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Taming the SPB-3?

AndyPanda

AndyPanda

May 11, 2014
2,901
4,661
Alameda, California
#1
I have a bass with SPB-1 and love it - it's perfect.
I have another bass with SPB-3 and it's interesting for having something different but not really my style. From what I read about it (and what my ears tell me) - it is hotter (even though it isn't overwound - must just be the bigger magnets) in volume, has more boom and more treble (harsh treble?). Because it's louder -- I'd say the midrange is there, it's just drowned out by the extra bass and treble so it sounds scooped.

I tried lowering the pickup a bit further from the strings - until the volume matched the bass with the SPB-1 and I thought that made a huge improvement. That extra boomy bass was reduced quite a bit.

I was wondering about trying different value tone cap so when tone knob is lowered it takes the high highs without touching the mids as much. Current cap is a .05 ... thinking of trying a .033 or .022

Have any of you used different cap values with the SPB-3 quarter pound pickup?
 
#3
Technically it should only make a difference when using the tone knob. I could be wrong but I think your idea of lowering the pickups was the best thing to do to tame the high output. If it was me I would just get another SPB1 or a Fender Original '60 (which is better with flats whereas the SPB1 is better with roundwound strings).
 
#5
Hey .. I'm a fairly new bassist - so I've got a lot to learn still. But after lowering the pickup height, I find the two pickups are not that different sounding now and I am starting to like the SPB-3. I am posting two clips so you can hear - one is the SPB-3 with pickup lowered away from the strings and the other is the SPB-1 up close to the strings as normal (and they both have about the same output level now with volume and tone all the way up). I am recording from a TC Electronics combo (BG250) direct into my DAW without any plugin and no EQ in the DAW. The EQ on the BG250 is just the same for both basses (bass=noon, mid=10 o'clock, treble = 9 o'clock) and no compression or any other effect. I EQ'ed the band track to remove as much bass as possible. All levels set exactly the same between the two pickups (vol and tone maxed).

I c
 

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#6
The only way I tamed an SPB-3 was by removing it from my bass and trading it for something else. :laugh: Apologies, probably not the answer you are looking for.

I bought a used MIM P bass with one installed, and I think it lasted less than a week. With both my amps I found that it was hitting the preamp way too hard, so I had to back the gain off. Even then it was still hitting the amp with muddy low-mids and tooth enamel-shattering highs. Not my thing at all. With an idiosyncratic pickup like that, I reckon you have to either fully embrace what it does 'in the wild' or find something else, rather than try and work around what are, on paper, the strengths of the pickup.

I suppose it could be tamed with judicious EQ, but I would push for swapping out the pickup. I bought a 'hot vintage alnico' Kent Armstrong pickup from his/their import line. It doesn't have visible pole pieces. It still has a lot of output, but it doesn't have that annoying mid-scoop or treble spike.
 
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#7
AndyPanda said:
Hey .. I'm a fairly new bassist - so I've got a lot to learn still. But after lowering the pickup height, I find the two pickups are not that different sounding now and I am starting to like the SPB-3. I am posting two clips so you can hear - one is the SPB-3 with pickup lowered away from the strings and the other is the SPB-1 up close to the strings as normal (and they both have about the same output level now with volume and tone all the way up). I am recording from a TC Electronics combo (BG250) direct into my DAW without any plugin and no EQ in the DAW. The EQ on the BG250 is just the same for both basses (bass=noon, mid=10 o'clock, treble = 9 o'clock) and no compression or any other effect. I EQ'ed the band track to remove as much bass as possible. All levels set exactly the same between the two pickups (vol and tone maxed).

I c
Click to expand...


I had the same experience with you with the SPB-3, and lowering did help it, but I was still not a fan of that pickup. It may be my least favorite pickup on the market. While the SPB-1 is absolutely fantastic.

You did a good job taming it, but I think the Born A. clip was the SPB-3
 
#8
Hopkins said:
I had the same experience with you with the SPB-3, and lowering did help it, but I was still not a fan of that pickup. It may be my least favorite pickup on the market. While the SPB-1 is absolutely fantastic.

You did a good job taming it, but I think the Born A. clip was the SPB-3
Click to expand...

In fact the A clip was the SPB-1

In the DAW, being able to look at the waveforms .... one big difference I can see (and hear if I solo the bass track without the backing track) is that the SPB-1 is smoother, almost like it had a little compression ... while the SPB-3 (even lowered away from the strings) has bigger spikes when you play unevenly. If I hit a string just a bit too hard or clanky I'll get a much larger difference with the SPB-3 than with the SPB-1 ... so it is less forgiving for trying to record a clean take.
 
#9
AndyPanda said:
In fact the A clip was the SPB-1

In the DAW, being able to look at the waveforms .... one big difference I can see (and hear if I solo the bass track without the backing track) is that the SPB-1 is smoother, almost like it had a little compression ... while the SPB-3 (even lowered away from the strings) has bigger spikes when you play unevenly. If I hit a string just a bit too hard or clanky I'll get a much larger difference with the SPB-3 than with the SPB-1 ... so it is less forgiving for trying to record a clean take.
Click to expand...

