Hello everyone,
My name is HAYATA, and I just registered on TalkBass for the first time.
I recently modified my Ibanez EHB1265MS, a headless 5-string multiscale bass equipped with Bartolini BH2 pickups.
During the modification, I was able to identify what I believe are the main advantages and disadvantages of the BH2, and I thought I would share my findings with everyone here.
Here is what I found about the BH2.
That's basically it.
In short:
The BH2 seems to have sacrificed high-frequency information in exchange for power.
For reference, on the EHB1265MS, the distance between the two pickups is approximately 80–85 mm, depending on the string. This means that phase cancellation occurs roughly across the 300–1100 Hz range.
The distance between the two coils within each BH2 is approximately 18 mm, which puts another set of cancellation points roughly in the 1.4–4.8 kHz range.
And on top of all that, there is the high-frequency roll-off caused by the high inductance.
So... yeah. We're pretty much screwed.
I also experimented with the BH2 to see if I could somehow make it sound better. I modified the wiring so that I could switch between series, parallel, front-coil tap, and rear-coil tap.
The results were quite interesting:
That's all I found.
The EHB1265MS itself is a very well-designed bass in terms of its body, neck, hardware, ergonomics, etc.
However, in my opinion, the BH2 is the weak link.
If you buy an EHB1265MS, I would seriously recommend replacing the BH2 pickups with suitable replacement pickups as soon as possible.
The rest of the bass deserves better pickups.
My name is HAYATA, and I just registered on TalkBass for the first time.
I recently modified my Ibanez EHB1265MS, a headless 5-string multiscale bass equipped with Bartolini BH2 pickups.
During the modification, I was able to identify what I believe are the main advantages and disadvantages of the BH2, and I thought I would share my findings with everyone here.
Here is what I found about the BH2.
Advantages
- It has a lot of output and very low noise, resulting in an excellent S/N ratio.
- It has a huge amount of low end and can produce an almost subwoofer-like sound.
- Because the bass is multiscale, the distance between the pickups varies slightly from string to string. This spreads out the frequencies affected by phase cancellation, rather than concentrating the cancellation into a single narrow notch.
- When coil-tapped and used as a single-coil, it can still provide a reasonably well-balanced output.
Disadvantages
- The coils use a very large number of turns of very thin wire in order to achieve high output. The resulting very high inductance causes a significant loss of high frequencies.
- Because two coils are placed relatively close together within a narrow aperture, additional high-frequency cancellation occurs.
- Even when the pickup is modified for parallel wiring, the two coils still interact with each other spatially, so the notch around 3 kHz cannot be avoided.
- Even when coil-tapped, the high inductance still causes loss of higher harmonics. The result is poor resolution and an overall sound that resembles a speaker with a blanket over it.
- The built-in Vari-mid preamp is basically just an EQ, so it does not actually improve the fundamental quality of the pickup's sound. The pickup itself is still passive, not active.
- Because the EHB1265MS is a multiscale bass, standard 5-string replacement pickups do not fit. A 6-string-sized pickup is required, which makes replacement more expensive.
That's basically it.
In short:
The BH2 seems to have sacrificed high-frequency information in exchange for power.
For reference, on the EHB1265MS, the distance between the two pickups is approximately 80–85 mm, depending on the string. This means that phase cancellation occurs roughly across the 300–1100 Hz range.
The distance between the two coils within each BH2 is approximately 18 mm, which puts another set of cancellation points roughly in the 1.4–4.8 kHz range.
And on top of all that, there is the high-frequency roll-off caused by the high inductance.
So... yeah. We're pretty much screwed.
I also experimented with the BH2 to see if I could somehow make it sound better. I modified the wiring so that I could switch between series, parallel, front-coil tap, and rear-coil tap.
The results were quite interesting:
- In both series and parallel modes, the response starts dropping rapidly above around 2 kHz, with a pronounced notch around 3 kHz.
- In series mode, there is a peak around 4 kHz, while in parallel mode the peak moves to around 5 kHz.
- Switching from series to parallel does not make nearly as much difference as I expected.
- When coil-tapped and used as a single-coil, the response above 2 kHz suddenly comes back, resulting in a much more modern sound.
- With both pickups using their inner coils, the response naturally scoops the 600 Hz–1 kHz range, making it surprisingly easy to use, somewhat like a Jazz Bass.
- With both pickups using their rear-facing coils, the bass has a very clear low end and high end, resulting in what I found to be the most balanced and modern-bass-like sound of all the configurations I tested.
That's all I found.
Conclusion
The EHB1265MS itself is a very well-designed bass in terms of its body, neck, hardware, ergonomics, etc.
However, in my opinion, the BH2 is the weak link.
If you buy an EHB1265MS, I would seriously recommend replacing the BH2 pickups with suitable replacement pickups as soon as possible.
The rest of the bass deserves better pickups.
