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Ultra boutique P bass pickups

#441
franklindayala said:
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Nice playing and nice video. Many thanks for sharing this with this community.

Both pickups sound great.The Novak is a bit more edgy and mid oriented. The PV63 has more bottom and seems more reactive. I currently own this pickup in a Fender American Original 60's P bass. The secret with this pickup is to set it up a little lower than normal to tame its big bottom and hot output. The bass it's on has a big neck and a big vintage tone and this pickup works really well with that instrument. The bass has Fender flats which are also really adding to the mix.
 
#442
SickAura said:
Thanks for sharing. Great comparison.
I have and really like the PV63 but have been really curious about the Novak due to amazing reviews here.
Both of them sound great in these clips. I prefer the PV63
What is your recording setup and strings?
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Sorry. Thats not me playing. Just wanted to share the video in the thread so every one can hear it. Like a video library or something like that.
 
#444
So the other day I swapped out my SPB-1 for an SPB-4 (Steve Harris). I have an American Pro P-Bass with maple board and Dunlop stainless steel flats. I run it into a Darkglass Hyper Luminal, then into a Quilter BB 800 and Quilter 1x12 cabinet. I absolutely love the SPB-1, but was intrigued by the relatively flat EQ curve of the SPB-4 as listed on Seymour Duncan’s home page. In testing the SPB-4 I found the following:
  • The SPB-4 is definitely a hotter pickup (you’ll probably want to lower your pickup height a bit)
  • Even though the EQ curve is relatively flat it favors the lows and low mids
  • It’s definitely a darker/more dense sounding pickup that SPB-1 (to me the SPB-1 is more airy with more treble content)
  • I liked the SPB-4 more when I was playing up the fretboard, but didn’t like it as much towards the nut
  • In comparing the two I feel like I can EQ the SPB-1 to get closer to mimicking the SPB-4 than vice/versa
In conclusion, they are both excellent pickups that are extremely reasonable from a price perspective (SPB-1 is approximately $75 and the SPB-4 $85).

I definitely favor the SPB-1 as I believe it to be more versatile and provides the P-Bass tone I hear in my head. However, if you prefer less highs in a vintage style pickup, then you can’t go wrong with the SPB-4.
 
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#448
Funkdified said:
@Laurent I have a 65L I can send you for testing purposes, but would like it back as I have it in a bass I use for punk/rockabilly stuff.

It was nice to catch up on this thread as I've been busy last year buying a house and life stuff.
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That’s the over-wound version of the 65 Experience correct? I might have missed your review earlier, but what do you think of it?
 
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#449
TheCouchBassist said:
That’s the over-wound version of the 65 Experience correct? I might have missed your review earlier, but what do you think of it?
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It is the overwound version. It is supposed to be modelled after amp shops '65 L serial number numbered bass.

I'm not very articulate with words, I never reviewed it. I just install stuff and play and if I like the sound I keep it. I'm not sure if these are made anymore as they didn't seem to be a big seller.
 
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#452
Funkdified said:
It is the overwound version. It is supposed to be modelled after amp shops '65 L serial number numbered bass.

I'm not very articulate with words, I never reviewed it. I just install stuff and play and if I like the sound I keep it. I'm not sure if these are made anymore as they didn't seem to be a big seller.
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I know Laurent is a HUGE fan of the 65. I would think an over-wound version would take away some of the inherent dynamics. I’m not a huge fan of over-wound P-Bass pickups as they always seem a bit too dark for me.
 
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#453
TheCouchBassist said:
I know Laurent is a HUGE fan of the 65. I would think an over-wound version would take away some of the inherent dynamics. I’m not a huge fan of over-wound P-Bass pickups as they always seem a bit too dark for me.
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Yeah that is why it's not in a main p-bass. I know he was after a comparison so that's why I offered it up to him to run the comparison. I don't even remember what is in my main bass, lol.
 
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#455
Funkdified said:
@Laurent I have a 65L I can send you for testing purposes, but would like it back as I have it in a bass I use for punk/rockabilly stuff.

It was nice to catch up on this thread as I've been busy last year buying a house and life stuff.
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Congrats on the house! That's a big step in life and a very nice one.
Let me PM you on the 65L.
 
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#456
TheCouchBassist said:
I know Laurent is a HUGE fan of the 65. I would think an over-wound version would take away some of the inherent dynamics. I’m not a huge fan of over-wound P-Bass pickups as they always seem a bit too dark for me.
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Yes indeed. The Arcane Experience 65 is my favorite P bass pickup. I tend to agree with you with regards to an over-wound version that being said, I have been loving the Fender pure vintage 63 pickup. This pickup feels and sounds overwound to me. It's rated 12 ohms and Fender considers vintage to 10.5 ohms and anything above it is rated hot. It's mounted on a Fender AO 60's P bass which has a rather manly neck and they pair wonderfully well. It's an instrument with a big bassy tone and the pickup plays right into that.

It's one important point about pickups right here; how they pair with a specific bass has a lot to do with how they will sound. This is why you will often read contradictory opinion on pickups. Post #423 from AMJBASS is a good example of that. This gentleman has wonderful sensitivity to pickups, he's also a pro or semi-pro musician, I believe, yet we have a different opinion on a pickup. That does not mean either one of us is right or wrong, I see this as more driven by the bass and rig rather than the pickup itself. How we play also intervene in the evaluation. Lastly pickups are also inherently difficult to evaluate.
 
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#457
Great points Laurent. I think one of the biggest mistakes we make is not trying things out for ourselves. One TB’r says the SPB-1 cuts through the mix like a hot knife through butter and another TB’r says it didn’t cut through enough. One pickup I was glad you mentioned about 14 pages ago is the Fender Select P-Bass pickup. I had a Select P when they first came out it was one of the best sounding pickups I’ve come across. The funny thing was that I could never get any info out of Fender regarding what they did with that specific “specially voiced” pickup.
 
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#459
TheCouchBassist said:
Great points Laurent. I think one of the biggest mistakes we make is not trying things out for ourselves. One TB’r says the SPB-1 cuts through the mix like a hot knife through butter and another TB’r says it didn’t cut through enough. One pickup I was glad you mentioned about 14 pages ago is the Fender Select P-Bass pickup. I had a Select P when they first came out it was one of the best sounding pickups I’ve come across. The funny thing was that I could never get any info out of Fender regarding what they did with that specific “specially voiced” pickup.
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Funny you would mention the Select P bass pickup! I just mounted that pickup on a bass this evening. This pickup had been idling for about six months and it's fun to rediscover it.
 
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