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Transparent Sounding Pickups

#21
I recently took possession of a Valenti Verrazzano with a pair of EMG "original recipe" J pickups... and they sound tremendously good = incredibly clear, tight, clean and slightly scooped. There's not much single-coil-ish "ring" to an EMG pickup. And like all EMGs I've played, they're dead-nuts quiet. I love 'em but I'm not sure if I would describe their sound as "transparent" as no matter which EMGs I've tried, they all have a specific tone. Victor Wooten through the yin-yang bass is what I would call the "EMG sound."

I've found the Nordstrand preamps (the 2b and the 3b) and have found them to be very clear, very honest with little coloring. In comparison, the Sadowsky onboard preamp is very modern = punchy and scooped with available treble and bass boost that is mindblowing. Even with the treble and bass set flat, it's not hard to pick out a Sadowsky preamp in a blind test. People have noted for years, the Sadowsky pre is "the Marcus Miller sound" and I agree -- it's a lovely sound. I have basses with the Nordy pre and basses with the Sadowsky pre -- both preamps sound great but they're two distinctly different flavors.

If you really want to hear the woods and pickups on your bass and go for what I would consider "transparent," try a Nordy preamp... just make sure you're familiar with the sounds of the components on your bass ahead of time because that's what you're gonna get.

Alessandro Cruz said:
EMG J-Set
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#23
tb-player said:
Interesting how many recommendations for EMG. I’ve always found them to significantly color the sound of a bass. YMMV.

For transparency, look at Aero pickups. I have them in 2 basses, both with passive electronics, and they have THE most organic tone I’ve heard. The tone of the wood really shines thru. Spectacular pickups!
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Is that like "organic carrots"? You can't tell any difference in taste but feel better about them because "organic" is in the name and you paid more? BTW. The fed does not regulate the use of the term "organic" as it applies to food. Nor have any of the audio standards entities, AES/EBU for instance, agreed on, nay perhaps never even discussed, what it means in audio.
 
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#25
TawodiDalonige said:
I am in the process of planning a Warmoth 5 string build. I am looking for suggestions for pickups. Proposed body construction right now is Swamp Ash body with Rosewood top and Birdseye maple neck and fingerboard.

I want something that is transparent and emphasizes clarity. I’m looking for those bell like overtones and that piano like clarity. I want the pickup to add as little “color” to the sound as possible.

Pickup routing sizes can be the following:
Bartolini P2
EMG40
MM5
Jazz
P5

Thanks in advance for your suggestions.
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Jazz pickups

Fralin standards


It's pretty darn impossible to get any sort of transparency out of anything that's not a straight single coil.

Combining coils, experimenting with power sources, and altering composition is what sets each pickup apart. By changing these aspets, you color pickups.

Standard single coils are raw.

And fralins are the best.
 
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#26
tb-player said:
Interesting how many recommendations for EMG. I’ve always found them to significantly color the sound of a bass. YMMV.

For transparency, look at Aero pickups. I have them in 2 basses, both with passive electronics, and they have THE most organic tone I’ve heard. The tone of the wood really shines thru. Spectacular pickups!
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Word

He says transparent, but then goes on to say they're scooped, and buffered.
 
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#28
tb-player said:
Interesting how many recommendations for EMG. I’ve always found them to significantly color the sound of a bass. YMMV.

For transparency, look at Aero pickups. I have them in 2 basses, both with passive electronics, and they have THE most organic tone I’ve heard. The tone of the wood really shines thru. Spectacular pickups!
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I never felt like EMG's were "coloring" the sound in any way. And I had/have different versions of them. Currently, the J-Set, and now JAX.

I believe "coloring" is more likely a preamp thing. I can say that because I have one bass with EMG J and EMG BQC System, the other bass is EMG JAX and Audere Classic 4-Band.

I mean, there's a LOT of EMG versions, like humbuckers, Alnico 5, Ceramic-Steel, X-Series preamp, traditional preamp...

In my opinion, they're extremely quiet, have the right amount of bottom end and brightness, and for my needs, they're just perfect. I tried many pickups before with my main bass, I'll name it: Dimarzio Area-J, MEC Gold, and lately the Delano JC5-HE. And I always went back to the EMG's.

