NPD (New Pickup Day - EMG S3 (stacked coil Strat pickup, but used in a Bass VI type instrument))

[Baloney Balderdash]

So I bought a passive EMG S3 stacked coil hum free Strat pickup with the purpose of swapping out the stock middle single coil pickup in my Harley Benton GuitarBass (a take on the Fender Bass VI concept), as the middle pickup soloed is all I care for tone wise on this instrument.

Not entirely sure what to think about it though, the magnets used are Alnico 5 pole piece slugs like the original, and it definitely is a lot quieter than the stock one, which was the main reason I swapped it, as I actually loved how the stock pickup sounded otherwise.

It's actually not a night an day different, but non the less I'd claim rather essential.

First of all the EMG is for sure quieter, and higher output as well, it is also a bit more punchy sounding than the stock one, which are all aspects of it I like and consider an improvement over the stock pickup, however I am not sure about how I like it also being a bit more compressed and hi-fi sounding, and as consequence in a way not quite as dynamic and sensitive as the stock pickup, which, while not sounding as clean and clear, did produce a somewhat more complex tone, did respond extremely well to my picking dynamics, like slightly changing both volume and tone according to how I picked in a very effortless and natural way, while the EMG, while it actually does respond just fine volume wise to my picking dynamics, tone wise just sounds more or less the same regardless of how hard I pick.

So yeah, the EMG is a bit more punchy, more compressed, cleaner/clearer and somewhat more hi-fi sounding, but also somewhat less complex sounding, and not quite as effortlessly and naturally responding to my picking dynamics, overall just seeming less sensitive and dynamic.

Not sure weather I am willing to sacrifice tonal complexity and dynamic response and sensitivity for a bit more punch, improved note separation and clarity when doing chord work, and being quieter when not touching any metal parts (as in grounding the pickup).

So am pondering weather to let the EMG S3 stay in the GuitarBass or if I should go through the trouble and re-installing the old stock pickup.

I read a lot of praise for this pickup, but also a lot of comments about the EMG pickups (including their passive pickups, like this one) in general being somewhat sterile sounding and lacking character, and I guess the latter is exactly my problem with this pickup.

I wonder though if this is indeed mainly a case of how EMG tends to voice their pickups, as suggested in the above paragraph, or I would likely encounter similar issues with any stacked coil, single coil Strat pickup format, pickup (compared to true single coil pickups)?

[Baloney Balderdash]

I ended up uninstalling the new EMG S3 hum free stacked coil pickup and reinstall the old stock single coil middle pickup, but replacing the stock pickups wires with a shielded wire and hook it up via the solder free pickup harness that came with the EMG, just using the 250kOhm EMG volume pot, so that the resistance match the stock 500kOhm parallel volume and tone pot (and since I don't use the tone pot anyway).

 

The stock pickup is considerably more noisy than the EMG, but in any other aspect it sounds better, more articulate, much more dynamically responsive to my picking, and just all together reproduce a tone that match my personal preferences much closer.

 

The cheap stock pickups on this cheap budget instrument are killer.

 

The EMG pickup in this case was waste of money and waste of time, and except for it being less noisy in every other aspect a downgrade (I should add though that I am extremely satisfied with the upgrade to an EMG Geezer Butler P in my Ibanez Mikro Bass though, huge improvement, but then again I never liked the cheap stock P pickup in this bass, which in my opinion is pretty underwhelming).

Edited July 22, 2022 by Baloney Balderdash