My first project (fretless J.Bass 5) : wondering

[Patrick from Davis]

Another pickup designer that a lot of folks around here like is Nordstrand.  They will do an awful lot to accommodate the sound you are going for, but they are American based, and kind of expensive.  Still you might want to read about them or shoot them an email to see what they have to offer.
Patrick

"Oh... um, look, if we built this large wooden Badger..."

 

[Wana_make_a_guitar]

"I'm French. Why do you think I have this outrageous accent, you silly king ?"

Outraeous Frenchman Image[img]

Huh, great to see Monthy Python fans out here :toothy12:

@ Wana's_makin'_a_guitar : I think that the French soldier says "cherchez la vache" or "sortez la vache" (bring out the cow) but he's got an outrageous accent so I'm not sure :icon_biggrin:
[/quote]I'm 100% positive that It is Fetechez La Vache, I went to the 'SPAM alot' musical ( A musical roughly folowing the plot of The Holy Grail ) And I bought a shirt with It written on. Though it should be Récupérer la vache. 

:icon_thumright:  :icon_biggrin:

/boast

 

[Emile K]

Oh okay, that doesn't mean nothing in french so I thought it was a mistake :laughing7:

I know a little Nordstrand pickups, as a friend's got a pair on his bass, but as you said they are based in US, that's why they are less interesting for an European than Crel (France), RoughCrystal or BassCulture (Germany) pickups, that are also made by hand.

 

[line6man]

I know a little Nordstrand pickups, as a friend's got a pair on his bass, but as you said they are based in US, that's why they are less interesting for an European than Crel (France), RoughCrystal or BassCulture (Germany) pickups, that are also made by hand.

IIRC, Nordstrand's are not made by hand. I read something about a computer simulated scatter wind pattern to mimic an actual hand wind from the CNC or whatever. I thought that this was pretty stupid when i can have a guy actually hand wind me a pickup instead.

I've heard good things about Delano pickups. (From Germany IIRC.) Have you tried them?

 

[Wyliee]

I know a little Nordstrand pickups, as a friend's got a pair on his bass, but as you said they are based in US, that's why they are less interesting for an European than Crel (France), RoughCrystal or BassCulture (Germany) pickups, that are also made by hand.

IIRC, Nordstrand's are not made by hand. I read something about a computer simulated scatter wind pattern to mimic an actual hand wind from the CNC or whatever. I thought that this was pretty stupid when i can have a guy actually hand wind me a pickup instead.

I've heard good things about Delano pickups. (From Germany IIRC.) Have you tried them?

I had a set of Delano pickups in an old bass.  Great clear sound.  A friend of mine makes custom basses and uses Delano's as his standard pickup.  Similar to Bartolini's but with better clarity.  Definitely check them out.

 

[line6man]

Similar to Bartolini's but with better clarity.

I thought that Bartolini's were really warm/deep pickups? Or is that what you mean by "more clarity"?

 

[Emile K]

Well, I have tried a lot of Sandberg basses, as I often went in Germany, and they sound very "modern", very punchy and clean.

The main difference I found between Bartolini pickups and Delano, BassCulture or Crel pickups is that the first ones have a very narrow spectrum : there are almost no sub-basses, mid-mids and ultra-high frequencies, whereas the others capture almost all these frequencies.
You can see it very clearely using a spectroscope : Bartolini's spectrum is like a "M" with basses and high frequencies, and the other ones include all the sound spectrum.

That's why the Barolini sound "warmer" to me, while the hand-made pickups with neodyme magnets sound "cleaner". They just sound the opposite, if you change just the pickup parameter on a bass (we have experienced it with Laurent Kah on one of his basses, between Bassculture and Bartolini P2) It depends of the sound you're looking for.

I personnaly think that a luthier that uses neodyme pickups is a good one because you just hear the sound of the woods ; you cannot cheat. There are some "guitar makers" that are not that good at all and that put "colouring" pickups and preamp that will hide the defects of the instrument.