Nordstrand Big Singles. Any users? What bass did you put them in?

[fretmeister]

I have a Marleaux Consat Custom 5

I gave some serious thought to selling it as it doesn't quite sound how I want it to. BUT it has the only 5 string neck I have ever loved so I'd like to try and get it sounding different.
This might be impossible given the construction (mahogany body with a ziricote top) but I want it to sound more like a Marcus jazz bass.

It has Delano humbuckers in it at the moment. They are very humbuckery and lack the single coil sizzle. There are not many true single coils that are a direct replacement, size-wise, but the Nordstrand Big Singles appear to be a straight swap.

Any idea if these will give me a push to the sound I'm looking for? I had a chat with Mark at Bass Direct and he thought the preamp was very neutral and wouldn't need changing at all, so that leaves the pickups.

All suggestions for my impossible holy grail are welcome!

[LawrenceH]

[quote name='fretmeister' timestamp='1352889282' post='1868785']
I have a Marleaux Consat Custom 5

I gave some serious thought to selling it as it doesn't quite sound how I want it to. BUT it has the only 5 string neck I have ever loved so I'd like to try and get it sounding different.
This might be impossible given the construction (mahogany body with a ziricote top) but I want it to sound more like a Marcus jazz bass.

It has Delano humbuckers in it at the moment. They are very humbuckery and lack the single coil sizzle. There are not many true single coils that are a direct replacement, size-wise, but the Nordstrand Big Singles appear to be a straight swap.

Any idea if these will give me a push to the sound I'm looking for? I had a chat with Mark at Bass Direct and he thought the preamp was very neutral and wouldn't need changing at all, so that leaves the pickups.

All suggestions for my impossible holy grail are welcome!
[/quote]

I put these in an Ibanez SR500, a similarly unsuitable bass for a Marcus Miller sound! They had a solid sounding bottom with a smooth top-end, freq response extended high as you'd expect from a single coil but didn't have the upper-mid 'bite' of Fender jazz pickups where a lot of the character is. I used them with 250k pots, with 500k pots I'd expect to get a little more out of them. But, looking at the Marleaux the pickup positioning is so far from a 70s jazz (looks close to my Ibanez actually) that it'll never sound like one regardless of other aspects of the construction. I sold my Ibanez and bought a jazz, it's the only way I'm afraid.

[sifi2112]

I've put Big Singles in two jazz basses & even in my Dingwall ABZ5 ... no regrets.

[paulflan0151]

I love the Nordstrand big singles. Monster tone out of the basses I've used them on. These are my own basses I have built (one with a Aguilar OB3P and one with a Nordstrand EQ) but They are a quality pup. Weather you'd get the sound your looking for i am not sure, have you had a look at the size of the Nordstrad DC's?

[Dingus]

Just to stick my two pence worth in , are you absolutely sure you couldn't learn to love the sound of this bass as it is ? A Consat Custom with Delano pickups is a pretty tasty bass in anybodys book , and to me it would be a shame to start butchering it . Basses of that quality are few and far between . You could put the price of the Big Singles towards a used Jazz Bass of some description ( Fender MM? ) to fulfil your Marcus- tone cravings and then have both options .available. I just can't see you ending up with the Jazz Bass sound your after if you go down this route, and you could end up spoiling a very desirable bass in the process.

Edited November 14, 2012 by Dingus

[fretmeister]

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1352894862' post='1868890']
Just to stick my two pence worth in , are you absolutely sure you couldn't learn to love the sound of this bass as it is ? A Consat Custom with Delano pickups is a pretty tasty bass in anybodys book , and to me it would be a shame to start butchering it . Basses of that quality are few and far between . You could put the price of the Big Singles towards a used Jazz Bass of some description ( Fender MM? ) to fulfil your Marcus- tone cravings and then have both options .available. I just can't see you ending up with the Jazz Bass sound your after if you go down this route, and you could end up spoiling a very desirable bass in the process.
[/quote]

It wouldn't spoil the bass at all - the Big Singles fit as a direct replacement.

