What pickup config you digging?

[NasalFloss]

I've not long had my M5 now, and it can really nail that John Taylor tone I find by using the neck in single coil mode and the bridge humbucker in series.  Just out of interest what configurations you are using and your inspirations?  I like Duran Duran, I'm a 37 year old man from Ireland.  So what? 😁

[TheGreek]

BMW M5 

....and it sounds like Duran Duran????

[fleabag]

1 hour ago, NasalFloss said:

I'm a 37 year old man from Ireland.  So what? 😁

Actually, nobody asked.

Carry on.

[Lozz196]

For me it’s single Precision pickup. I love Jazz basses (neck on full, bridge on about a quarter) and P/J setups (both on full) but that full on thump of that single Precision pickup is “me”. I suppose I got that from the punk bassists of the late 70s such as JJ Burnel, Bruce Foxton, Paul Simenon etc, where the bass was very prominent in the mix.

[Doctor J]

Reversed P with a bridge J, both at full blast. Delicious.

[Paulhauser]

I have two.

1. Double pickups, placed á lá Spector NS-2 or NS-5XL. The can be either P/J or dual coil/dualcoil (EMG DC ot TW) Works really well for me and the music I play (rock, progressive metal, fusion music) Also very useful for me on its own, especially for tapping. 

2. Jazzbass JJ (both '60 and '70) I'm not using my jazz much but this is one of the quintessential bass sounds for me especially soloed (not in band context, that is)

[Jus Lukin]

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Edited March 13, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[drTStingray]

Twin humbuckers all Colin on in both, or single bridge humbucker only.

Plenty of Bernard Edwards style focussed, fat note thump!! 

[TheGreek]

6 hours ago, Jus Lukin said:

All of them! I'm waiting to collect this from Andyjr1515- each pickup can be configured as a humbucker, 'single-coil' (really a pair of coils end-on with a similar aperture to a Jazz Bass pickup) and split Precision.

What was the final calculation of configs on this? IIRC 142 permutations...

That's a lot of choices... 

[NasalFloss]

7 hours ago, fleabag said:

Actually, nobody asked.

Carry on.

Just joking, if you need me to explain to you, somebody of my age, from where I’m from would not normally listen to this style of music. Don’t worry, I work with autistic people, so I’m used to describing things to people with no concept of social cues or humour.

[TheGreek]

Add an emoji so people don't misinterpret your comment....😁

Edited April 4, 2021 by TheGreek

[Reggaebass]

7 hours ago, Jus Lukin said:

All of them! I'm waiting to collect this from Andyjr1515- each pickup can be configured as a humbucker, 'single-coil' (really a pair of coils end-on with a similar aperture to a Jazz Bass pickup) and split Precision.

Omg, that’s a beauty, is that an ebony fingerboard too 

[Geek99]

24 minutes ago, NasalFloss said:

Just joking, if you need me to explain to you, somebody of my age, from where I’m from would not normally listen to this style of music. Don’t worry, I work with autistic people, so I’m used to describing things to people with no concept of social cues or humour.

I’m autistic and I have humour (ie well, people here humour me, which may or may not be the same thing, I cannot quite tell) 

I am totally cool with anyone loving john Taylor’s work. He is a  f u c king god. Even my 11 year old  liked Duran Duran “a bit” (until she found out it was 80s) - she noticed Tim schwartz’s  playing in the The Eagles too (until she found out it was 70s) 

Edited April 4, 2021 by Geek99

[Baloney Balderdash]

I like the tone a reverse P is able to get me with the right equalization and a bit of low gain sort of grinding overdrive mixed in parallel with clean signal, sort of a more polite version of that typical bright biting, snappy and grinding  80's punk tone like for instance JJ Burnel use, that is mainly boosting the frequency area around 200Hz to 300Hz for some low mids punch as well as the frequency area around 800Hz to 1200Hz for some snap and bite, and then as said using a low gain overdrive with a sort of grinding character as mixed with clean signal for some grit and grind. the TC Electronic SpectraComp that I run as the first thing in my chain right after the bass contributing to a great deal of snap and punch as well, loaded with he custom toneprint that I made, and then my EHX Black Finger, tube driven optical compressor, that I run at the end of my signal chain, just before the tube preamp that goes to a poweramp, dialed in with a very subtle compression but with the tubes pushed to judge at the verge of breakup, preventing my tone from getting too harsh, subtly but beautifully rounding it off, without in any way dulling it or making it sound any less snappy and biting, and without affecting my playing dynamics whatsoever.

What I use currently in my main Ibanez GSRM20 neck + GSRM20B body Mikro Bass, which has a reverse P/J configuration, but with the P pickup being shifted slightly more towards the neck than traditionally is the case and the J slightly towards the neck than traditionally, is just an EMG Geezer Butler P pickup, wired directly to the output jack socket, but I had a DiMarzio Model P installed before that, and while it did sound great as well, fuller and ballsier with more lower mids emphasis than the Geezer, the Geezer has more upper mids bite and generally a more open and articulated, dynamic tone, which I prefer.

What I noticed from having tried several different basses throughout the years and watching countless of YouTube demos is that I prefer 1 pickup soloed over any combination of pickups, and that I also tend to favor the tone of pickups placed around the middle position, and beside the split coil P pickup, I am quite sure I would love a Rickenbacker neck pickup or a similar voiced soapbar installed around the middle position as well, and I also love the tone of original single coil early P pickups.

[baa]

I'm a simple guy.

Give me double P's, and im all right.

Edited April 4, 2021 by baa
Misspelling

[fleabag]

2 hours ago, NasalFloss said:

Just joking, if you need me to explain to you, somebody of my age, from where I’m from would not normally listen to this style of music. Don’t worry, I work with autistic people, so I’m used to describing things to people with no concept of social cues or humour.

No worries mate.  It doesnt matter where you're from,  what age you are or what music you like. 

 

[Jus Lukin]

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Edited March 13, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[NancyJohnson]

Rickenbacker aside, everything sounds pretty much the same, or more to the point, I am able to dial my desired tone from any pickup configuration.

 

[Reggaebass]

20 minutes ago, Jus Lukin said:

Thank you! Yep, ebony

That’s not far off of something I’d like, would you tag me in if you do a NBD , so I don’t miss it, I’d be really interested how it sounds and plays 🙂

[Jus Lukin]

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Edited March 13, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[Reggaebass]

Just now, Jus Lukin said:

Will do! I think I'll have to add some sound clips too- explaining myself about those pickups is going to take some doing! 😄

Andy did a build thread if you'd like some of the nerdy details: 

 

Thanks jus Lurkin, top man 👍