You did a good job of making them both sound sound clean. I imagine it wasnt easy to do so with the SPB-3
 
#10
when I had an spb-3 in my squier, it sounded awesome with both Rotosound rs66 and rotosound r77. Whatever floats your boat.

EDIT: It sounded really good as the strings got very worn in. Brand new, it was over the top zing and low end which I liked for my punk stuff but for all around it just sounded really nice with older strings. I also had the pickups screwed down to maybe 1mm or so above the pickguard of the pbass.
 
#11
El Güero said:
If you really want to keep the pickup, I think the best thing to do would be call Duncan and ask if they can degauss the magnets a bit. Explain what it is you'd like to change. That would make the magnets weaker and knock some the edge off. There would probably be costs involved, and it's kind of a shot in the dark, but I think it's the best option for what you want to do with your QP.
Click to expand...

It gets to the point then that he would be spending more than the pickup is worth.
 
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#13
Not sure if the last couple of posts listened to the sound files or not.

In any case - I am finding that the pickup is doing just what I want and all I did was lower the pickup away from the strings. And if I want that more aggressive sound I can adjust it back closer to the strings again.

I have other basses (one with an SPB-1) ... this one with the SPB-3 is starting to grow on me the more I play it after lowering the pickup. I plan to make a few more recordings with some different types of music to compare.
 
#14
AndyPanda said:
Not sure if the last couple of posts listened to the sound files or not.

In any case - I am finding that the pickup is doing just what I want and all I did was lower the pickup away from the strings. And if I want that more aggressive sound I can adjust it back closer to the strings again.

I have other basses (one with an SPB-1) ... this one with the SPB-3 is starting to grow on me the more I play it after lowering the pickup. I plan to make a few more recordings with some different types of music to compare.
Click to expand...

How careful do you have to be to not dig in too much to keep it tame? Because honestly, you made that pickup sound better than I have ever heard it.
 
#15
I did not play it any differently than I played the SPB-1 on those recordings.

... but I'm pretty new (and self taught) at bass. So I'm just figuring out how hard you are supposed to play (and I still don't know what is "correct"). But I've got experience playing other instruments ... so when I practice bass, one way I like to practice is to pretend I'm in the studio paying by the hour and try to play clean enough to keep a first take --- and listening back always crushes me but sure lets me know what I need to work on.

I just measured using stacked US Pennies ... On the SPB-3 I can just fit four pennies between the E string and the pole pieces when I fret the 20th. On the SPB-1 I can just fit two pennies at the same place. And with it set like that, I can record them both with volume and tone maxed ... same amp and recorder settings for both and they are very similar sounding.
 
#16
Here is another tune that I recorded both basses with everything set exactly the same. Vol and Tone both maxed, amp gain and tone all the same - no EQ and no plugins on the recorder - same volume on the tracks.
The only difference is the pickup height as described in previous post. Sorry my timing is suspect - but that is what I'm practicing this stuff to learn :)
 

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#17
Hopkins said:
How careful do you have to be to not dig in too much to keep it tame? Because honestly, you made that pickup sound better than I have ever heard it.
Click to expand...

Since you asked ... I recorded both pickup with me not being at all careful (this is a tune I haven't figured out how to play it carefully yet) so I'm just digging in and being sloppy because it's fun.
 

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#18
AndyPanda said:
Since you asked ... I recorded both pickup with me not being at all careful (this is a tune I haven't figured out how to play it carefully yet) so I'm just digging in and being sloppy because it's fun.
Click to expand...

I could definitely hear the enhanced low end and slight mid scoop in the working clips. But you managed to get rid of that harsh high end, so bravo for that.
 
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#19
Here's my story. I bought a bass of local craigslist and it came with SPB-3. I was a big fan of that sound when I was in my teens and was a big fan of Blink 182. My tastes changed, but I still like that tone. But I don't play that kind of music and that tone really doesn't work for me. So I brought to a practice and was just lost in a mix. Frustrated, I swapped it for whatever I had in my drawer which was Squier Affinity pickup. I decided to record both just for the sake of trying and I was pleasantly surprised with Squier pickup. SPB-3 is just loud and hot and scooped. I decided to keep Squier until my Geezer came in the mail(which was yesterday). SPB-3 might work for some, but not for me.
 
#20
In my opinion/experience, the SPB-3 is one of the best pickups around for use with flatwounds. Before I got into making my own pickups, for about 10 years I used SPB-3 coils (in custom housings) in all of the Scroll Basses I built. These basses are built specifically to use stiff flatwounds, like Chromes or LaBella 760's, and the Quarter Pounders give the flatwounds a nice even frequency curve. I also like them in a P-bass with flats.

But I agree that they are too powerful in the highs and lows, when matched with modern super bright roundwounds.

And yes, the SPB-3's uneven output curve is almost completely caused by those large size, powerful magnets. They create a larger, denser magnetic field for the string to wiggle in. Lowering the pickup down to get the string into the outer edge of the field is the only practical way to tame it down.
 
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