Neither can I. My main basses are Ric 4003s, which have 2 Ric single coil pickups. That’s what’s the most useful for me.
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What pickup configuration/tone do you find most useful?
- Thread starter FatOwlBass
- Start date
The back pickup (yes it really is a BACK pickup) allows this thing to use only single coil pickups, yet have two distinct modes that are both fully hum cancelling. One is a J mode - with both front pickups up full. The other involves the back pickup as part of the circuit - that mode gives you a blend with the neck favored - it's literally halfway between a neck only (P) sound and a J. And no, you can't get the same sound with a blend control - the fact that pickups are highly reactive (not resistive) means you need a reactive combining network, and the back pickup is precisely that nd it is part of the hum canceellation for that mode. I have the two modes loaded differently, so the pots are a volume control and a tone control for each mode.
To me, a straight up neck only (P bass) sound has a bit too much low mids. While I like the regular J sound, it doesn't work for every tune (it's too scooped in some situations). I need something in between, and this (it took years of experiments to get here) is it. At least until my next idea....
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That's very clever. So I assume it is passive, since I do not see a battery box? I like it.
This is my thinking too, and it's why I went for the 4H Stingray instead of the 4HH.
You are correct, it's the reason I almost never use the active settings on my active basses. My SR has so many options, and I usually end up just passive and on the neck p'up. I can do more with my fingers anyway, and choice of where I play.
Well...
I suppose it depends on your definition of "useful". If it means the bass I could play the most music - that I like to play - and sound anywhere from "like it was originally recorded/performed on stage with" to sounds good/cuts thru the mix/ blah blah blah"...? That would have to be my '78 Fender P-Bass - with the mute in it's bridge cover, over flats that duplicate the original flats it came with. Or it's "Mini-Me" clone; a Warmoth Mini-Precision that's 2.5 lbs. lighter, and that my back can tolerate for considerably longer than the Fender, now that I'm almost 74...
Or, do you mean simply "how do I configure my basses (and I have a lot of them)" to give me the tone I want to use"? In that case...
- Dual pickups? I mostly crank the neck pickup to 11; flavor it to taste with the bridge pickup; and crank the tone up to about 8/10's. Or, sometimes I just crank both pickups up the same - usually about 8/10's - and do the same with the tone knob.
-Single pickup, non-Fenders? Depends on the bass. The G&L Kiloton lined fretless? Switch in the center, P-Bass" position - and run it like a P-Bass. The Guild Starfire I? Both volume and tone wide open. The Jack Casady Bass? Switch at the "250" setting; volume and tone at 9/10's.
The one dual pickup bass that does not fit the above description, is the EBMM 4HH Stingray Special. Of the 5 switch positions, I mainly use the 1, 3, and 5. And, depending on the switch position? I fiddle around with the tone/volume controls - a lot. I like to play what I like to play, on a bass that was used to play it originally - or on a bass that's as close as a lefty can come. The 4HH? I bought it because I... just wanted one; because there was a specific spot for one in my "Herd"; and because they made me wait a long damn time before I could get one. So, more than any of the other 26 basses I own? It's a fun toy to play with...
I find the active EQ is mostly a substitute for the amp's EQ, at least in my use case. I have no need for both so one just stays flat.
I know I can get more boost out my basses active EQ than I can out of my amp's but it's not worth fiddling with it. I can get more out of my fingers. Mostly I play a fairly dark tone so it's just a matter of inches either way?
I pretty much play With a flat EQ on the amp, though I have the low bass down at 9 o'clock, since I'm in an apartment. I'm old and considerate now. I remember in the old days, college, borrowing a friend's mini-Moog synth and laying a beach towel on the floor, playing with the waveform settings on the Moog and my 18" speaker on Road 440 amp (300watts) at full volume, cranking up the bass on EQ at amp and getting the towel to actually form a wave off the floor. Yeah, I was in an apartment then too, but it was a STUDENT apartment.
I was taking a "Physics of Music" class at the Music School, so considered it an "experiment."
Ah the old days....
I have a 90’s PBj with BVT controls. For best results, volume and tone controls wide open. From there I modify the EQ, with a slight boost at about 165 hz, the is set at flat with the tone controls on my amp. Our sound guy handles the FOH from my pre-effects send to the board for the PA. On stage it is clear and articulate and sits in the mix at lower volumes. In the house, the sound guy has full control. From what I can tell, I’m really happy with how I sound on stage and since nobody is throwing bricks at me, I guess the house is good as well.
I like the tone I get with single coil Jazzes . I've had basses with all kinds of other pickups and the Jazz pickups just work better for what I want to hear . I play them with both pickups close to full volume so I don't get much if any buzzing .
I tune in D standard. I like simplicity when it comes to controls and pickups. My main bass, this Aria SB1000, has just one pickup of course. It looks more complicated with its chickenhead switch, but I perpetually leave it on the highest/trebly setting. And tone all the way up. Basically nothing to mess with. I use my dual sansamps to adjust everything else, never touching the controls on my bass.
I approach it where I let the bass tell me what it sounds like, never thought of preferring this or that pickup/tone network choice, nor would I approach it that way.
You’re not right, and yet you’re not entirely wrong. If you jack the mix by experimenting too much, that’s not a good thing, but there’s nothing indecisive about having a couple of different sounds at your disposal.
I play J-basses and a G&L M-2500, which has dual humbuckers. I find them equally useful in rock bands, so I couldn't pick one for a vote, but the G&L has a much wider tonal range, and in that sense is more versatile. However, that's due to the three-band EQ as much as the pickups themselves.
Please explain to me the dual sans-amp arrangement. I don't think I've ever seen that before?
Basically it’s like Geddy Lee’s 2112 rack mount, having two seperate XLR outs. So one channel on the sound board handles cleaner low end with more scooped mids, and the other channel handles more treble/boosted mids and distortion. It allows for more flexibility when it comes to the mixing process, and also you can achieve tones you wouldn’t be able to otherwise.
If two soundboard channels aren’t available, I still have two excellent SansAmps at my fingertips, and can easily dial in a good usable tone with just one if I have to, then use the second SansAmp to drive an onstage amp or FRFR speaker to hear myself and be able to dial in a stage sound without affecting my PA sound. There’s a few ways I can run this rig
If a guitarist wants to sit in on a song, they can also plug into my Para Driver in a pinch!
