Pickups - Wich?

[gasserx]

So, i think i need some schooling on pickups?

I know they sound different, and i know they look different.
- Lets say if i would have a custom bass made? How do i decide wich ones suits my style of music best without testing a bunch. What style/size and number of pickups do i choose?
I play punk, rock and hardrock 90% of the time. Sometimes also a few softer songs... but they dont count

What to choose ? I know its a lot about personal preferences, but i need a starting point.

 

[RIP]

So, i think i need some schooling on pickups?

I know they sound different, and i know they look different.
- Lets say if i would have a custom bass made? How do i decide wich ones suits my style of music best without testing a bunch. What style/size and number of pickups do i choose?
I play punk, rock and hardrock 90% of the time. Sometimes also a few softer songs... but they dont count

What to choose ? I know its a lot about personal preferences, but i need a starting point.

Hate to say it but a lot of it is trial and error, listening to samples (i.e. YouTube), word of mouth etc....

Remember what may work for me or others might not work for you......

But I would say for Punk, look at what some of the punk bassist are using and start there.....my first guess would be EMG's

 

[gasserx]

I kind of new that would be the answer..hehe.
If i do this, i would like it to be kind of my allround punk/rock/hardrock bass. But i will look into EMG`s.
I play the same kind of style music today with my Warwick Streamer with MEC`s, and that works too...

 

[Stainless]

Double Precision Pickups, passive
I actually only dislike EMG Pickups and would say Seymour Duncan, Bassculture, Häussel or MECs.

 

[Rehan]

So, i think i need some schooling on pickups? I know they sound different, and i know they look different...

What to choose ? I know its a lot about personal preferences, but i need a starting point.

You may find this thread helpful:

 

[Nightmaresandconclusions]

just put in some passive Delano's and you will be happy.

MEC and lifeless, EMG are sterile, never tried Barts but have Delano quad or dual coils in most of my basses.

 

[Rehan]

Remember what may work for me or others might not work for you......

What to choose ? I know its a lot about personal preferences...

Exactly! Based on other people's experiences you can get an idea of how certain pickups sound but ultimately you have to try the ones that seem interesting to you and hear them for yourself to make the call. For example Nightmaresandconclusions hears MEC pickups to be lifeless, yet for the tone/sound that I currently prefer, MEC Gold P & J pickups are my favorite pickups out of all the ones mentioned so far. That is why it's nice that there are so many flavors available as different flavors appeal to different players. You just need to try a few that interest you and pick your favorite flavor.

 

[DiMarco]

Divide choices into groups. Use parameters such as warmth, hi-fi, trebbly, boomy (overwounds usually are) based on marketing info and specs. It is kinda like an elimination system.

Then when you end up with just two or three choices ask around about those specific pickup on multiple forums like tb and bc.

This will turn from a guess into an educated guess into a well made choice.

Don't forget the fact on forums most people will just tell you what they have when you ask for a good pickup. Those "advices" are completely useless.

 

[Nightmaresandconclusions]

just put in some passive Delano's and you will be happy.

MEC and lifeless, EMG are sterile, never tried Barts but have Delano quad or dual coils in most of my basses.

Note this is from my experiences and preference, Sound is so subjective, my amazing could = your worst etc

 

[RIP]

Note this is from my experiences and preference, Sound is so subjective, my amazing could = your worst etc

Yep, can't tell you how many times I've been disappointed with recommendations.....on the other hand, I can't tell you how many times I was more than happy with recommendations.

I think that goes for just about everyone though

 

[Gnermo]

My favourites are DiMarzio Model J and Model P's in fretted basses.

 

[gasserx]

Thanks a lot for your kind input guys.
I think i must research more by trying different instruments. I know its different opinions for each person and each bass.
My main concern is wich kind of routing to choose, not a particular brand of pickups.
The luthier im in touch with has built a few basses with dual Seymour Duncan humbuckers, and i think he is trying to borrow one of them so that i can try.
I have different basses with different pickups in all of them, but i kind of like them all, and they are tweakable to some point together with amp-settings and boxes.
If i could have a mix of two pickups that gave me "everything", i would choose them for sure

 

[Dazed]

Remember it is not only the pickup used but where it is fitted. Pickup location has a huge impact on the tone it provides.

Perfect world scenario would be 2 quad coils that slide from bridge to fretboard, each wired into its own 5 way switch! ....... then again maybe just a single passive P bass pickup is perfect....

 

[jester]

Remember it is not only the pickup used but where it is fitted. Pickup location has a huge impact on the tone it provides.

Perfect world scenario would be 2 quad coils that slide from bridge to fretboard, each wired into its own 5 way switch! ....... then again maybe just a single passive P bass pickup is perfect....

How would one go about wiring them? I mean, what does the switch do in each position?

 

[Dazed]

Well something like Neck J / Bridge J / P / Reverse P / Musicman.

See attached file.

There’s loads of theories and talk on various forums but I’m still looking for sound clips of this type of configuration. I don’t know whether anyone has been able to get the volumes to balance across the different setups and stay hum free.


Sims Super Quad system has been out there for some time and has good feedback. These use a 3 way switch for P/J/MM and seem to have sorted out the volume drop issue when changing from one mode to another.

 

[jester]

That guy (gal?) can groove like a mf. Very nice tones too, loved the red mode.

 

[Dazed]

Yep that person(?) can play!

The Enfield demo videos they have done, sound to me at least, much better than Sims own official demos.

 

[Marcoelwray]

Thanks a lot for your kind input guys.
I think i must research more by trying different instruments. I know its different opinions for each person and each bass.
My main concern is wich kind of routing to choose, not a particular brand of pickups.
The luthier im in touch with has built a few basses with dual Seymour Duncan humbuckers, and i think he is trying to borrow one of them so that i can try.
I have different basses with different pickups in all of them, but i kind of like them all, and they are tweakable to some point together with amp-settings and boxes.
If i could have a mix of two pickups that gave me "everything", i would choose them for sure

In fact they exists….

DELANO THE XTENDER 4 HE

But they are so ugly.

But when I hears "punk, rock and hard-rock", I think "split coil" ….