Yes it does. The point is that i want a simpler more user friendly system delivered by the people who make pickups. Im suprised to see that so many here prefer the old soldering and screws system..when it really should be upgraded.
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Why do i have to solder when changing pickups?
- Thread starter odin70
- Start date
Yes it does. The point is that i want a simpler more user friendly system delivered by the people who make pickups. Im suprised to see that so many here prefer the old soldering and screws system..when it really should be upgraded.
scotch
It's not rocket science!
- Nov 12, 2006
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I like solder and screws just fine. It works reliably. As novel and "fun" as quick change snap-in pickups would be, I'm just not gonna find it that useful. Swapping out pickups only takes me 10-15 minutes as it is. As mentioned before, on a session I don't want to detune to experiment. Having instrument options is far more attractive.
That's not all to say that your idea isn't good, simply that it has been tried before (in various versions) and didn't catch on. Why would a succesful pickup company invest in a technology that has not proved viable in the past? Even EMG's quick-connect harness is by no means ubiquitous.
If you want this type of a system developed, it will likely start with you!
That's not all to say that your idea isn't good, simply that it has been tried before (in various versions) and didn't catch on. Why would a succesful pickup company invest in a technology that has not proved viable in the past? Even EMG's quick-connect harness is by no means ubiquitous.
If you want this type of a system developed, it will likely start with you!
If you want this type of a system developed, it will likely start with you!
Im afraid you are right
But im convinced that if it became "the standard" people would have loved it and would never look back.
People would first have to love the idea for it to become the standard though, and evidently they don't, for the most part.
scotch
It's not rocket science!
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I still like the whole electronics package/pickup type swap system. Still, I would be highly unlikely to purchase even that.
From a technical standpoint it's interesting and even useful to some degree.
Commercially though, it's a dead duck. I wouldn't buy it, for more sounds I'd rather spend the money on more basses and more effects. I like to think I'm usually a quite normal consumer in terms of what I like.
Commercially though, it's a dead duck. I wouldn't buy it, for more sounds I'd rather spend the money on more basses and more effects. I like to think I'm usually a quite normal consumer in terms of what I like.
Absolutely not if it made people buy three, four, five times as many pickups as they do now.
You think people might do that, I don't think enough people will. I also think there is the problem of designing a bass that people will like, you'd probably have to make some design compromises for the pickup switching system. If it's too clunky looking it will turn people away. It will also inevitably be more expensive than a regular bass, which again will turn a lot of people away.
It would be interesting to hear what pickup and instrument manufacturers' marketing people think - my bet is they would agree with my gut feeling on this, but there's no way to know for sure. Maybe you could send off some emails and see if someone cares to respond?
It would be interesting to hear what pickup and instrument manufacturers' marketing people think - my bet is they would agree with my gut feeling on this, but there's no way to know for sure. Maybe you could send off some emails and see if someone cares to respond?
I think you think i think you think i think you think that this clearly doesnt lead to anything
Thanks for the interest
...reeeaaally ?
Do y'all pay for studio time? You think the engineer(s) would put the meter on hold while you swap electronics? Multiple basses are the way to go, at least in this era.
This works great for Gillette cartridges and the reason is - they are more or less compatible. Good luck motivating luthiers to accept a standard on pickup interchangeability. The immediate result will be people buying more pickups but less basses.
Also - the point of the screws and soldering is that it is very, very secure. I wouldn't want the thought of my pickups falling out during a gig in the back of my mind. No thanks.
Here are a few observations.....
Marketing - There just isn't a market for this. I'm going to lump this in with the "Why doesn't Fender offer a five string J bass with wide string spacing in purple burst African stinkwood?" If there were a market for it, I assure you, it would be out there. I am a capitalist. Many corporations run on the capitalist system. Profit is good. If there were any profit in it, somebody would be doing it. Also, Ampeg and others have tried it on guitars and basses. Amp companies have tried the "modular" approach to amps, allowing you to swap out preamp sections and even power sections (Randall and Markbass come to mind first). None of these things sold/sell well. If they did, everybody would be on the bandwagon.
This would also require MASSIVE cooperation between companies. Let's just say a major pickup manufacturer released a system like you describe. We'll go with Duncan because it's easy. For this to take off worldwide, EMG, Bartolini, Nordy, and everybody else would have to adopt "The Duncan System" for it to be accepted. Why? Because people like you would not be satisfied with only being able to swap Duncan pickups. These companies are not any more likely to do this than Ford is to start building engines in a way that will accept Chevy transmissions. (Yes, I had to get a car analogy in there.)
