount of in which place they reside. Mind you not only this, if put together they may increase magnetic string pull, but put the other way, they don't. Try this configuration FIRST and return back here.

However, this should be one thing that Nordstrands would reply to back within a second. They know about this. FWIW I think they should state on the website if this is important or not. On some pickups it's important, on others ... not.
 
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#20
One thing, the bridge pickups aren't affecting strings as much with MSP as the other middle and or neck pickups. The strings are too taught up there anyway. It's when they're loose and flubby the MSP comes into playing games with them... that's why they always using the stronger ones near the bridge, because string doesn't oscillate as much.
 
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