mcnach

This. I have recently used two of those (with the 15" speaker) in two different gigs, and I really liked them. Pretty light and compact, great sound.

Unfortunately no, I don't have any recordings. The Jazz configuration was definitely Jazz-like, unsurprisingly, although I have it wired with one volume and one tone control, and a blend control, so it is a bit different from the usual. I moved the neck pickup towards the bridge because I like the sound of pickups closer to the bridge, for the better definition they provide, and I wanted to try something that would not sound like any other of my basses. It was just a bit of an experiment. I used a pair of DiMarzio Area J, pickups. They're humbuckers but they sound reasonably 'traditional'. I have them on a Jazz bass and sound really nice. I wired each in parallel. The bridge pickup alone sounds like you'd expect. The 'neck' alone sounds like a sharper Precision with a bit less low end. Actually no, it really doesn't sound like a Precision but it does have a bit of that midrange 'bark'. It has a bit too much high midrange, but turning down the tone control tames it a little and it's a cool sound. However, it's with both pickups on that it really comes alive. I use the blend control to make it a bit fatter or a bit more defined depending on which way I turn it. I think I will rewire each pickup in series, for a fatter sound, although maybe all I need is to be able to put both pickups in series with each other... I don't know, there's a few combinations I haven't tried yet so I don't know which is best. It takes less than 10 minutes to turn it back into a 'Jazz': simply replace the pickguard and screw the neck pickup in the other position. Add another 10 minutes and I could make it a PJ Large pickguards are useful if you want to experiment with pickup positions etc.

To me they feel a little more flexible, with more pronounced lower mids, and maybe not quite as bright, as you also said. It's enough of a difference that I normally buy Fat Beams, and the one time I bought Hi Beams by mistake (a few months ago) I just thought something was wrong or they had changed the strings... it's not such a huge difference that I knew instantly I just had the wrong string. I only found out a week or two later when I saw the package in the recycling bin! Then I put on a set of Fat Beams and was happy again Fat Beams, Sunbeams and Hi Beams are all pretty good strings, for my taste and in that order.

I had it made. I once bought an OLP MM2 (Stingray clone) that had a metal thumbrest just like it at the P pickup spot, stuck to the pickguard (strong double-sided sticky tape, it can be removed without leaving marks but it stays on strongly enough that you won't shift it during regular use). I removed it, and put it on a Precision at the MM pickup spot, as I'm used to resting my thumb on the Stingray's pickup... A few people here liked the idea, and someone who had access to a laser cutter made a bunch of them based on a scan I made, in black acrylic. That's what's on this bass. I had a few spare ones that have been given away over the past few years, and now I only have those stuck on my basses, otherwise I'd offer to send you one.

What slaying? I think you are completely right! I used to own this (ordered exactly like that): And I turned this: into this: Although now it looks like this:

If you want them to be a little bit more flexible, try Fat Beams next. I think they sound even better too.

Sounds like they are lower tension than the ones you normally use, that's all. (shrug)

Yup. Some places I'm just happy to walk out with a smile... and never ever return. That place you describe sounds just like one of them.

You can't go wrong with Chris McIntyre. It's true, I know what I know because of a large period of trial and error, with focus on error I used to check eBay and later this forum for used pickups and preamps etc and buy stuff that looked interesting at reasonable prices. It meant that I could try things and sell them on if I decided not to keep them without losing (much) money. But again, that only makes sense if you enjoy that kind of thing and the idea of spending one Saturday afternoon testing pickups makes you smile. I understand a lot of people just want to get on with things. It kept me off the streets getting into trouble... or buying new instruments 😛

One of the instruments I plan to sell as the VM4 arrives is my Fender Classic 50s Precision. However I can't see myself not having a 'proper' Precision. I have a super cheap Mike Dirnt Squier that I found a nice maple fingerboard neck for a while ago, and has a nice a pickup too, which could satisfy my 'proper Precision' requirement... but both sound great in slightly different ways. I expect the VM4 to be yet another variation on the same theme, just like a couple of PJ basses that I have have their own variation (a Maruszczyk Jake P/JJ which I never fully gelled with and the VM is intended to be a direct replacement for - I want that MM at the bridge; and a Schecter with active EMGs which sound great but are definitely not Precision-sounding) That's my plan anyway... to have some kind of Precision kicking about, just like I have a Jazz even if it's never my primary instrument... and then those I really use with its own vibe. In my case, a Stingray first, and then something with a chunky fat humbucker a bit closer to the bridge than on a Stingray coupled to some kind of Precision pickup. So many words. So little content

