clippertm Posted September 5, 2008 Share Posted September 5, 2008 (edited) Everyone, The 38" 5 strings Carl Thompson I ordered a "few years ago" is now about to be finished (will be tuned in "B" ). I was discussing with Mr Thompson the type of pickups I should use, but could not give him a really clear answer as I do not know much about pickups, never really paid attention, and have not tried many so far. I was advised to use EMG pickups, and as far as I know this is usually the one he uses. Idea #1 is is to get two different EMG pickups, that you blend with a specific control, but I am afraid that too much electronic in the wood will affect the sound of the bass (the more wood and the less electronic: the better the sound, this is what I am thinking but please correct me if I am wrong). Idea #2 is to get only one, a very polyvalent one, with treble, medium and bass controls but which one to choose? Is there a quality tradeoff between electronic and wood? What would be an interesting, 2 pickups combination for you? I am thinking of an EMG 40P5 and a 40DC. What would be the best EMG pickup, in your opinion, if I had to choose only one? Thank you in advance for your replies, Edited September 5, 2008 by clippertm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassBod Posted September 5, 2008 Share Posted September 5, 2008 I've never had the pleasure of playing a real life CT (but would love to!) but here are some thoughts. EMGs are great pickups, but because they have internal active preamps they do have a reputation for always sounding like EMGs, regardless of what bass they are in. In the case of an expensive CT, I'd like to hear more "wood". Think about the passive Kent Armstrongs that Carl often uses, with no active circuit? In the UK Kent Armstrong designed/hand made pickups have been used by most luthiers (except Jaydee and Wal?) at some point. They really are good pickups, and you can always plug into an external preamp (Aguilar, Sadowsky, Sansamp etc) if you feel the nedd for a more "active" tone. It really comes down to the sound you're looking for..but I'd think about passive first. Hope you love the bass - I'd love to see pics when it arrives! BB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clippertm Posted September 5, 2008 Author Share Posted September 5, 2008 Hi Bassbod, Thank you for your reply! More wood is probably the best way to go, and one pickup is probably enough. Why do you prefer passive compared to active? Is it for the "more wood" reason, because pasive use less electonics? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bnt Posted September 5, 2008 Share Posted September 5, 2008 (edited) By "less wood", might it be something to do with the way EMGs are highly non-microphonic, not so much to do with active/passive? I mean, Les Claypool has EMGs in his Carl Thompsons, and I think I hear plenty of wood there. Apart from that I agree with the idea of mixing in a P-type - that's what I have in one bass (35P & 35J). Edited September 5, 2008 by bnt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwi Posted September 5, 2008 Share Posted September 5, 2008 I've found EMGs do have a very distinctive voice - thats a matter of taste obviously. I can't actually visualise what you mean by more wood. *cough* There are varying levels of transparency offered by different pickups which all have their own plusses and minuses. If you don't know what you want specifically in terms of tonal character then the only answer is probably to either take Carl's suggestion (EMG's are very practical in terms of how they handle noise and stuff) or go and try basses where pickups have been changed around between identical models. If you want neutrality then why not go for a piezo based system in the bridge with a buffer preamp (or a John East pre which has buffers built in)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clippertm Posted September 5, 2008 Author Share Posted September 5, 2008 (edited) Hello! "More wood" means to me that CT wont have to dig the body to implant electronics. More wood = less electronic. More electronic = less wood. If I ask CT to fit plenty of active pickups and control systems in the body, there should be less wood (and more small cavities). I would like to know if you think this may have an impact on the sound. I read a few articles on passve/active, and somewhat I got the impression that active pickups are probably a better match for low "B" strings and "unusual" playing styles (slapping, tapping etc.). What do you think? Edited September 5, 2008 by clippertm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassbloke Posted September 6, 2008 Share Posted September 6, 2008 The preamps are mounted inside the pickup housing in EMG pickups, so in terms of routing and cavities,you would just need a large enough cavity for the wiring for the volume pot(s), tone pot and battery. Not big at all. The EMG Bass/treble active circuit is mounted on the base of a single pot. Again, not large. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassbloke Posted September 6, 2008 Share Posted September 6, 2008 Also, the type of wood, neck joint, neck construction (laminate vs single piece), body construction (laminate vs single piece or two wings), bridge (brass, wood, top vs throigh body) will have far more of an effect on the sound that the few grams of wood removed for the control and maybe battery cavity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chopthebass Posted September 6, 2008 Share Posted September 6, 2008 Hi My long-term gigging headless bass in my avatar uses EMG CS & P5 pickups, together with their 3-band parametric eq. As a builder I have used EMGs a lot and from personal experience with projects I haven't noticed much difference in tone when using different timber, larger bodies, downsized bodies, chambered bodies etc. However, in my opinion these are noticeable when using passive systems. Particularly timbers used. I've recently gone back to passive jazz basses and the sound improvement compared to the active bass has been quite noticeable to other band members. If you decide to go active, just make sure you can bypass the circuit by means of a passive switch. Don't forget - we all wanna see pics of this bass!! Cheers Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwi Posted September 6, 2008 Share Posted September 6, 2008 [quote name='bassbloke' post='278395' date='Sep 6 2008, 06:30 AM']Also, the type of wood, neck joint, neck construction (laminate vs single piece), body construction (laminate vs single piece or two wings), bridge (brass, wood, top vs throigh body) will have far more of an effect on the sound that the few grams of wood removed for the control and maybe battery cavity.[/quote] Lets not also forget this is Carl Thompson, so for the sake of providing a bit of context on the contributions of wood to tone... [i]"Aaron: Suppose a customer is describing the sound they wanted to get from a bass. What key words would make you think a set neck would be best for that person or a bolt on? Carl: I have no idea. I wouldn't know what anyone was talking about. Anyone talks about how I can get them the sound I don't know what they are talking about. Somebody wants a bright sound. What's a bright sound? Explain to me exactly so I understand what you mean by a bright sound. Explain that to me. I'll make you a free bass if you can do it. Where I understand exactly what you mean. Without question I have no doubts in my mind exactly what you mean by a bright sound, or a funky sound or a warm sound, or any other kind of sound. Explain it to me exactly so I know exactly what you're talking about. And then I'm supposed to go find wood that's going to get you that exact sound. No matter what I do to the wood. Whether I bolt it in or glue it in. There's just so many things involved there to really get a good sound. I get a good sound all the time if that's what you mean. I can get a good sound out of anything. I never even thought about it. When I first started making the bass. I was not disappointed with the sound of any bass I ever played. I'm still not disappointed. I can play any bass and get a sound. I like playing the Danelectro basses. I think they are great. I get a good sound out of a Dano-I really do. I can get a good sound out of a Fender. I can get a good sound out of almost anything, you hear me. But I have a sound in my head that I hear and I just find it on any instrument, somehow. So why would anyone want to buy my instrument if I can get that sound? I can get it. Because I have an attitude in my head when I'm going to be looking for something. A certain piece of wood is going to get me something. I'll get it. I'll find a way to get it. I'll get it. I'll just get it and you should be able to get it too. "[/i] [url="http://www.ctbasses.com/CTinterview.html"]http://www.ctbasses.com/CTinterview.html[/url] l think a piezo system designed for acoustic instruments would be unusual but could fit the bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Burpster Posted September 6, 2008 Share Posted September 6, 2008 Actually CK that would be a ccol idea.... 1x Bartolini (my choice instead of EMG as they always sound a bit too hi fi to me) 1x Schaller 3-D 5 string peizo bridge OMG I'm salivating at the possibilities...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassBod Posted September 6, 2008 Share Posted September 6, 2008 My comments are based on experiences with Clifton basses - the 5 string was routed for circuitry and battery, but I never felt the need to have it fitted as the two Kent Armstrong humbuckers sound great. My short scale fretless has one Aaron Armstrong humbucker, with only a series/parallel switch (I only use series..) EMGs are fantastic pickups, but have their own (very clear and clean) sound. Its easy to make a passive bass sound active, but pretty hard to make active pickups sound passive. I love the idea of a piezo system, but I've never seen one fitted by CT? My impression is that he's got his own way of doing things, and I wouldn't want to get too experimental on a bass thats taken years to get made. Carl often uses passive KA humbuckers, so I'd go for a "typical" set up (two KAs?) but maybe have a series/parallel switch for each? BB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clippertm Posted September 6, 2008 Author Share Posted September 6, 2008 Hello All! Thank you for all your interesting answers. I was thinking of a "sophisticated" 40P5 and a 40DC with a BQS system for active, as this combination seems to be the most "polyvalent". However, I think I am going to leave the master finally decide which system to use, as he certainly has quite a better understanding of what he is building, being CT and having the bass between his hands at the moment, than me! Thank you again for your insightful answers, the bass is expected to ship early October. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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