Erm, not getting on with Delano. Any thoughts on a more Super Jazz vibe.

[ebenezer]

nordstrand nj4 se along with sadowsky onboard pre-amp.....flexible and quiet!....do you really need a mid sweep??

[Miggs]

On 05/02/2016 at 07:01, RhysP said:

[quote name='Truckstop' timestamp='1454607509' post='2971322']
Wouldn't a passive configuration get you closer to a vintage vibe?
[/quote]
[quote name='LayDownThaFunk' timestamp='1454676284' post='2971935']
Er, how will you get a 60s/70s Jazz sound from an active bass with modern pickups?

Buy a 60s/70s Jazz for that sound OR buy a Fender Jazz and fit Antiquity/CS pups.
[/quote]

This. If you're looking for a vintage 70s Jazz Bass sound why are you bothering with modern sounding pickups & active circuitry?

Everyone is talking about running passive only for a vintage tone. But he said he like Marcus Miller tone in particular. You don’t want to run passive. Marcus sadowsky bass that made him Marcus Miller had a passive active switch. Which is why his fender signature has it. Marcus always and i mean always runs it on active. I have professional musicians in the family. I’m a bassist. I’ve met Marcus. I’ve met his Chicago technician. The best preamp to get that Marcus Miller tone is a special order from bartolini. It’s the TCT-4.5TAPJ. It’s active passive vol blend set up. It’s a custom request. Hit up bartolini and they will tell you the same thing. It’ll be worth the wait if tone is what you are seeking. 

[Belka]

1 hour ago, Miggs said:

Everyone is talking about running passive only for a vintage tone. But he said he like Marcus Miller tone in particular. You don’t want to run passive. Marcus sadowsky bass that made him Marcus Miller had a passive active switch. Which is why his fender signature has it. Marcus always and i mean always runs it on active. I have professional musicians in the family. I’m a bassist. I’ve met Marcus. I’ve met his Chicago technician. The best preamp to get that Marcus Miller tone is a special order from bartolini. It’s the TCT-4.5TAPJ. It’s active passive vol blend set up. It’s a custom request. Hit up bartolini and they will tell you the same thing. It’ll be worth the wait if tone is what you are seeking. 

Yes - I wanted to say this too. Marcus may have a Sadowsky preamp in his bass now (if he still actually uses it now he's the Sire guy) but for most of his career the preamp in question was the Bartolini TCT. This was a forerunner to the NTMB and is simpler but will get the tone. Having said that I also think options like the East or the Pope Flexcore would be great - both are very transparent, have excellent options for flexibility/customization, and importantly have a passive tone which the Bartolini doesn't. 

Pickup wise I'd say the Aguilar or Seymour Duncan 5 string jazz pickups (it is a five string, right?) with '70s winds would be the ones to go for. Stay clear of anything overwound (I think a lot of Fralins fall into this category) or humcancelling.

[adamg67]

Another vote for the Haussels, I had them in a 5 string Elwood and now in a 4 string Hellwood and they have a nice bit of character, great for DI.

Nordstrand's do it for me as well, I swapped a Delano for a Nordstrand in my Jake and that definitely got rid of the clean / hifi Delano thing which didn't do it for me either. Just about to swap the Delano MM for another Nordstrand.

[NickD]

Obviously, the bass and pickups in the original post are long gone.... But I seem to be alone in loving the Delanos. 

My Elwood L5 has the Haussels and a Glock pre, and it sounds great, but the Delanos in my passive Jake are something else. From a clarity and dynamics point of view (not to mention a raw output point of view) they blow the Haussels out of the water. Every touch of skin, every clank of fretwire against the string is just clearly reproduced, and I love that. If I need to vintage it up (let's face it, it just means make it duller and warmer), that's easily done after the bass, but I like having all that information there in the first place so I can choose to let it through or not as the job requires. In fact I'd go as far as saying I prefer them to the Ken Smith clones in my Sei.

[bloke_zero]

7 minutes ago, NickD said:

Obviously, the bass and pickups in the original post are long gone.... But I seem to be alone in loving the Delanos. 

My Elwood L5 has the Haussels and a Glock pre, and it sounds great, but the Delanos in my passive Jake are something else. From a clarity and dynamics point of view (not to mention a raw output point of view) they blow the Haussels out of the water. Every touch of skin, every clank of fretwire against the string is just clearly reproduced, and I love that. If I need to vintage it up (let's face it, it just means make it duller and warmer), that's easily done after the bass, but I like having all that information there in the first place so I can choose to let it through or not as the job requires. In fact I'd go as far as saying I prefer them to the Ken Smith clones in my Sei.