The VM4 I just ordered (why is time running so slow suddenly???) I went with their standard pickups too. I hope I love them

See? My ways don't work with you and yours don't work with me. Diversity. I personally don't like the Yamaha BBs (blasphemy to some, but I'm already going to Hell, so what's one more ), and I'm pretty handy with a solder iron and I *enjoy* doing that kind of thing. I'm not sure what a set of black labels would be, or Haussels. I don't think I'd buy either... after spending far too much money on pickups that were considered Some of The Very Best, I have accummulated a repertoire of pickups that I generally like, and for once in my lifetime I seem to favour not the expensive ones. Jazz pickups? DiMarzio Area J or Model J for me, depending on what I'm after. Precision? Seymour Duncan SPB-1, or Antiquity II, MM style? Nordstrand MM4.2 for more classic and Seymour Duncan SMB4-A for a slightly wider response and more modern take... Hardly expensive. Preamps... I'm a big fan of John East ones... but really I'm talking about the semiparametric mids module that's found on a lot of his preamps. It cost £70 as a stand alone module. I have a couple of MMSR and a U-Retro in my drawer, from years of tinkering and accumulating stuff. It's hardly expensive, and most of the work can be done in 30 minutes if you're focused... or a bit longer if you're not in a hurry. So no, I don't think cost or effort is much of an issue. I think the issue is that some people find that too much of a faff. That's fair enough. I don't even change the oil in my car because I consider it to be too messy and not worth my time so I pay someone to do it. A colleague of mine thinks it's crazy because he can do his in 15 minutes and save money. The thing is: he enjoys getting dirty with his car. I don't. I also pay someone to do my brake work, which is not that hard at all... while he looks at me probably the same way I look at someone saying that they need to take their bass somewhere to install a new pickup It's just a matter of what we individually like more or less, in the end. I've even routed a couple of basses to add a pickup, and adding battery compartments etc. I find that a bit too stressful because I'm not the most skilled wood-worker, so I would rather pay someone now to get it done... But when I had not a lot of spare money, and the tools were there, I did it and enjoyed it. It's a bit like learning to set up your guitars, at least at a basic level. One of the guitarists in my main band was taking his guitar to be set up a few months ago. I asked him what was wrong with it, and he said mostly the intonation was off. He's not mechanically inclined and I explained to him and even offered to set it for him, but from his reaction I got the feeling he thought I was suggesting a hack job, as in his eyes you need a proper tech to do that. He got that done, adjusted the relief, a bit of contact cleaner on the potentiometers and a general clean (lacquered maple neck, no not even putting oil on the fretboard) and he was paying £60 for it and he loved it. He needed to borrow one of my guitars for a couple of weeks until he got his back. But he is happier that way. I'm sure I prefer other things that won't make much sense to him. And that's ok.

Maybe if you wear a sturdy jacket. All it does for me is pulling my t-shirt and after a few songs it looks like I'm having a fight, and losing, with it. It requires a lot of concentration to keep the tummy in and pretend my stomach is flatter than it is... It does not work for me, unfortunately.

Depending on how the pickups are wired, there's an interaction that affects the sound of the P soloed so it's not exactly how it would sound on its own... just how much that matters it varies: some think it's a deal breaker and others don't care. The J adds to the tonal palette available, but just how interesting is that depends, again, on personal preference. Both pickups on can sound pretty good, but it sometimes it's such a mid-scooped sound that I have no real use for it. It depends on the actual pickups, and how they're balanced. I find a bridge J alone to be too thin for me to want to use it on its own, so when I have a PJ, what I do is set the P pickup first so that it sounds balanced across strings and the way I want it (pickup distance from the strings can change things a lot). Then, I just adjust the height of the J pickup until it sounds nice when I have both pickups on together. Sometimes it means the J will be very weak and it's only adding a bit, other times it's louder... I don't care, as I will never use it alone. That's just what I do, not a 'you must do this' rule. I prefer a more powerful pickup at the bridge, to go with the P. Another P works well as long as it's reversed (the DG coil being away from the bridge), a dual J can be very nice, and a big MM style humbucker also works well (my preferred option). Why aren't all P actually PJ? Because there's enough people who prefer it to be just a P. I have a single pickup Stingray, and I'll never buy a dual pickup one. Why? Because the single pickup one does what I want it to do and I like the simplicity (plus the extra pickup gets in the way for me, but that's just me). As with a lot of other things here... it comes down to personal preference really, and there's no one single superior solution.

