• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

tell me about Super Ferrite pickups...need info...

R

raul

Aug 30, 2006
423
89
Planet Earth
#1
i used to have a Peavey Foundation many years ago...i think it was a circa 1984 build? i'm thinking of buying another Peavey Foundation i found, circa 1989 or so...

i wonder if the pickups are the same kind?

also...just what in the world are Super Ferrite pickups? what are they made of? what are they designed after or replicating? seems to me like a Jazz Bass kinda pickup? am i right? tell me more about these pickups...

i was thinking of buying a Fender Geddy Lee Jazz Bass or a Squier VM Jazz Bass...but i remember how much i loved the Foundation! i hope i can get some info on it and those pickups...
 
#6
From what I understand the superferrites are a ceramic magnet not an alnico. They are rather large in comparison so they are physically deeper, wider, and heavier than jazz pickups. The placement in a Foundation is similar to a '70s Jazz bass with the rear pickup slightly closer to the bridge. The tone is similar to a jazz with a bit more bite. While I am not sure on specifics most 80's through 92 Foundations have similar Superferrites. The '93 models have superferrites that are labeled only Peavey. '94 and later Foundations and Foundation 2000s have soapbar pickups that appear similar to dual jazz pickups with radiused covers. These later Foundations have a more hi-fi sound but still maintain a good deal of warmth.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Squittolo
#7
raul said:
also...just what in the world are Super Ferrite pickups?
Click to expand...

No idea but most of the time when people use the word "ferrite" they mean a specific magnetic material and I can tell you what that is. A ferrite is a ferro-magnetic ceramic material. Like most ceramics they are good electrical insulators so they can be used as a magnetic material in applications where eddy currents would be undesirable or even disastrous. Since they are not electrically conductive they cannot support eddy currents. Ferrites are available in a wide variety of mixes that are mostly designed with radio frequency applications in mind. They may vary significantly at audio frequencies too but I have only used them for RF applications and I am not familiar with their audio characteristics. They typically can be magnetized and all the ceramic magnets used in guitar pickups could be ferrite although I certainly don't know that for sure.

I am pretty sure the term "Super Ferrite" is 99% marketing hyperbole.... ;)
 
  • Like
Reactions: okabass, Ricky Rioli, Drredplate and 1 other person
#14
Ooooooooooh zombie thread...;)

I've done a search but have not found an answer to the following question on any of the countless Peavey Bass/Super Ferrite pickups threads...

Does anyone currently make a single coil pickup with the same or super similar attributes (ceramic, side winder?) as the 80s/early 90s single Super Ferrites found in the Foundation and Dyna basses? Do Aguilar or Delano make something like this, whether in a Jazz style cover or in a small soapbar style?

I have these in a Foundation and a Patriot project bass of mine and want to make a 3 pickup Strat style bass with something that sounds like them without scouring eBay/Reverb/here for them.

Any info would be greatly appreciated...thanks! :bassist:
 
  • Like
Reactions: PopDaddy and PennyroyalWe
#18
XsoGol said:
Friday afternoon bump. Anyone? I know there are a bunch of folks on the forum with experience with Super Ferrites and other pickups. Where you cats at?
Click to expand...
I’ve got a super ferrite in my ‘84 Fury, angled in the traditional Precision position. I don’t know a whole lot about its construction, but around the time I acquired it (mid-2020) I remember reading in here that the super ferrites sounded like Nordstrand Big Singles before there were Nordstrand Big Singles ;) FWIW

They’re among a number of older US Peavey products that sellers suddenly seem to think are worth several times what they were two years ago. They went from underrated to overhyped in a heartbeat ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
Last edited:
#19
Riff Ranger said:
I’ve got a super ferrite in my ‘84 Fury, angled in the traditional Precision position. I don’t know a whole lot about its construction, but around the time I acquired it (mid-2020) I remember reading in here that the super ferrites sounded like Nordstrand Big Singles before there were Nordstrand Big Singles ;) FWIW

They’re among a number of older US Peavey products that sellers suddenly seem to think are worth several times what they were two years ago. They went from underrated to overhyped in a heartbeat ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Click to expand...

I've had a mahogany bodied '85 Foundation with two Super Ferrites in it for a while now and it sounds amazing...it does the Geddy Lee thing better than my old MIJ Geddy Jazz did imo.

I have a Peavey Fury body that is beat to crap that I wanted to do the Dave Meros 4 pickup thing in it (two jazzish pickups in the Ric positions and two in the 70s Jazz positions). To your point, trying two find 3 more Super Ferrites (I have one from a Patriot I'm modding) when there is so much hype is a pain in the keester. Plus, if possible, I'd like to get pickups in an easier routable shape that I can get white covers for (thinking of refinishing the body cherry sunburst with a white pearloid pickguard). The Aguilar and Delano Jazz shaped offerings look interesting to me but I wonder if the have the punch and grind of my old Super Ferrites.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Riff Ranger
#20
I'm updating my list of potentials to the following (but I am open to any/all suggestions and comments on the following pickups tones being anything/nothing like SFs):
  • Delano JMVC 4 FE/M2
  • Delano JC TF Time Square
  • Aguilar DCB-Js
  • Nordstrand Big Blades or Jazz Blades
Also thinking about three Delano PMVC 4 FE/M2s reversed in the neck, middle and bridge positions...

The only reason I have not listed Nordstrand Big Singles is because I'm worried about string spacing/pole piece under string alignment being difficult/impossible with the pickup positions I'm thinking of above. That said, I believe Dave Meros used 4 Seymour Duncan Apollo Jazz pickups in his Rickenjazz bass and he didn't seem to have an issue (so please feel free to tell me if leaving off Big Singles is a stupid idea).
 
Last edited:

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back