Good passive bass pickups?

[Zozobra]

I already have, on the first page.

I'll lower the pickups a ton tomorrow, and do two different runthroughs. On one I'll pick like a pansy, and on the other one I'll play normally (ie. more fret buzz than note). Hopefully it's just pickup proximity.

If it is, then there's hope. It means if I get a set of stacked EMGs in there, I can get this bass tolerating decent playing without farting. The Ibanez is godlike at doing that, despite its raw tone being too telephonic.

I have an encore (I know, shutup) kicking round that does what youre hearing there. It sounds very similar actually; same clicky/clippy pop and no low end. Moving the pickups back helps, but doesnt fix.

 

[Habsburgs]

High pickup vs Low pickup

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/933491/Bass high pickup vs low pickup.wav

I had to check how my VM compared to yours. Strings are old. Strung in the begin of the summer, but what I noticed in mine was that I had the same clipping going on as you. So I lowered the pickups a LOT and the results were much better.

Awesome! the fart/clip is gone

 

[kaomao]

Having the pickups too low can cause distortion?

I meant "Lowering pickups height will help avoiding fart sounds"

 

[Ermz]

Well, I did a test by lowering the neck pickup. Turns out the bridge one can't go any lower. They literally didn't drill the screw holes deep enough for me to be able to lower it further.

Right now the output of this bass is LOW... as in lower than any guitar I've recorded.

Test files: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/285689/Forum/Shoot-outs/Squier Tests.rar

Lowering the neck pickup cleared the tone up, as you can hear, but it's not enough. Still sounds pretty poor, but I've got nowhere left to move with it, unless I want no output level at all.

 

[Melb_shredder]

Ermz.. If this one literally doesn't do it for you, maybe it's time to actually go out there and try a whole range of basses and at least narrow down the closest you can to your optimum sound??? Then maybe get one build if you're so inclined. This purchase was fueled by review and clips on this board but as the headphone advice it seems to be more pain than pleasure to keep blindly buying stuff?

I'm also feelin the disappointment FOR you at this point haha

 

[Ermz]

Unfortunately there's nothing to try. There are dozens of external factors at play at music stores. Unless you're positive that the bass has been set up right, freshly restrung, and running through a neutral chain which you're familiar with (and can later review in a room that's neutral across the low frequencies, or as close to as possible) there's no point. Luke and I have been at this for years now. The only good bass tones I've had so far were through sheer luck. An awkward BC Rich, and a hand-made chapman stick from the 70s - Both things that had proprietary/exotic ingredients, which are no longer used in mass produced builds.

The only option from here is to gather as much info as possible, collate all our data, and get some hand-made customs based on the ingredients most likely to work well together. That's what we've been doing for the last several months. The Squier was just an excursion - a long-shot attempt to see whether some cheap gains could be had. It didn't go well - that's fine, I didn't necessarily expect it to! Given how shonky the build quality obviously is, it stands to reason that you're taking a huge gamble with a bass like this. I'm sure many of them are entirely usable - but many, including mine, seem to be leaning more toward the 'rubbish' end of the scale.

 

[Melb_shredder]

^^^ that's understandable. I should drop by when Milkys American Deluxe jazz is restrung! Pretty sure you'll love it

 

[Mikaël-ange]

Totally OT but why did you record that hot Ermin?
Most of you bass DI posted earler on this thread peak around -3 dbfs...
Just saying btw

 

[Ermz]

Turned a lot of them up in Cubase, mostly so that people didn't need to crank their volumes too loud to listen.

 

[Jaymz]

What Ibanez model was it that was used for the test in your zip?

 

[Mago]

^ I guess his BTB 705 DX
http://www.thomann.de/at/ibanez_btb705dxtkf.htm?sid=3c80c0b744a4ee2e50a0449425c96c8c

 

[Jaymz]

^ I guess his BTB 705 DX
http://www.thomann.de/at/ibanez_btb705dxtkf.htm?sid=3c80c0b744a4ee2e50a0449425c96c8c

I thought he sold that a while back?

 

[Mago]

I think it hasn't sold yet...could be wrong tho, that's why I wrote "I guess"

 

[AStudio]

The Ibanez is the best by far. Maybe im being silly but why do you want the squier to be good? Its sounds bad so move on I say.

I really really wouldn't put more money into it. How come you don't use the Ibanez? Sounds great, best response over all frequency and no annoying honk/clank hollow mids.

 

[Ermz]

Yeah the Ibanez was the BTB705DX. It's a solid contender, but far from ideal. What I dislike about that one is its telephonic frequency response. It has nice EMG grit, and otherwise great feel, hardware and appearance, but I think the ash wings just add too many negative elements to its tone. Ash just seems to be a really nasty wood for bass guitars, through and through. The Sadowsky was a chambered Ash body, with a bolt maple neck, and it sounds the worst out of the lot (barring the Squier, which is a joke, obviously). It appears to enhance resonance in that 160 to 200Hz area to bleh proportions.

@AStudio: I think I just very badly wanted the consensus on the Squier VMJB to be true. I thought I was doing something wrong with it (never actually had that feeling with an instrument before) hence getting it serviced and tidied up. As you say, it's obviously not worth it. What I'm talking about now with my bass buddy is that we may use it as a platform to try out different hardware, just so we can isolate what we actually want on our customs, down the track. All our current guitars have EMG-sized pickup holes, so what we may do is route Bartolini sized ones into the Squier, and try a few out, with various preamps, bridges and nuts - see where we end up!

I do use the Ibanez. It's the current studio guitar. It doesn't sound nearly as good as the NJ Beast we used on the Untruth stuff, nor the 70's chapman stick from a while back. So my search goes on!

 

[DeclanWhite]

i think you're the most picky person i know haha

 

[kaomao]

Today I received my 5 stirng squier jazz vintage modified ! and indeed had this problem but as soon I lowered the middle pickup it went away.
I'll post something later, weekend I think.

 

[Headof75]

I'm hoping to get a Countryman DI from another poster on here before the weekend. When it arrives I'll record some DIs of my current basses for comparison -
American Standard Jazz with Alder/Maple/Rosewood and my Squier Vintage Modified 4 string, which I've already done a set up on but not really recorded with yet.

 

[Mago]

Why not the NJ Beast then?

 

[Rogueleader]

Seymour Duncan basslines are quite good. A natural match for Fender style basses. I've used the Quarter Pounder's in a P bass for a while, and they sound great. Very punchy sounding pickups. I believe they make J and PJ sets as well.