Pickups are a LOT cheaper and easy to replace and that's crucial.

I loved it *especially* because of the wide neck. Another example of how subjective all this is. After a while, I realised that it's not width that matters the most to me, but depth, which is why a Sandberg with a 39.5mm width at the nut could have never worked for me (my rule was 42mm minimum... I had an interesting chat with Maruszczyk trying to get him the neck *I* wanted, because he felt it was too wide :D In the end I got what I asked for, and was good, because I also specified the depth along the neck at various points)... But when I tried that neck, it felt as if I had designed it myself. It was just right. I so wanted not to like it, so that I could last a bit longer without buying a new bass... but it was not to be :p

All this talk of the pickups seems, to me, a bit like not buying a certain car because the stock tyres are not your favourite. I separate the basic build from the electronics, maybe because I got used to mess with the electronics of my guitars when I was younger and poorer, and found it was a great way to change the sound of an instrument you loved to play but didn't love soundwise. I understand that others want an instrument 'just so' from the start, and that's ok too, but they'll be missing out on some great stuff, in my opinion.

That's my take too. There's a lot of love for Glock preamps in Talkbass, you'd think that it's a great and widely love preamp. I had one with superb specs (3-band, with additional passive tone, etc etc), but I didn't feel it was all that. It's all pretty subjective and when you look at it, the sample size making 'noise' against or in favour is relatively small. When I bought my Classic 50s Fender Precision I was ready to replace the pickup as at the time I read lots of "great bass, if only had a better pickup". I was on a Precision quest at the time and I had a few pickups in my drawer to try. But I loved it as it was and never changed a thing. We're talking nuances here, it's not like Sandberg stock pickups are bad, I'm sure (I have zero experience on this: I have only really properly tried 2, and they didn't have Sandberg pickups)

Electronics do not bother me one bit. If the basic instrument is well made, I'll find a pickup and/or preamp (or different circuitry, does not need to be active) that works well with it. I have to say that I have not been able to love any Delano pickup in any instrument I tried, although the two Sandberg 48 that I tried last week seemed pretty decent and had Delanos of some description in them, according to the guy at Guitar Guitar... I think it will depend a lot of each individual instrument (+ amplifier used). When you order new, you don't have the chance to try it until it's made, and then it's yours... so it's always nicer if you can find what you want in the second hand market, but that's not always an option. I've only tried Haussels once (Jazz), in a Maruszczyk I owned. They were ok, but I can't say I felt they were any better than say a common DiMarzio Area J set, or even Model J (different sounding entirely, but still quality sound).

Most places I play I go DI (pre) and the amplifier onstage is just to be my monitor. In one of the bands I use a few pedals, so the sound is generated before it reaches the DI. I include a cab simulator, for DI, so that my overdriven bass sounds ok and not fizzy. When I play bars and my amplifier is what carries the bass for the whole place, then there's just one sound, obviously. And earplugs.

Superglue! Came to the rescue quite a few times for me.

I've just ordered a Sandberg VM4. I went for their 'soft aged' finish purely because of the cost. I'm not a fan of the relic thing, although when done well it doesn't put me off either, and Sandberg does do it very well. My first choice was a solid colour, high gloss finish. Unfortunately it's not one of their normal colours, so it would add £525 to the price. Now, I liked that colour, but not THAT much. So I asked about the nearest alternative, which happened to be a metallic colour they do do, but only on aged finishes. I asked about getting it 'not aged'. It was possible, but at a cost, because again, for high gloss, it means more work. For an aged finish, they don't need to get it perfectly flat and nice before they 'age' it... so it's like an in-between level of effort and the time it takes. So I got the order in specifying "very light soft aged pretty please" or something along those lines Sandberg is the only company that has made me thought "hmmm, yummy" about their aged instruments.

Yes, but very variable. They wanted £600 for a really battered Stingray a few years ago, with big dents on the back of the neck and generally in terrible condition. That's when a reasonably clean Stingray could be found for 5-700 on eBay, and I bought mine for £700 immaculate including its EBMM hard case. But I've seen some other cool stuff there at much more reasonable prices.

He's always been good by email to me, even if sometimes it would take a few days to get a reply. However, I'd recommend a phone call if email does not seem to work. He's been really helpful to me with a variety of enquiries in the past.

You'll have to wait until September for that. But it's essentially this one below (metallic orange, very soft aged) with black rather than nickel hardware: