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Ultra boutique P bass pickups

#121
Installed and tested a David Allen 1088 Precision pickup this morning in my LB-100. It sounds great imo.

Overall Tone is balanced and smooth. The Mid frequency response is tamer than the Rio Grande and has a lower resonant peak than the Rio Grande. It has more mids than the lollar overwound, but not the low end response of the lollar, which was expected. It also has a tad more mids than the EMG Geezer Precision pickup, but is voiced a little differently than the Geezer.

I'm going to keep this pickup installed for a while. I'm still curious how it will compare to an Arcane 65 Experience.
 

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#123
Doner Designs said:
Nordstrand should be on your list. They offer traditional poles, angled poles as well as Alnico 3 and Alnico 5 magnet choices. I think they have a blade version too - may not be out yet though.
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The first replacement Precision pickup I tested was a Nordstrand NP4. It was ok, but it had a hollow tone in my opinion. It lacked upper mid frequencies I desired.

Cary makes great pickups, preamps, and basses.
 
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#124
sheltjo6 said:
The first replacement Precision pickup I tested was a Nordstrand NP4. It was ok, but it had a hollow tone in my opinion. It lacked upper mid frequencies I desired.

Cary makes great pickups, preamps, and basses.
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My taste runs the same on the NP4, I tried it and did not care for it. I tend to love or hate pickups; love Lollar, Arcane, Aguilar (the PJ in particular is just epic, IMHO) and the Lauzon P-bass Strat pickup.
 
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#125
Laurent said:
My taste runs the same on the NP4, I tried it and did not care for it. I tend to love or hate pickups; love Lollar, Arcane, Aguilar (the PJ in particular is just epic, IMHO) and the Lauzon P-bass Strat pickup.
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These posts are giving me the desire to try the norstrand Precision pickup, the NP4. While I tend to favor of variety of different precision bass pickup sounds, I do have a soft spot for a hollow sounding P pickup. I'm just going to have to give it a try.
 
#126
Pbassmanca said:
These posts are giving me the desire to try the norstrand Precision pickup, the NP4. While I tend to favor of variety of different precision bass pickup sounds, I do have a soft spot for a hollow sounding P pickup. I'm just going to have to give it a try.
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Certainly one of the pickup one has to try, it's kind of a classic and as we all play differently, use different gear and put these pickups on different instruments, there is no way around trying them. Getting input from fellow bass players is good but it's no substitution for first hand experience.
 
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#127
Laurent said:
Certainly one of the pickup one has to try, it's kind of a classic and as we all play differently, use different gear and put these pickups on different instruments, there is no way around trying them. Getting input from fellow bass players is good but it's no substitution for first hand experience.
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Most definitely. Here's the running list of Precision Bass pickups that I "need" to test out: :help:

Klein 62' (This one's going in this week, although I've been saying that since October.....)
Klein 59'
Klein 58'
Lollar standard wind
Aguilar 64'
Norstrand NP4
Arcane 65'
Arcane 57'
Delano PC 4 Alnico
That's all I can think of for now, but I know there's a few others.......
 
#133
The Arcane 65 Experience has arrived and is installed in my LB-100. I am in agreement with Laurent, Snaxster, and anyone else who has reviewed this pickup: It has a balanced tone.

Comparison update:
Compared to the David Allen 1088, the Arcane's tone is similar except it has a tad more mid frequency response and less low frequency response than the David Allen 1088. The differences in tone are extremely subtle. Both pickups are great pickups. But, if I had to choose only one of these pickups for my P bass, I would choose the David Allen for this particular bass.

Compared to the EMG Geezer, the Arcane is not as articulate or hi-fi in tone as the Geezer, but the Arcane has a tonal character which gives it its own organic personality that I do not hear from the Geezer pickup. The Geezer's tone is more refined and processed in tone whereas the Arcane's tone is more raw and organic.

I wish I could better describe the tonal differences in words, but hearing each pickup individually is probably the best way to determine if the pickup's tonal character is to your liking or not.

In my opinion, The Arcane 65 Experience is a keeper. So are the David Allen and the Geezer pickups.
 

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#134
RBJ11 said:
I haven't, but Mr Lull says lining the cavity is sufficient.

It was for this particular set-up.

I just bought a used Lakland BG with a Curtis Novak split coil.

Don't mean to derail the thread, but in a couple of weeks I will have a Lollar/Klein/Novak split coil comparison to post.
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@RBJ11 might post this ^ comparison in the near future. I always look forward to everyone's take on the cream of the crop.....
 

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