Electronics - Pickups have impedance. Not every pickup will work (well anyway) with the rest of the components in the system.
Then there is the issue of wiring in parallel, series, coil splitting, etc. It would be impossible (or at the very least impractical) for the rest of the chain to be wired in a way that all of these options would be available.
Also, I would argue that a solder (done by someone who knows that they are doing) is a MUCH better connection than ANY PLUG. The plug can come unplugged. It can get dirty causing a bad connection. It is just one more thing that can, and will, go wrong. (And, again, EVERY pickup company would have to adopt a standard plug, or at least make adapters, which would be ANOTHER thing that could go wrong).
Lest we forget that pickups are but ONE COMPONENT in your signal chain. So, if you are playing on your modular P pickup, and then you swap out to your modular mudbucker pickup, suddenly your amp is going to sound COMPLETELY different, both in tone and volume. I am also a sound guy. You would drive me NUTS if you did that all night. I am already chasing 47 pedals, 6 or more channels, various boosts, and various pickup selections and tuning with your two (or more) guitar players. That's all I need is one more fader to ride all night.
Plus, your AMP is part of the tone as well. Are you going to switch to a vintage Acoustic amp for your Jaco song, and then to an SVT for the next song, and maybe an 80's GK for an older RHCP song? That would be dumb too.
And in the studio, you have nothing but time. You can bring 50 basses with you and record every track on each bass if you like. So I don't see this as useful in the studio either.
"Douche move" - OK, recently there have been a string of "douche move" threads. Honestly, if I were at a show and saw some guy play "Mustang Sally", and then reach back on top of his amp and grab his "Zepplin" pickup and snap it in for one song, only to reach back and grab his "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" pickup for the next song, I would be laughing my %$$ off! Almost as much as I would if you brought FIVE basses to a live show. Guy, in a live mix, it really just doesn't make that much difference. You have dumped a metric TON of self importance on yourself if you think ANYONE cares that you didn't nail the mudbucker tone in that Cream song.
Short recap.
Marketing - There's no money in it or somebody would have done it. And all those manufacturers aren't going to cooperate to come up with a standard system.
Electronics - It is NOT as good as solder and is more likely to "go bad". It doesn't take into account the rest of the chain on your bass or the vast number of options people like you would want to have available from a wiring standpoint.
"Douche move" - Live, it's just plain silly to think that a sound guy wants to chase you all night or that the audience gives a crap whether or not you nail every tone. He doesn't and they don't.
(*sigh* Here's the part where I have to explain that this is just my opinion and that I don't hate anybody or think anybody is stupid. Unwad panties please. Here, I'll throw in some smiley face doohickies to help ease the tension
)
Marketing - There just isn't a market for this. I'm going to lump this in with the "Why doesn't Fender offer a five string J bass with wide string spacing in purple burst African stinkwood?" If there were a market for it, I assure you, it would be out there. I am a capitalist. Many corporations run on the capitalist system. Profit is good. If there were any profit in it, somebody would be doing it. Also, Ampeg and others have tried it on guitars and basses. Amp companies have tried the "modular" approach to amps, allowing you to swap out preamp sections and even power sections (Randall and Markbass come to mind first). None of these things sold/sell well. If they did, everybody would be on the bandwagon.
This would also require MASSIVE cooperation between companies. Let's just say a major pickup manufacturer released a system like you describe. We'll go with Duncan because it's easy. For this to take off worldwide, EMG, Bartolini, Nordy, and everybody else would have to adopt "The Duncan System" for it to be accepted. Why? Because people like you would not be satisfied with only being able to swap Duncan pickups. These companies are not any more likely to do this than Ford is to start building engines in a way that will accept Chevy transmissions. (Yes, I had to get a car analogy in there.)
Electronics - Pickups have impedance. Not every pickup will work (well anyway) with the rest of the components in the system.
Then there is the issue of wiring in parallel, series, coil splitting, etc. It would be impossible (or at the very least impractical) for the rest of the chain to be wired in a way that all of these options would be available.
Also, I would argue that a solder (done by someone who knows that they are doing) is a MUCH better connection than ANY PLUG. The plug can come unplugged. It can get dirty causing a bad connection. It is just one more thing that can, and will, go wrong. (And, again, EVERY pickup company would have to adopt a standard plug, or at least make adapters, which would be ANOTHER thing that could go wrong).
