chyc Posted February 6, 2022 Share Posted February 6, 2022 I have a Sandberg Custom with 2 Delano XTender pickups. The pickups are both individually wired in series. Love the instrument, and love the sound. Problem is, this YT vid shows the pups with a switch for parallel/series/single and I love all the sounds on offer, and love the versatility that it brings. I'm taking the bass in for a service and am half thinking about changing from series to parallel, or even asking the tech to add a series/parallel(/single) switch for these pups. What do other people think, listening to the video? The Sandberg sounds like the series-wired samples in the vid. Do you prefer the parallel over the series? Would you add a switch to your own bass in this situation? Am I chasing a dragon? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franzbassist Posted February 6, 2022 Share Posted February 6, 2022 My Franz Sirius fretless bass has this exact setup and I love the instant change of tone three way switching brings. I say go for it! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chyc Posted February 6, 2022 Author Share Posted February 6, 2022 1 minute ago, franzbassist said: My Franz Sirius fretless bass has this exact setup and I love the instant change of tone three way switching brings. I say go for it! My wallet isn't thanking you In all seriousness thanks for the data point. Out of interest which setting would you say takes the lion's share of your playing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franzbassist Posted February 6, 2022 Share Posted February 6, 2022 1 hour ago, chyc said: My wallet isn't thanking you In all seriousness thanks for the data point. Out of interest which setting would you say takes the lion's share of your playing? Haha, sorry! Probably humbucking mostly, but on my fretted Franz (which has two Delano HBCs and the same switch for each pickup) I usually have the bridge in series and just switch the neck to taste. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted February 6, 2022 Share Posted February 6, 2022 8 hours ago, franzbassist said: That is a VERY lovely piece of wood. You absolutely cannot beat a VERY lovely piece of wood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bloke_zero Posted February 7, 2022 Share Posted February 7, 2022 I've a MC 4 HE/S (the blade version of the MM which I think is similar?) and I have it wired with 3 way switch - love being able to go the single coil voice - clear and crisp. I mainly use that and parallel. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeFRC Posted February 7, 2022 Share Posted February 7, 2022 22 hours ago, chyc said: My wallet isn't thanking you a couple of three way switches would be fairly cheap... if you don't want to drill holes in the front of your bass it would be possible to get 3 way slidey type switches and install them inset on the back cavity cover. I did this on an old Yamaha SG I had to add coil taps. Not an ideal situation but lets you try it without any holes on (the front) of your bass. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itu Posted February 7, 2022 Share Posted February 7, 2022 I have built a rotary switch to the XTender. I have all three option, but only the series/parallel is in use. The difference between the single and the parallel is negligible. A slight difference in level, but that's it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chyc Posted February 7, 2022 Author Share Posted February 7, 2022 Thanks for all the replies to this. After some thought I decided that had there been just one pickup I probably would have gone for it, but two pickups already gives me a wide range of tones, and there's a three band EQ to finesse it further. Two switches would make the front of the bass a little cluttered for my taste, but one switch would do my head in at the lack of symmetry The switches themselves would have been cheap, but I wouldn't have the equipment, the confidence or the skills to install it myself, and that's where the cost would be. I must say I'm bloomin' impressed with the bass. It's making me pick it up every day for a practice. Maybe the odd shape of the XTender is a gimmick, maybe not, I don't know, but it sounds really good to my ears. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted February 7, 2022 Share Posted February 7, 2022 On 06/02/2022 at 13:07, franzbassist said: Did I mention that this is lush? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itu Posted February 7, 2022 Share Posted February 7, 2022 (edited) 2 hours ago, chyc said: The switches themselves would have been cheap... Use a pot with a switch. No need to drill extra holes. I use rotary switches. Here are two in my dear fretless: an 11 position step attenuator (metal foil resistors, naturally), and a three position coil tap switch. Edited February 7, 2022 by itu 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeFRC Posted February 7, 2022 Share Posted February 7, 2022 1 hour ago, itu said: Awesome looking basses - odd posing of straps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itu Posted February 7, 2022 Share Posted February 7, 2022 The straps are handmade and similar, the picture shows both sides. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted February 7, 2022 Share Posted February 7, 2022 FWIW I have bass with two Smith type pickups. I have two push pull vol pots. I never use the "weaker" settings. I always fall into the trap of having the most options. And then I find the beefiest settings and stay with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickA Posted February 7, 2022 Share Posted February 7, 2022 If you coul tap these pickups, do they still humbuck? I think the twin jazz bridge pickup on my Warwick must be two humbuckers in series beacuse it's still silent when tapped... But some won't be ( hence I think, the limited options on an HH Stingray ...it will never allow a single pickup single coiled ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chyc Posted February 8, 2022 Author Share Posted February 8, 2022 (edited) 19 hours ago, NickA said: If you coul tap these pickups, do they still humbuck? Interesting question. Delano make two identical looking pickups, the XTender HE and the XTender HE/S. I think the S stands for split coil so should be silent in single coil operation. (UPDATE: This is the wrong way round.) Saying that, the video above is of an HE and I cannot hear any buzz at all. I do not know which one is installed on my bass. Sandberg never replied when I asked, which is a shame but I don't think it changes things much. Edited February 8, 2022 by chyc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chyc Posted February 8, 2022 Author Share Posted February 8, 2022 10 hours ago, chyc said: Interesting question. Delano make two identical looking pickups, the XTender HE and the XTender HE/S. I think the S stands for split coil so should be silent in single coil operation. I got it the wrong way round. The HE is silent in single. The HE/S will have a buzz, but there are videos of HE/S that are silent to my ears. Here's a thread on the topic: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/delano-xtender-pickup-question.1329640/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoffbyrne Posted February 8, 2022 Share Posted February 8, 2022 (edited) Series and parallel are both humbucking. Single coil is not and it isn't really "tapping" either. I have a couple of really old DiMarzio Strat single coils which have a coil tap coming from roughly half-way through the wind. This can be switched in and is the only true "tapping". Edited February 8, 2022 by geoffbyrne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chyc Posted February 8, 2022 Author Share Posted February 8, 2022 Yes I now realize that tapping isn't the correct term, although it's been used incorrectly enough that hopefully people would understand what I meant. I was talking about a selector switch to convert a pickup between series, parallel and single coil. Even then the terminology isn't correct: the single coil can be a true single coil in the HE/S, or can be split like the HE. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoffbyrne Posted February 8, 2022 Share Posted February 8, 2022 Yes, sorry if I sounded a bit peremptory - I have a Sire M7 with that kind of switching. I use it, mainly, in parallel mode and never in single, switching only to series when I need the extra mids. It not being played much since I got my Tanglewater (Overwater by Tanglewood). The Overwater pickups seem to be in parallel, both on the above bass and my fretless and that seems to suit me very well. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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