$$ question

Andrew O

Andrew O

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does it really create a good p and j bass sound in both positions (obviously with the warwick spin). so if i put the neck in series on a neck through $$, would a get a streamer stage one like sound? (or parallel, whichever is supposed to be pbass like). if you check the CS forum, i'm considering one now! :twisted:
 
the series mode will give you that p bass like tone. Remember p bass LIKE tone. But, it should be really near the sound of the mec soapbars. And with the bridge pu a single coil position, you should normally get that nasal Jazz bass pu bridge tone.

For the MM in series mode, check some videos on youtube of EBMM bass with dual buckers (which are wired in series with that option). It should give you a general idea.
 
No, it will not have a P bass sound, at for sure not a SSI sound.
It is a mistake to buy a $$ thinking that it is very versatile, because it's not more versatile than others. It has an own voice, so does the SSI. The humbuckers cannot sound like P pickups, and when they are splitted they don't sound like J's either.
So please, don't buy a $$ considering it will replace 10 basses.
 
Florin said:
No, it will not have a P bass sound, at for sure not a SSI sound.
It is a mistake to buy a $$ thinking that it is very versatile, because it's not more versatile than others. It has an own voice, so does the SSI. The humbuckers cannot sound like P pickups, and when they are splitted they don't sound like J's either.
So please, don't buy a $$ considering it will replace 10 basses.
Click to expand...

Holy words
 
Mr Rabble has spoken... and he's ALWAYS right!

I agree with Florin... the $$ is obviously quite versatile due to the switching available, but it won't emulate P's, J's, MM's, even WALs (as some have suggested). But it's a great bass... you'll find (if you dredge through the threads) that a lot of us $$ players tend to go for the full on parallel humbucker sound... it's what it does best, IMO!
 
saxonbass said:
a lot of us $$ players tend to go for the full on parallel humbucker sound... it's what it does best, IMO!
Click to expand...
+1. One humbucker :-)
 
Florin said:
No, it will not have a P bass sound, at for sure not a SSI sound.
It is a mistake to buy a $$ thinking that it is very versatile, because it's not more versatile than others. It has an own voice, so does the SSI. The humbuckers cannot sound like P pickups, and when they are splitted they don't sound like J's either.
So please, don't buy a $$ considering it will replace 10 basses.
Click to expand...

Well, I'll plead guilty for thinking that, and maybe stating it in more than one occasion. Sorry... :oops:
 
Florin said:
No, it will not have a P bass sound, at for sure not a SSI sound.
It is a mistake to buy a $$ thinking that it is very versatile, because it's not more versatile than others. It has an own voice, so does the SSI. The humbuckers cannot sound like P pickups, and when they are splitted they don't sound like J's either.
So please, don't buy a $$ considering it will replace 10 basses.
Click to expand...

mmm i agree that the $$ will never replace the 10 basses but its a very versitile bass.

The $$ has that warwick growl, but its sublte enough to be manipulated. If you appraoch the $$ as a tool set and not ''ooo the humbucker can be tapped this way..thus it should sound like this...'', then you can get a load of different sounds out of it. It just taks a good ear and some creative fiddling with the controls.

My $$ does a great impression of the bass from incubus's Battlestar Scralitica, and a great zender impression....but its only that an impression.
 
"CAUTION": Please do not say that a certain Pickup is better than the other. We don't want a topic of 7 or 8 pages of discussions anymore! Each has different tastes! :lol:
 
well, if there was a pickup that did it all, it would truly be superior! but it would have to do what i thought the $$ did...
 
Callum said:
mmm i agree that the $$ will never replace the 10 basses but its a very versitile bass.

The $$ has that warwick growl, but its sublte enough to be manipulated. If you appraoch the $$ as a tool set and not ''ooo the humbucker can be tapped this way..thus it should sound like this...'', then you can get a load of different sounds out of it. It just taks a good ear and some creative fiddling with the controls.

My $$ does a great impression of the bass from incubus's Battlestar Scralitica, and a great zender impression....but its only that an impression.
Click to expand...