Lest we forget that pickups are but ONE COMPONENT in your signal chain. So, if you are playing on your modular P pickup, and then you swap out to your modular mudbucker pickup, suddenly your amp is going to sound COMPLETELY different, both in tone and volume. I am also a sound guy. You would drive me NUTS if you did that all night. I am already chasing 47 pedals, 6 or more channels, various boosts, and various pickup selections and tuning with your two (or more) guitar players. That's all I need is one more fader to ride all night.
Plus, your AMP is part of the tone as well. Are you going to switch to a vintage Acoustic amp for your Jaco song, and then to an SVT for the next song, and maybe an 80's GK for an older RHCP song? That would be dumb too.
And in the studio, you have nothing but time. You can bring 50 basses with you and record every track on each bass if you like. So I don't see this as useful in the studio either.
"Douche move" - OK, recently there have been a string of "douche move" threads. Honestly, if I were at a show and saw some guy play "Mustang Sally", and then reach back on top of his amp and grab his "Zepplin" pickup and snap it in for one song, only to reach back and grab his "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" pickup for the next song, I would be laughing my %$$ off! Almost as much as I would if you brought FIVE basses to a live show. Guy, in a live mix, it really just doesn't make that much difference. You have dumped a metric TON of self importance on yourself if you think ANYONE cares that you didn't nail the mudbucker tone in that Cream song.
Short recap.
Marketing - There's no money in it or somebody would have done it. And all those manufacturers aren't going to cooperate to come up with a standard system.
Electronics - It is NOT as good as solder and is more likely to "go bad". It doesn't take into account the rest of the chain on your bass or the vast number of options people like you would want to have available from a wiring standpoint.
"Douche move" - Live, it's just plain silly to think that a sound guy wants to chase you all night or that the audience gives a crap whether or not you nail every tone. He doesn't and they don't.
(*sigh* Here's the part where I have to explain that this is just my opinion and that I don't hate anybody or think anybody is stupid. Unwad panties please. Here, I'll throw in some smiley face doohickies to help ease the tension
)
Upgraded?
The reason it's not been "upgraded" is because it's almost foolproof. Unless you take off your pickguard and yank your volume pots around or don't tighten the nuts on them in the pickguard, it's secure and safe. You won't have to worry about them suddenly coming unsoldered during a gig, or the connection breaking. Plastic connectors can crack, come loose, or break, especially if they're made from inferior, weaker plastics.
Also, it is much easier for me to yank wires out of the connector while trying to pull connectors apart than it is to break wires soldered to pot lugs...the pot lugs give out before the connection does.
scotch
It's not rocket science!
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As someone who makes about a third of his income from studio sessions, I'd say this is typically reversed! Studio time is EXPENSIVE time! Unless you're Dave Grohl and have your own studio, or are a similar scale artist with six figures to burn, you need to get sounds pretty darn quickly & no one is going to want to to take time for the bassist to dial in a sound. Honesty, bass is usually given the least amount of studio time in commercial sessions!
If you have to take time to change a string or even patch in a pedal - producers and engineers get grumpy! I've recorded in NY, LA and most regularly here in Nashville (admittedly, this is the worst in Nashville). Nobody is taking time time for the bassist to compare pickups.
I don't mean to shoot down the op's idea. A lot of great ideas went against the current at first! But, I think 'pickup swap convenience' is probably only an issue for a very, very small set of folks!
This is a fantastic point and brings "trademarks" to mind. It's like NBC with their "peacock feather" emblem and the bell sounds they used to use. It's something they use, but if say CBS were to turn around and adopt that logo, only inverted, less feathers, different colors, they can still get a sued for using what is trademarked by another entity. And a trademark doesn't HAVE to be on the books to be eligible for a lawsuit like copyright and patents.
It's the same idea here, if Duncan were to come out with a modular pickup system that uses one clip connector, then EMG wants to come up with something else, but they end up using the same clip connector that Duncan uses from either the same supplier, or they make their own in-house. Doesn't matter where it comes from, Duncan has already trademarked it by using it first, so they can easily turn around and sue EMG for using their trademark. So now EMG has to turn around and use a DIFFERENT connector that won't interchange with Duncan. Then you have to do 1 of 2 things:
A) Pray that EMG sells an adapter harness to adapt EMG modular pickups to Duncan's connectors.
B) Cut off the adapter and solder/wire the EMG to a Duncan one (Assuming they're pickups of the same type with the same amount of leads and guess what? You STILL have to solder with what was supposed to be a solderless system)
Kind of like EMG Actives having to have 25K or 50K pots instead of 250K-1M pots. That's something I completely forgot about.
I have the DiMarzio pre-wired assembly and it doesn't require soldering to change pickups. Just a small flathead screwdriver to attach the pickup leads to the pots.
