Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
What happened with love for Villex pickups?
- Thread starter gricko
- Start date
I am looking for... a Villex P pickup
Anyone have one to sell or know of one out there?
(ps I once had a Warwick with PJ Villex back in the day)
Anyone have one to sell or know of one out there?
(ps I once had a Warwick with PJ Villex back in the day)
Haven't seen one in a while… you could post a "wanted" add in TB classifieds
What were your impressions of that setup in the Warwick?
Good luck finding your pickup!
At the time I didn't realize it was actually great - just different. Hi-fi sound - not like a typical P + J - I think Villex aren't affected as much by pickup shape. Location did matter though - like the J sounded J, because it was where the J would be.
I have a few sets of new old stock Villex pickups. I'm getting ready to list on Reverb but figured I should check with you guys first. They come with schematics for mid control and three band control. I was building at the time and one of his first customers. He didn't want to share that at the time
I have
1-MM4 $175
1-J set $200.
5-5 String sets $300
Plus shipping
Last edited:
Could you clarify what this means? I have a couple of sets and I get no continuity between any of the wires - all are new if purchased years ago and never used.
I'm going to try buying the pots and wiring them up to test, but don't have the time in the near future.
i am no electrical engineer and take following w/ a grain of salt. for a deeper dive, look at alumitone patent.
so, mainstream pickup has few magnetic sticks or one rail w/ wire wrapped around them. when string made out of metal cross magnetic field they generate electricity w/ high impedance - low current and high voltage.
villex, being the second generation of principle used in alumitone pickups should look like this:
one rail with a small coil
that setup generates high current and low voltage, opposite of classic pickups, and have one more transformer that converts signal to high impedance and makes it compatible w/ guitar equipment built for
villex pickups have their own wiring schematics. apart from volume and tone, have one more pot for middle. should be available somewhere on TB and on the inter nets.
howl if you can't find it.
Hi- can you take measurements of one of the soap bars? There are a few different shape standards for 5-string soapbox bass pickups! Thanks!
for folks that have wired up a villex musicman with a mid/tone circuit, did you notice a difference in using a 50k v 100k pot for the mids pot? I'm wondering if switching pots may change the resonant peak. I find the mid control useable but also find that it sounds like I set the mids just a bit off on a Broughton RFE or pedal like that.
I've never seen a definitive answer at how the Villex midrange works. My understanding is that it incorporates a second coil in the pickup somehow but I doubt you will be able to hone in on a specific frequency just changing the pot value in a passive system like that since the coil itself is fixed. This is a quote that someone on TB got from Mr Villex regarding the interactivity of the Mid pot, and suggesting that you wouldn't be able to change the frequency without also changing the amplitude simultaneously. I suspect if anything a larger value pot will just increase the "cut" range too, but could be wrong: "Villex pickups have integrated passive magnetic circuit controlled by 50 K pot. Range is +7 db - 8 db. Frequency deviate between 750 - 820. As you cut it drops to 750 Hz and as you boost it will be around 820. Output is close to active basses. Extremely resistant to hum and buzz. Practically dead quite. I am sure you will love it!"
Might be worth a try anyway though, a 100K pot isn't a big investment.
Last edited:
I worked with William Villex in 2007-2009. I was his European distributor.
William was a genius, and (understandably) not a great businessman. He was more interested in innovating than promoting.
I did a lot of work promoting him with guitar and bass publications. I got several reviews published (most of them very good). I stopped working with William after 2 years. It was a combination of personal circumstances and his unwillingness to invest in promotion. I was hoping he would do well without me, as he'd have the brand awareness I created without me as a middleman.
Without me there to drive retail buyers, William concentrated on luthier collaborations. His biggest collab was with Chapman Stick.
Unfortunately, William worked alone and did not pass his tech to anybody. He relied on trade secrets and never fully disclosed his technology. Perhaps in the future, some inquisitive mind can reverse engineer his tech.
William was a genius, and (understandably) not a great businessman. He was more interested in innovating than promoting.
I did a lot of work promoting him with guitar and bass publications. I got several reviews published (most of them very good). I stopped working with William after 2 years. It was a combination of personal circumstances and his unwillingness to invest in promotion. I was hoping he would do well without me, as he'd have the brand awareness I created without me as a middleman.
Without me there to drive retail buyers, William concentrated on luthier collaborations. His biggest collab was with Chapman Stick.
Unfortunately, William worked alone and did not pass his tech to anybody. He relied on trade secrets and never fully disclosed his technology. Perhaps in the future, some inquisitive mind can reverse engineer his tech.
I've read the patent and had a think about it, but I'm not sure I've got it right, and don't have the time to dedicate to reverse engineering it without notes. I wonder if this was because he lived in the USSR like some of my family and consequently kept things very close to his chest.
I don't believe William ever patented any of the work he did by himself. The patents his name is in were collaborations with other people. On the one hand, he wanted to keep things a trade secret, and on the other he lacked the ability to finish a boring task like filing a patent by himself; he'd much rather invent something new.
I remember William came up with MK2 for his pickups which were giving a much higher output while remaining passive. They didn't do so well commercially because his standard pickups were already in that niche. It would be very interesting to locate a few of these pickups, for the future.
if somebody who experimented w/ mid pot values could chime?
it goes like this
• wiring schematics i got from mr. villex after purchase of his pickups states A50K value for mid pot
• pots that were delivered w/ pickups had value of A100K
• i had lately purchased some NOS pickups and the pot seller sent me had value of B50K
i have a case of mild OCD and would be a bit restless for a minute if at least did not ask for others opinion/experience - does it really in this case make any difference 100K, 50K... logarithmic or linear...?
some might ask why would not i, myself, re-solder and test pots w/ different values that i already have on hand....
electronic cavities in my instruments that have villex pickups are the smaller kind, each pickup has his own chain, i use orange drops caps that are somehow large - it would take some time to disassemble/reassemble that mess....
much obliged
