Victory Gold Foil Pickups (surface mount)

[Nebula24]

Searched but didnt find a post about them...

So a while ago modded my epi eb0 w reissue guild bisonic. Happy but my modmind has been on lookout for a bridge pickup preferably minimal routing (i lack skills and asking local stores gave me no confidence).

Came across victory gold foil pickups on reverb (available lots of colors). Small enough to fit under strings and surface mount so no routing besides hiding wiring. On their FB they has 1 vid of bass with it but not any more. Sounded good.

Ordered and requested it potted. Got it in about 2 weeks including shipping. So far just playing with placement but like its sound for 1/2 cost of my bisonic. Thinking of middle position placement so far. Need it a few mm off wood (about pickguard height) yet not too close or get excessive harmonics (best way to explain it). My unused bisonic pickup ring works great as test ramp to move pickup around and play. Surface mount does make it trickier to balance e and g strings (a and d always good). But got it sloped higher on g and sounds good now.

So far happy with purchase. I still need to temp add switch to play with mix and if doesnt mix well still happy switching between 2 different sounds. Running cable out back cavity and around to front until i get switch installed in cavity (tight fit) or add cavity under pickguard.

More moddy side of brain wants to try victory at neck and move bisonic to middle. My chisel hand so far disagrees.

Sound sample on vox pathfinder so sadly not as bassy. But through studio 40 was rumbling (recorded badly). Weekend plan on attempting recordings again with different studio 40 presets.

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[Matt Liebenau]

I’ve seen pictures of those. They look cool. Glad it sounds good to.

 

[Nebula24]

Finally got it completed. Decided to remove tone knob as i never used it as it didnt do much. Studio40 presets works great for changing my epi eb0s tone anyway. Feel i learned a lot about wiring but still a newb at it.

Played with position a lot but it usually sounded the same. Main issue was string height. Works great on top of pickguard. Used mousepad foam on both sides to allow for some small height adjustment. Wiring went under pickguard and into neck cavity (didnt feel comfy drilling new route).

Works well with my reissue guild bisonic. Really sounds 99% the same. Just a bit more trebly but wouldn't notice unless switching back and forth. Both are single coil so guess thats why it same but expected it to be more different since they are different designs.

Ah well, my ocd mod brain would have always wondered if i never tried it. And it does add more chrome. Still a good pickup and 1/2 price of the bisonic. Happy i got it. Fit my no routing needs. So cheaper and easier than adding a 2nd bisonic

 

[leemurray]

I am going to try this also. What switch did you use, and how did you wire it?

 

[Nebula24]

Did a generic 3 way toggle switch. Wired neck only, neck + middle, middle only. Haven't had it wired in lately as later added a varitone and needed the space. Keep meaning to add switch under pickguard as cavity is full and don't think switch will fit. I might swap it for novak bass or guitar goldfoil as they are a little wider so could place it farther back. It's a good pickup but didn't sound too different from bisonic which I didn't expect due to placement and type of pickup. Hoping moving it back more will help change the sound a bit more and the victory couldn't go any farther back. But keep procrastinating on that change too.

 

[40Hz]

Nice sound from that pup!

(Looks like they’re currently only offering pickups for acoustic guitars from what I saw on their website.)

 

[Nebula24]

Just looked and reverb they offer more than their main website.

I finally decided to do it and ordered a new pickup. Went with novak h22 as it had spec so knew it would fit better (was waiting for their other bass gold foil bit never on site only media but I never emailed em to ask either).

H22 definitely fits closer to bridge. Need to run some tests before mounting to see if prefer (or can tell) nudged up to pickguard vs mounting slightly behind where I have victory on pickguards last bolt.

Now got to figure out if 3 way switch will fit cavity (don't think so) or drill into area under pickguard to fit a switch (already filed channel for pickup wire but havent dug deep enough for switch).

Busy right now so will be a slow yet wanted change. Want my eb0 finished but back on track.

Still loved the victory but feel it better fits a neck position (looks at jetsons jr but really want to keep her stock so maybe make me order retrovibe telecaster and have em swap neck pickup (dreams...))

Also $60 victory vs $200 novak. Was a great pickup for price.

 

[leemurray]

Based on your posts I tried the same thing. Got the Victory pickup. Was concerned about doing too much to the stock bass, but it really only required one extra small hole in the body to hold the bass side of the pickup. I didn’t mind putting the hole on the treble side since the pickguard is not original, and as you can see the body is well dinged up. Overall it sounds pretty good and makes it a more usable bass. The width of the pickup is barely wide enough, I feel like the E and G strings might not be getting as much since they are near the edges. I still need to do some more tweaks, may actually cut the pickguard to get the pickup lower. And put in a push/pull pot to switch between the pickups.

 

[Nebula24]

Nice idea on push pull to switch.

Looks like I forgot to update here. Finally got around to swapping to the novak h22. I pushed it about as far back as I can while still hiding wire under pickguard. Those braver could push it all the way and drill to cavity. Also got brave enough to drill under pickguard to fit my 3 way switch. Small notch in pickguard is where wire used to go for victory. Used existing screw on pickguard for placement of h22 but can't recall if it was there stick or if I scooched it down when adding victory.

I still need to play with wiring as think they are out if sync. Volume drops when together but they both sound great when individual. Much like the victory feel my bass just sounds like my bass no matter the pickup. The h22 is a smidge louder but think it's closer to seeing than my bisonic. I might fiddle with height as have riser but not in a rush. Want to play with wiring more to see if can get them playing together. But not big deal if don't.

I probably should have added 3 way switch long ago so could play more with victory and bisonic to see if really tell a difference. Don't think I would as like I said my bass sounds like my bass. Think all 3 pickups have sounded great either way.

Would like to find some other bass to add victory to at neck. Need to find a cheap that Ioves its neck to mod it.

Can't say if the change from victory to h22 is worth it for sound. Think it's more cosmetic/placement than tone/sound. I would have ended up doing it no matter what. Mod OCD.

 

[leemurray]

I notice that the H22 looks wider than the Victory. Do you think it has better coverage of the E and G strings? I feel like they might be a little less loud than the A and D strings since they are near the edge of the pickup. Also, did you get a noticeable difference in tone by moving it more towards the bridge?

 

[Matt Liebenau]

I notice that the H22 looks wider than the Victory. Do you think it has better coverage of the E and G strings? I feel like they might be a little less loud than the A and D strings since they are near the edge of the pickup. Also, did you get a noticeable difference in tone by moving it more towards the bridge?

That is one thing I’ve noticed with the Victory’s and the original gold foils I’ve got. They don’t sense off of the edges as well as most of the standard or run of the mill pickups I have.

 

[Nebula24]

Do you think it has better coverage of the E and G strings? I feel like they might be a little less loud than the A and D strings since they are near the edge of the pickup. Also, did you get a noticeable difference in tone by moving it more towards the bridge?

Definitely more coverage. H22 is wider than victory so no worries about strings being right on edge. Could scoot it back farther than I did and still have coverage.

Tonewise it really sounds same to me. And really my bisonic and h22 sound the same (and victory didnt seem to be different). H22 louder but closer to strings by a mm or so. Or if is different really small. Such different designs yet sounds same. Or maybe not close enough to bridge to be different?

Maybe when rewiring I might tape it closer to bridge and see if get difference from where I put it.

Maybe it's cuz I play with flats? I still need to play with it in my studio40 as only tried my vox vx50ba. Need to play around more to see if I can pick up differences.