neptunehealer Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 I am expecting my new SD quarter pounders tomorrow and i have noticed hoppus has switched round the pups in his new model to make the E and A more punchy and the D and G strings more prominent. Is this a load of codswallop and will it make any difference, as if it does before i install mine i may consider telling the tech to do this. Also what is the process for doing this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tait Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 he's had those changes from when he started touring with +44, but they don't seem to have brought it in on the signature. he also had different colours, he had a sunburst, a white and a natural IIRC, all with tort pickguards. as to whether it makes a difference tonewise, i have SDQPs on my taitycaster, with the pickups swapped round. i think it does make a difference, to me the E and A strings sound the same, but the D and G are a little less tight. its noticable to me, the D and G are more boomy and smooth sounding, and they don't sound as thin as when they're the other way round. i understand why mark hoppus swapped them for +44 with their more acousticy, slower sound, rather than the fast pop punk sound of blink. you'd have to reroute your bass if you wanted them installed this way round. tbh i think its more effort than its worth, i built my bass from scratch so i had to route it one way or the other anyway, whereas i'm guessing yours is already routed which will mean paying extra, and possibly having to go to a luthier rather than your local shop. i don't think it makes enough of a difference to justify it, but if you want to do it, go for it, it does make a difference and, to me anyway, it sounds better than the standard precision set up. on the subject of the mark hoppus, i'm on the fender site now, i've not seen it in black before. how great does that look?! i've always GASed for a mark hoppus jazz but never got round to buying one, now that GAS is back so bad. although i still think i prefer the white, its a fantastic looking bass. there isn't a lot of love for mark hoppus or his bass on basschat, people don't seem to like his very simple basslines or his also very simple bass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stan_da_man Posted July 16, 2009 Share Posted July 16, 2009 Carousel - 'nuff said! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RussFM Posted July 16, 2009 Share Posted July 16, 2009 I was thinking of Carousel when I read 'simple basslines' too! I like the bass... but it needs a chrome control plate! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tait Posted July 16, 2009 Share Posted July 16, 2009 (edited) [quote name='Stan_da_man' post='542220' date='Jul 16 2009, 01:34 PM']Carousel - 'nuff said![/quote] [quote name='RussFM' post='542236' date='Jul 16 2009, 01:53 PM']I was thinking of Carousel when I read 'simple basslines' too! I like the bass... but it needs a chrome control plate![/quote] i'll give you that, carousel has got a decent bassline, but have you seen them play it live? mark hoppus has to sit down to play it, i think that says something, not about the bassline but him as a bass player. still a good bassline though. as for the control plate, definatly not! i don't think i'd like a jazz with 2 jazz pickups and 3 knobs with a 1 piece pickguard, but with the precision pickup the 1 piece pickguard looks loads better. EDIT: to support both of my points, type carousel live into youtube, he's playing the original hoppus bass with the control plate, and he sits down to play the intro. Edited July 16, 2009 by Tait Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neptunehealer Posted July 16, 2009 Author Share Posted July 16, 2009 (edited) Ok so i accept that i may have to just pop the SD pups in the normal way. But it concerns me when you say the D and G string sound thin. Is this a massive problem as the whole reason i have upgraded is 'cause my current pups are thin on the D and G. Edited July 16, 2009 by neptunehealer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tait Posted July 16, 2009 Share Posted July 16, 2009 depends what pickups you already have in. if it was a stock squier affinity or something, they come with poor pickups in, and it will be much better than before. if you have say a USA standard precision, its gonna make less of a difference to how thin it sounds, the only difference will be you'll get more of that seymour duncan quarter pounder sound - more treble and bass, and less mids. if they still sound too thin when playing in a band, turn the treble down and the mids and high mids up. it'll cut through in a mix better. you'll really just have to wait and see, tbh if whatever bass you have had stock pickups in before, the quarter pounders will probably be better quality pickups anyway, so i'd worry more about the EQ and where you're positioning your hand/hitting the strings with a pick than what pickups to use if you want to cut through better. but yes, i'm sure thats why he swapped them around, because the D and G sound thinner when the pickups further back. it was no hassel for him to have them swapped on his model, like it was no hassel for me to swap them on my taitycaster, so he did. its a small difference, but if you can get that difference (and want to, i'm sure there are plenty of people here who completely disagree that the D and G sound too thin on a precision) with no hassel, you might as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neptunehealer Posted July 16, 2009 Author Share Posted July 16, 2009 Well my bass is a p-bass copy with vintage on the headstock. Cost £120 about 10 years ago. The pups are white. Hopefully the SD's will be a better option, i may then change the bridge to a Badass II. I was gonna and nearly purchased a US Fender P bass, but decided that this bass has been my only one and has been on a journey with me and i couldn't get rid. I assumed that Approx £100 on upgrades such as pups will make it sound just as good as a Fender P-Bass and save me £500 ish. Also even though it was cheap and nasty i play other more expensive basses in shops and they don't feel right with me, i feel comfortable with my bass. I will take some pics of it if you want, i have set the action low too. By the way i love Mark Hoppus, simple but effective. Seems like a good decent humble guy too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tait Posted July 16, 2009 Share Posted July 16, 2009 ooh seymour duncan quarter pounders and a BADASS II bridge, thats my sort of bass. this threads given me P bass GAS now. its not just the pickups that determine how the bass sounds though, if you got your bass and put US fender pups in, then swapped the electronics and hardware for a US fender's hardware, it could still sound completely different. however, people with a US P-bass still swap the pups out for SDQP and BADASS II bridges, so you're obviously heading in the right direction for a better bass. mark hoppus has always been one of my favourite bass players, people moan that hes not very good, but i think the fact that he doesn't play fancy basslines when they're obviously not needed makes him a better player than a lot on here who would happy twiddle away, maybe put some slap in etc if they were the bass players for blink, and it just wouldnt be as catchy or fun. i'm guessing hoppus can play more complicated stuff but chooses not to for the good of the song, its a more enjoyable listen that way, and to me that makes a good player. also, its not just about the bass, i just love blink 182 in general, i have over 4 hours worth of their stuff on my computer. mind, i only listen to about a third of it, i don't much like anything before dude ranch. on the subject of blink 182, they've announced tour dates, and it doesnt look like they're coming to britain i'm hoping they'll do a european tour or something soon though. hopefully in about a year, i'll be able to drive by then, otherwise it'll probably mean getting a train or something unless they come to nottingham, which i can't imagine they would. i can't wait for their new album. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neptunehealer Posted July 16, 2009 Author Share Posted July 16, 2009 Fair play to you, i agree with what your saying about Blink and Mark. People forget that Mark plays fast and also sings over some tricky basslines. I can't wait for their new album but am absolutrly gutted they haven't confirmed any uk dates yet. I think there is a good chance they will play Nottingham, i mean i saw Green Day there before American Idiot admittedley. I am hoping they will play Birmingham as thats the nearest to me. I have a total different style to Mark as i solely play fingerstyle but some of my fav players are plec styleee. If you want to see some pics of my bass type in 'bad hair day' in facebook and we are the first band on the list. Think there might be some pics of my bass there. Oh i do a bit of slap too, is a SD pup suitable for this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tait Posted July 16, 2009 Share Posted July 16, 2009 (edited) i always play on my SD quarter pounder precision pup for slap, and i've got a SD ceramic musicman pickup on that bass as well. it sounds better to me, but it depends on what sort of slap tone you like. and checking out your band on facebook now EDIT: yeah, theres a few photos of it. i'd put a tort or black pickguard on there, too. but thats just me. Edited July 16, 2009 by Tait Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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