Anyone having SD Basslines Soapbars ?

[Ian]

Hey chaps, just wanted to have some feedback on these pickups... What do you like or dislike with them, how they enhance (or not) the "sound of wood", their output level, etc...


I want to know it all !


Thx !

 

[NeonVomit]

My Thumb BO6 has SD Basslines. It sounds good. I haven't compared it to a Thumb with MECs so I can't really say how it's different but it certainly is nice!

 

[Ian]

Any more feedback ?

 

[Ian]

Please ? Thank you ? :roll:

 

[space]

Hey Ian, nice to see you around here too. I've just installed them today, got them from ebay with a SD active 3 way preamp for 130 $ give or take. They were new, a bargain and I was eager to try something different so I pressed buy without even thinking twice. There's a catch!! (damnit, there must be a murphy law for bargains) The pickups fit perfectly on a broadneck, they're the same size BUT the recommended width for the strings is shorter than the MEC soapbards. They sound great, they really were what I was after but beware! the B and the G string sound weaker in output compared to the others. I don't know what I'm gonna do, in fact I was just gonna open a topic about it. Hope this helps

 

[Ian]

If I understand properly, the pickups are a bit "short" to fit the broadneck width, which causes the B and G strings to be a bit "out" of the magnetic field, right ?

As a consequence, with a shorter string width, "non-broadneck", it would fit perfectly ? That's what I want to go for with my next CS bass, I just don't like broadneck width...

 

[space]

you understant properly

 

[rusty]

seymour duncan soapbars

Ive got them in my 97 custom NT thumb5. They sounded like crap with the factory MEC preamp, but when I changed the preamp for the SD one, it made all the difference. Tight very defined sound with plenty of the thumb growl.

Output is medium, I wouldnt say hot buy a long shot. But the bass is very quiet noise wise. great for in the studio. The bass boost switch is also great for thumpy slap solo's.

In a nutshell, I love em

 

[NeonVomit]

Re: seymour duncan soapbars

Output is medium, I wouldnt say hot buy a long shot. But the bass is very quiet noise wise. great for in the studio. The bass boost switch is also great for thumpy slap solo's.

Agreed, the output of my bass isn't that great. But the sound engineer at the studio loved it, said it was a dream to work with. So yeah, I guess SD-equipped basses are better for the studio.

I'm thinking of changing the preamp anyway.

 

[woodchuck]

I love Basslines! Here's my LX Broadneck 5.

 

[joekickass]

I have SD Soapbar PUs on my Thumb 6 bolt-on too, the preamp is MEC 2 band, compare to my other warwicks, the output is like passive but they are active PUs, I will change the preamp too.

The tone of SD is great but I think they are thin, I tried SD J-set on my Thumb 5 too, I took them out because they didn't surprise me....., the SD preamp still stay on my Thumb 5, it works great with EMG pickups.

My personal suggestion is....try EMG, Bartolini or MEC..... , if you wanna go with SD PUs, make sure the preamp is not BEC-II......

 

[TravisMoore]

My freind has SD Basslines in his Custom Sei bass (Twin-J and a J) and they sound pretty dam good but i don't know how they compare to MEC's. :lol:

 

[thefitz]

I'd like to resurrect this thread.

I'm considering getting a set of Active Phase I soapbars for my Streamer Stage I, since I love the sound of Phase IIs on my Warmoth instrument.

However, I'm concerned with this whole string spacing issue. Looking at the diagrams, the 5-string version should have more than enough coverage of all the strings, however the 6-string magnets don't appear to be long enough for 20mm spacing.

Does anyone else have experience with Phase I soapbars in a Streamer Stage I since 2008? Haha.

 

[thefitz]

I installed a set and don't seem to have a problem. Great upgrade, that and the STC-3A preamp. I think I overall prefer the Phase IIs, but I definitely prefer the Phase Is over the stock electronics - they really seem to compliment the sound the Stage I is going for.

 

[herb vibes]

my customshop ssI has phase I and since the update from mec 2-band to aguilar obp-3 it became my main bass

 

[thefitz]

I was actually going to start a thread on that, but since we're here:

I installed an OBP-3 with DiMarzio Ultra Jazz pickups, and the preamp is very noisy. Sounds like dirty power, and it gets worse depending on the direction I'm facing. How noisy is your OBP-3? Any idea on how I can get rid of that noise? I thought the control cavities in Warwicks were shielded with graphite something or other.

 

[DiMarco]

Isn't it the dimarzios being noisy instead of the aguilar pre? Never heard this complaint about an obp3 before see...

 

[thefitz]

Well, they're split-coil pickups, so they "shouldn't" be noisy. But the whole "rotating the bass to eliminate noise" thing leads me to believe it's possible. Is there some sort of test I can do? And does that mean all I have to do is shield the cavity?

Also, this is a 1990 Thumb. The control cavity cover does not have a layer of copper foil on it, like some do:



Does this matter, do you think?

 

[DiMarco]

First thing I would try is apply self adhesive 2" copper tape to cavities that aren't shielded. You don't want to discover your bass is still being noisy at a gig while it was behaving perfectly at home. My Jazz and Ric are much better to work with since I applied extra shielding.

The instrument might still buzz when you walk into the amplifier's leakage field though.. Don't stand too close to your amp.

 

[thefitz]

I have some of that lying around, purchased for a project I never got around to. I'll do that, and shield the cavity cover like those old Warwicks, just for the heck of it.