Bass soapbar pickups

[marnold]

My Spector bass has EMG-SSD (think EMG-HZ) passive soapbar pickups. They are OK, but that's about it. They are dull sounding and can get muddy easily, even with stainless strings. I have toyed with the idea of putting real EMGs in there. To me, that's a huge part of the Spector sound. The nice thing with EMGs is that I'd be able to replace the pots because the ones in there are somewhat scratchy. The problem is that real EMGs aren't exactly the cheapest things in the world. Any thoughts on other possible solutions from you other bassists?

 

[NWBasser]

Here is my pickup of choice. Not the cheapest around, but oh so awesome tone. My GW has big singles and it sounds like the bastard child of a jazz bass and a Rickenbacker.

I think clear and very full-range describes the nordy's pretty well.

 

[Eric]

?

Was there supposed to be a link in there, or am I not picking up on something?

 

[NWBasser]

?

Was there supposed to be a link in there, or am I not picking up on something?

Yeah, it didn't show up. I'll try again.

http://www.nordstrandpickups.com/bass-pickups/signature/

 

[marnold]

I found this guy's videos on TalkBass where he goes through a bunch of EMG pickups on his Schecter bass, replacing EMG HZs which are similar to the pups in my bass. I was almost surprised to hear how much his HZs sounded like my bass. It showed me that just getting a preamp for this wouldn't help. To me, it sounds like there's a blanket on the amph.

In listening to all the videos, I liked the 40P and 40J combination the best. It seemed to have the best combination of clarity and growliness. Unfortunately, they are $105 a piece. The good news is that that comes with new pots and a new jack, so it would be a complete electronics replacement.

 

[marnold]

I'm toying with the idea of replacing the pickups one at a time. I'd get an EMG 35P4 for the neck first and later get a 35J or 35DC for the bridge eventually. The only "problem" with that would be that I'd have holes in my bass where the pups and controls used to be I suppose I could just cut the leads and leave the pickup and controls in there dead.

By the way, this is my first post on the new system.