Having just pressed buy on a Delano MM (the blade ones) I'm glad to hear you say that - what you describe is exactly what I'm after - clarity at the source. Though it sounds like I might need to get some flats with it to hide some of my appalling left hand technique.

[NickD]

4 minutes ago, bloke_zero said:

.... Though it sounds like I might need to get some flats with it to hide some of my appalling left hand technique.

Nah.... Just behave yourself a bit in the studio, and hammer it live! 🤣

Seriously though, We've just done the rhythm tracks for 8 new tunes in the studio, and I started off trying to behave myself, smaller movements to reduce string noise, a gentler more considered approach, and the takes were missing something in the mix. I reverted to playing like the cack-handed, subtlety-free chimp that I am, and everything sounded just as it should.

[adamg67]

4 hours ago, NickD said:

Obviously, the bass and pickups in the original post are long gone.... But I seem to be alone in loving the Delanos. 

My Elwood L5 has the Haussels and a Glock pre, and it sounds great, but the Delanos in my passive Jake are something else. From a clarity and dynamics point of view (not to mention a raw output point of view) they blow the Haussels out of the water. Every touch of skin, every clank of fretwire against the string is just clearly reproduced, and I love that. If I need to vintage it up (let's face it, it just means make it duller and warmer), that's easily done after the bass, but I like having all that information there in the first place so I can choose to let it through or not as the job requires. In fact I'd go as far as saying I prefer them to the Ken Smith clones in my Sei.

Yeah, I should say that the reason I'm ditching Delanos in my (active) Jake with flats is that I like being able to use it direct with nothing much else (Radial JDI on it's own is my ideal), but by going with Nordstrands for doing that I am limiting myself a bit - the bass now has a sound which I can change to some extent but can't undo. The same is true of the Haussels.

[Scapal]

On 10/11/2020 at 19:43, adamg67 said:

Another vote for the Haussels, I had them in a 5 string Elwood and now in a 4 string Hellwood and they have a nice bit of character, great for DI.

Nordstrand's do it for me as well, I swapped a Delano for a Nordstrand in my Jake and that definitely got rid of the clean / hifi Delano thing which didn't do it for me either. Just about to swap the Delano MM for another Nordstrand.

Hi, I have the same issue with my Jake C (P+MM).

Which Nordstrand pickups did you put to replace the Delanos and how is the new combination with the MM pickup (also replaced now?) ?

I can find a nice sound with the Delanos but I always have to go active with a little bit of bass above the mid position. So it's a crappy sound (not fitting the mix) without some EQ. The opposite of my Fender Am Pro II where it fit just right in the mix.
I was wondering if you felt the same and how Nordstrand fixed that (I was also considering Aguilar 4P-Hot).

[grayn]

About 10 or so years ago I had 2 Overwater Jazz basses.  One with OW hand wound pickups, the other with Dimarzio Ultra Jazz.  The OWs were very clear and pristine but the Dimarzios were lovely and vintage sounding, so that bass got all the useage.   Old school maybe, but worth a thought.

[adamg67]

On 04/02/2023 at 17:49, Scapal said:

Hi, I have the same issue with my Jake C (P+MM).

Which Nordstrand pickups did you put to replace the Delanos and how is the new combination with the MM pickup (also replaced now?) ?

I can find a nice sound with the Delanos but I always have to go active with a little bit of bass above the mid position. So it's a crappy sound (not fitting the mix) without some EQ. The opposite of my Fender Am Pro II where it fit just right in the mix.
I was wondering if you felt the same and how Nordstrand fixed that (I was also considering Aguilar 4P-Hot).

I found the Delanos always needed a bit of something, depending what I was doing. I replaced them with a Nordstrand NP5 and a Big Splitman, with coil tap so it’s like a Nordstrand Big Single when it’s split, or 2 of them as a Humbucker which is a monster, all squashed into a humbucker sized package. Like that, I feel like for a lot of things it can just be DI’d and sound great, there is that bit of character that I felt the Delanos didn’t have. There’s also more difference between the neck and the bridge, and obviously more choice at the bridge. I doubt I’ll ever change it now.