I already have a Fender Marcus Miller - but I need a 5 string, and the Consat is the only 5 I've ever felt happy playing. If I have to, I'll take the neck off it and have a new body built to suit!

[Dingus]

[quote name='fretmeister' timestamp='1352896923' post='1868951']
It wouldn't spoil the bass at all - the Big Singles fit as a direct replacement.

I already have a Fender Marcus Miller - but I need a 5 string, and the Consat is the only 5 I've ever felt happy playing. If I have to, I'll take the neck off it and have a new body built to suit!
[/quote]

If they are a direct fit then I suppose you have nothing to lose. Taking the neck off to have a new bass built sounds a bit extreme to me , though !

[Guest]

Before I sent my TRBX off to sit in a shop awaiting a more appreciative owner, I sometimes wondered about replacing the alnico humbuckers with a pair of fat singles like these, in the hope of getting a sound more suitable for me. And I still wonder how it would have turned out. The humbuckers were in the P spot and the 60s J bridge spot. The 3 band EQ seemed to be very .... ah what's the right word? There didn't seem to be any tone profile baked in. The mids control was relatively low-set.

[Swaff]

I used to have an Ibanez SR1206 which had these in, absolutely stunning sound! I still miss it.

 

I'd say go for it, it'll be a great sound and it's the only way you'll know for sure whether it's what you were looking for or not.

[Woodinblack]

I think if he wanted to go for it he would have done so 9 years ago when this was posted!

[Cliff Edge]

I have two in an Ibanez SR900 in place of the stock Sudo Bartolinis. 
Sounds amazing even with the stock Bart preamp. 

[fretmeister]

On 13/10/2021 at 19:44, Woodinblack said:

I think if he wanted to go for it he would have done so 9 years ago when this was posted!

I don't even have the bass anymore.

 

It got too heavy for me after surgery. It is still the very best bass I've ever owned.

[gillento]

On 14/11/2012 at 11:34, fretmeister said:

I have a Marleaux Consat Custom 5

I gave some serious thought to selling it as it doesn't quite sound how I want it to. BUT it has the only 5 string neck I have ever loved so I'd like to try and get it sounding different.
This might be impossible given the construction (mahogany body with a ziricote top) but I want it to sound more like a Marcus jazz bass.

It has Delano humbuckers in it at the moment. They are very humbuckery and lack the single coil sizzle. There are not many true single coils that are a direct replacement, size-wise, but the Nordstrand Big Singles appear to be a straight swap.

Any idea if these will give me a push to the sound I'm looking for? I had a chat with Mark at Bass Direct and he thought the preamp was very neutral and wouldn't need changing at all, so that leaves the pickups.

All suggestions for my impossible holy grail are welcome!

Big Singles are, to MY ears, the best sounding ALNICO single coil PUs ever. BUT, they don't give you any Marcus vibe at all. They are fatter in the mids.

On the other hand you can get 70's style single coils by Nordstrand in a big shell. They are called Jazz Bar: https://nordstrandaudio.com/collections/5-string-soapbar-bass-pickups/products/jazz-bar-5

 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, gillento said:

Big Singles are, to MY ears, the best sounding ALNICO single coil PUs ever. BUT, they don't give you any Marcus vibe at all. They are fatter in the mids.

 

Do you have an opinion on how the Bartolini Singularity compares in style to them?

[gillento]

On 16/10/2021 at 10:35, Ricky Rioli said:

 

Do you have an opinion on how the Bartolini Singularity compares in style to them?

 

I have no idea about this, sorry. My only real Bartolini experience dates from the early 90s when I got a set of Bartolini single coils in my 77 Fender JJ (back then those were not desirable at all :)).

To my ears the Bartos were rather subdued in the highs and had no clarity at all. I ended up putting the original Fender PUs back.

The Big Singles by Nordstrand keep that typical clarity in the treble region but are never harsh, not even in an ash/maple JJ bass.

Further they got a little push in the low mids, making them absolutely perfect for pick use as well.