Non-polite sounding 5 string pickups

[6feet7]

My Maruszczyk Jake V P/MM has passive Delano pickups, which are lovely but very 'polite' sounding. What passive pickups (5 string Precision neck and Musicman bridge) would the good folk of BC recommend to 'dirty up' the sound a bit? 

[Hellzero]

Bartolini !

Through an SVT, the absolute swine sound !

[6feet7]

Just now, Hellzero said:

Bartolini !

Through an SVT, the absolute swine sound !

Probably not the SVT - I'm happy with my amp, but I'll look into the Barts. Thanks

[Merton]

Nordstrand would be top of my choices I think

[Mykesbass]

10 hours ago, Merton said:

Nordstrand would be top of my choices I think

This. My Shuker P has a Nordstrand that can certainly be impolite.

[NickD]

Wierd!

My passive Jake 5 has the Delanos (P & MM), and with the amp cranked I find them as rude as hell. My Elwood 5L has the Haussels (J & mini MM), and while they're warmer and more vintagey, they lack the brashness of the Delanos. 

[6feet7]

25 minutes ago, NickD said:

Wierd!

My passive Jake 5 has the Delanos (P & MM), and with the amp cranked I find them as rude as hell. My Elwood 5L has the Haussels (J & mini MM), and while they're warmer and more vintagey, they lack the brashness of the Delanos. 

I haven’t played in anger with it yet, so you might have just saved me a load of money. I’ll find out next time I manage to actually play loud. 👍

[4000]

14 hours ago, Hellzero said:

Bartolini !

Through an SVT, the absolute swine sound !

That’s an interesting choice. I’ve had Barts in several instruments and they were always far too polite for me (although the ones in my Pedulla MVP sounded good - still very polite though). 

Edited June 21, 2021 by 4000

[NickD]

6 minutes ago, 6feet7 said:

I haven’t played in anger with it yet, so you might have just saved me a load of money. I’ll find out next time I manage to actually play loud. 👍

It's worth a try first. There could be other factors about the bass I guess (Ash & Maple on Maple) but probably not.

I do use a helix or sansamp at home, but in the rehearsal room it's just gain up to just before clipping, a touch of VLE and it absolutely barks out every note. I ended up using it for everything on the album we're about to drop (do the kidz still say that?), and I love the tone we got from it. It's probably a good idea never to change anything until you've turned it up and really dug in a bit.

[Merton]

1 minute ago, 4000 said:

That’s an interesting choice. I’ve had Barts in several instruments and they were always far too polite for me. 

I would agree, I've had two basses with Barts and the are lovely, lovely pickups but rude is not a term I'd associate with them.

[jrixn1]

14 hours ago, 6feet7 said:

My Maruszczyk Jake V P/MM has passive Delano pickups, which are lovely but very 'polite' sounding. 

You have the large poles, I think, but do you know which ones? https://www.delano.de/pickup_overview/pc_5/pc_5_listing.html

One has "the classic P-Bass® with slightly more attack, punchy bass and dynamic"; the other has "Tight, lightning-fast transients on top of meaty full range 5-string, ultra precision bass tone"  Not that I can comment on the difference - but someone else might?

[Al Krow]

I had exactly the same experience with the Delanos on my Sandberg being too "polite". 

+1 for Nordstrands as a very rude set of pups. 

EMG 40s on my Spector are a real treat too. 

[Hellzero]

5 hours ago, 4000 said:

That’s an interesting choice. I’ve had Barts in several instruments and they were always far too polite for me (although the ones in my Pedulla MVP sounded good - still very polite though). 

 

5 hours ago, Merton said:

I would agree, I've had two basses with Barts and the are lovely, lovely pickups but rude is not a term I'd associate with them.

@6feet7 is wanting to "dirty up" his sound. This is exactly what Bartolini pickups do : "dirty up" the sound as they are really muddy pickups and through an all valves (tubes for the others) SVT on its dedicated 8x10" you'll get the ultimate swine sound that so many people love. And I've had dozens of basses with Bartolini's...

That said, I've always found Delano pickups too polite too.

Nordstrand's are gritty, but not dirty.

EMG's could get harshy, but not dirty.

[4000]

I think this is evidently just descriptions meaning different things to different people. I just find Barts dark and polite. A ‘dirty’ sound to me suggests aggressive, which to me doesn’t suggest dark and/or polite.
 

I took his request as meaning how could he get a more aggressive sound, i.e. the opposite of polite. Of course YMMV. 

Edited June 21, 2021 by 4000

[TheGreek]

Isn't there a pedal which will do what you need?

[6feet7]

24 minutes ago, TheGreek said:

Isn't there a pedal which will do what you need?

I've got a darkglass vintage mictrotubes pedal which I like a lot, but really I can't stand the look of the big poles on the Delano's, so if I'm going to change them I want something a bit dirtier or grittier which also doesn't have blood great pole pieces

[Al Krow]

8 hours ago, Hellzero said:

That said, I've always found Delano pickups too polite too.

Nordstrand's are gritty, but not dirty. shitty

EMG's could get harshy, but not dirty.  never farty

Fixed - now that's impolite for you! 😁

5 hours ago, 4000 said:

I think this is evidently just descriptions meaning different things to different people...

^^very true