Don't get me wrong, all of these pickups I tried are great, not a single doubt about it. It's just a matter of preference.
 
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#31
My soapbar-equipped basses (Roscoes) have typically had Bartolinis, but for a time had one with Aguilar DCB pickups. To my ear they sounded super-clean, same ballpark as EMGs - deep lows, crisp highs, growly-yet-clear mids. I prefer the Barts for that reason - the color they impart is part of the tone I prefer. You might love the DCB's though.
 
#33
Anyone want to offer a verifiable and repeatable definition of "transparent tone"?....:D "Transparent" can also mean "no personality/character", so be careful what one wishes for....

Audere is what I think of when I think "transparent" or "uncolored" tone from a preamp. Nordstrand as well.

I don't know what I'd call the Fralins I just had rewound and installed in my Lull M5V. But I love the Jazz tone they make. And my John East J Retro definitely has a bit of baked-in tone that I love as well.

So after all the subjectiveness that is rampant in such decisions, I would plan on spending some money and buying several pickup sets and preamps and try them to see what works. And take a few weeks for auditioning the various combinations. The ones that aren't used can be sold.

These aren't choices I'd necessarily make, but based on my experiences with various pups and preamps, Nordstrand single-coil Jazz pups and Nordstrand or Audere preamps come to mind.

Oh, I almost forgot, I bought an ESP LTD fretless bass and installed Nordstrand Big Rig pickups and a Nordstrand preamp and this made for a very clear, very open, and what I'd call "transparent" tone that I still like and use. I recently tracked with this bass on a tune (my first fretless bass track) and it was very well-received.
 
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#34
I was on a similar quest over the last few years and landed on Joe Barden (JBE) pickups. Clarity was exactly what Joe's mission was when he developed his initial designs, decades ago. Super happy with them, to the point of where I now have their Rickenbacker replacement set AND the 50's Precision size pickup in my '62 Gibson EB-0. They are passive pickups so they don't require a preamp, though I have paired mine with two JTEX Distiller low pass filter preamps, it's an incredible machine.
 
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#37
i'd rec barts for 'clean', and laces for 'clean fender-ish'. emgs for 'emg'...i.m.e. emgs sound pretty much the same no matter what bass you put them on 8-)

so the pickup is like the microphone for the instrument; you may need to experiment to find the right 'mic' for your bass and the tone in your head ...
 
#38
LoveThatBass said:
Lace Alumitone Bass Bars very transparent, piano and bell like tone with a flat even response with clean sounding, and have good output! The lows are nice, articulate, mids nice and highs sweet. Absolutely the quietest pickups you will every hear. These are newer technology unlike anything you have seen or heard.
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I sure as heck hope so as I have EMG40 and 45 pairs to add into a couple of my basses. The 45's will be going int the Ibanez 6, but I haven't decided what the 40s will be put into yet.
 
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#39
I hate when people come into my threads and dispute my question instead of answering it. So I offer this sheepishly.

Seems to me that most identifiable bass guitar sound profiles are what they are because the pickups add character, versus not adding it. "This bass has a great Jazz bass growl". "Nothing else sounds like a Stingray." "I want that buttery P bass tone." All of that is color provided by the pickups, either inadvertently or deliberately.

It might be easier for the OP to describe a comparable bass tone he wants to target.
 
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#40
I didn’t intend for my question to spark so much debate. I can totally understand how the term transparent could be so subjective. I guess that was the best way for me to describe what I’m trying to achieve. I’m trying to faithfully reproduce the interplay between the strings and the wood without the pickups themselves changing that tone dramatically. I guess a better way to describe it would be that I want a pickup that has a naturally flat EQ? This bass will have an active preamp so I can add what I want or subtract what I don’t but I’d like to start with a even playing field, so to speak. Maybe what I want to hear in my head is more so because of EQ adjustments but I would think it easier to muddy up a clean and clear sounding pickup than it would be to clean up a muddy pickup? Maybe I’m fighting the natural characteristics of the electric bass?

I didn’t mean to make this so complicated.
 

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