What make good quality pickups... good?

[geoffbyrne]

I had a Hohner B Bass V with 'EMG Designed' J-type pickups. These were designed to have the 'Vintage Sound' (whatever that is).

I up graded them with a pair of Joe Bardens, which although bought off this forum, weren't cheap, I'll tell you. These expensive pups were purported to give you the 'Vintage Sound'.

Y'know what?

The difference was infinitesimal. maybe there was a bit of tonal extension top & bottom - maybe. Maybe I was kidding myself to justify shelling out a couple of hundred quid (almost).

At the end of the day, I put the originals back in, & got most of my money back on the Joe Bardens.

G.

Edited April 17, 2013 by geoffbyrne

[gjones]

I'm on my 6th set of pickups in my Silver Squier Jazz. I've tried standard Mex, DiMarzio model Js, original 30 year old 1970s Seymour Duncans, Wizard 64s, Road Worn vintage Alnicos and of course the original Japanese Squier pickups. Each pickup definitely had their own character and were, in my opinion, very different to one another. But If I wasn't a bass player I doubt I would be able to tell one from the other.

What I figured out in the end was, that by fitting a John East pre amp to my Jazz, I could get the cheapest set of pickups sounding like the most expensive on the market and everything in between. So the moral is, don't fork out for expensive designer pickups, buy a pre amp instead.

[xilddx]

[quote name='gjones' timestamp='1366212754' post='2049696']
I'm on my 6th set of pickups in my Silver Squier Jazz. I've tried standard Mex, DiMarzio model Js, original 30 year old 1970s Seymour Duncans, Wizard 64s, Road Worn vintage Alnicos and of course the original Japanese Squier pickups. Each pickup definitely had their own character and were, in my opinion, very different to one another. But If I wasn't a bass player I doubt I would be able to tell one from the other.

What I figured out in the end was, that by fitting a John East pre amp to my Jazz, I could get the cheapest set of pickups sounding like the most expensive on the market and everything in between. So the moral is, don't fork out for expensive designer pickups, buy a pre amp instead.
[/quote]

Haha! I was reading your first para thinking 'why doesn't he just get a J-Retro'

[essexbasscat]

[quote name='gjones' timestamp='1366212754' post='2049696']
I'm on my 6th set of pickups in my Silver Squier Jazz. I've tried standard Mex, DiMarzio model Js, original 30 year old 1970s Seymour Duncans, Wizard 64s, Road Worn vintage Alnicos and of course the original Japanese Squier pickups. Each pickup definitely had their own character and were, in my opinion, very different to one another. But If I wasn't a bass player I doubt I would be able to tell one from the other.

What I figured out in the end was, that by fitting a John East pre amp to my Jazz, I could get the cheapest set of pickups sounding like the most expensive on the market and everything in between. So the moral is, don't fork out for expensive designer pickups, buy a pre amp instead.
[/quote]

Oh yes. Guitarnuts is a great site by the way Nige.

[JTUK]

Unless everything else is in sync, great pickups wont add up to much....
It is always the sum of parts, IMO

And FWIW, the goal should be if other bass players like your sound, you know you are most likely on the right track...

[Lowender]

Just remember, a diamond studded steering wheel would make the car more expensive but not necessarily any better.

[Mr. Foxen]

There are a lot of very good sounding cheap pickups. The main thing I look out for is being potted so they aren't microphonic. That gives the baseline, means instead of an £8 its about a £12 pickup, mostly in guitars because I'm happy with my basses and do much more guitar work. The cheap pickup makers, like GFS, Tonerider and Warman all have nice stuff for not much money.

[Dave Vader]

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' timestamp='1366251227' post='2050186']
There are a lot of very good sounding cheap pickups. The main thing I look out for is being potted so they aren't microphonic. That gives the baseline, means instead of an £8 its about a £12 pickup, mostly in guitars because I'm happy with my basses and do much more guitar work. The cheap pickup makers, like GFS, Tonerider and Warman all have nice stuff for not much money.
[/quote]

Yeah, but they won't let me have an in phase middle pickup for my strats, so i had to go expensive custom bulldogs (which are lovely btw) can't be doing with that pansy out of phase middle pickup mush. ironically i sold some lovely old hohner standards that were in phase and sounded great because I thought they were cheap crap.
I was young, and stupid.

[Beer of the Bass]

[quote name='Dave Vader' timestamp='1366277590' post='2050340']
Yeah, but they won't let me have an in phase middle pickup for my strats, so i had to go expensive custom bulldogs (which are lovely btw) can't be doing with that pansy out of phase middle pickup mush. ironically i sold some lovely old hohner standards that were in phase and sounded great because I thought they were cheap crap.
I was young, and stupid.
[/quote]
I am confused. Most modern strat pickups have a reverse wired, reverse magnetic polarity middle pickup so it cancels hum when used with the neck or bridge, but the output should still be in phase if they're installed correctly. An RWRP middle pickup shouldn't sound any different other than cancelling hum in the 2 and 4 positions. If your middle pickup is truly out of phase with the other two, could you not just reverse the two wires from the middle pickup?

[Dave Vader]

it's the hum cancelling that narks me off, if you remove the hum, you notice it's there, if it stays, you can tune it out.
Plus I tried the wire reversing, it doesn't work, the pickup loses nearly all output.
I may have spent a lot of money on my bulldogs, but for me they were worth every penny. Strat sounds like I always wanted it to. yay custom winders