This is my experience as well. I can get a Stu Zender LIKE sound, but I still have an SSI coming this weekend because as versatile as the $$ is, it will not give that "modern classic" funk tone of a real P on a maple neck-through... Can it do a nice impression or handle such a task? Of course the $$ can - but it won't replace the Streamer or my Thumb NT!
 
FunkyMan said:
"CAUTION": Please do not say that a certain Pickup is better than the other. We don't want a topic of 7 or 8 pages of discussions anymore! Each has different tastes! :lol:
Click to expand...

Hehe...there's no need for discussion, really...the mirrored P takes it! :P

*lol*
 
just to be sure, does a MEC MM in serial will sound similar to a mec soapbar?
 
Nope! A Mec soapbar will sound closer to a P. It is actually a split coil pickup.
 
Florin said:
It is a mistake to buy a $$ thinking that it is very versatile...
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure I've never disagreed with a statement on this forum as much as I disagree with this one. Of course passive pickups aren't going to sound like active pickups, they don't have an internal preamp/EQ like active pickups do. And I would never argue that it can emulate other basses specifically. But I've owned dozens of basses, including 8 Warwicks. And tonally I've yet to find a more versatile bass than the $$.
 
saxonbass said:
...even WALs (as some have suggested)...
Click to expand...

Considering I'm the big Wal guy on here, I have to assume this is directed at me. I agree, no Warwick sounds like a Wal. No other bass out there does. But have you ever even played one? If so, you'd know why the $$ is similar...
 
also, can you get a good bridge pickup tone? i mean like jonas hellborg, jaco pasotorius type tone, or is the bridge pickup to far away?
 
Florin said:
Nope! A Mec soapbar will sound closer to a P. It is actually a split coil pickup.
Click to expand...

ok thx for the info, guess that I was completely wrong. :(
 
EVOLVEBASS said:
Florin said:
It is a mistake to buy a $$ thinking that it is very versatile...
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure I've never disagreed with a statement on this forum as much as I disagree with this one. Of course passive pickups aren't going to sound like active pickups, they don't have an internal preamp/EQ like active pickups do. And I would never argue that it can emulate other basses specifically. But I've owned dozens of basses, including 8 Warwicks. And tonally I've yet to find a more versatile bass than the $$.
Click to expand...

Ok, please let me rephrase, because I don't want to be misunderstood :-)
First of all I havn't said that the $$ is not versatile, because it is. I told that you should buy the bass for his normal humbucker sound, because that is the best thing that it does anyway.
Every bass has his own voice.
The $$ has his own voice too. No matter how much you turn the switches and buttons on a $$ you will have more or less the same character.
Of course it will have a lot of different nuances, you can get more nuances than on any other bass, so we could call it versatile for that.

But his character will still remain the same. The $$ has a round, bassy, even boomy sound.

Now... to me versatility is the possibility to use in many music styles and situations. IMHO the corvette $$ can be used in a musical context where a round, bassy sound is needed. You can use it for some rock tunes, for reggae, etc. And does a great job.
A STreamer STage II has some strong mids, that are missing in the $$. I always see those mids like a a train, that is carying the sound. If I want a cristal clear soun, I can have it. If I want a thumbish sound, it is there. If I want BOOM, I can get plenty.

I learned that from a sound engineer, and applied to basses. He told me once: There are soft sounding PA systems, and hard sounding ones. You can always make a hard/ crisp PA system to sound soft and warm, but it is impossible to make a soft sounding system to sound hard and crisp.

I found that this is true with basses too.
So... again, this is just my humble oppinion, based on my personal limited experience. For me a versatile bass is a bass that has that TRAIN (the mids) that is taking the sound with power. I can use a bass with good mids in any musical context.
From that point of view, I consider the corvette $$ less versatile than a Streamer STage II. If I could take only one bass to a studio session without knowing what music I will record, I'd take a Streamer STage II, not a $$.
And IMHO the smart thing is to buy a SSII if you want a middy nasal sound, and a corvette $$ if you like its natural bassy sound.
 
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