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Just how important are bass pickup upgrades?


KevinTJH

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I'm currently an active solo recording artist and I use instruments of various tunings for each song.

For songs in Drop C, I use a Gibson Thunderbird Bass (all stock electronics), I'm no expert in bass guitars but I would assume that anything Gibson should be of high quality straight out of the factory.

 

I'll soon be recording a song in Drop A, but my budget made me settle for a $600+ 5-string Caraya bass guitar, which might be a bit of a step down. While I'm truly impressed that the built quality of this instrument is actually top-notch, they come from the same factory in China that manufactures Epiphones so I'm assuming the quality of the electronics would be around the typical Epiphone quality.

 

So the question is, is it worth forking out extra to upgrade the active humbuckers on this to better quality ones? If so, how much am I looking at spending and what would I be looking at? In terms of size, it is the wider humbucker style, just like Musicman 5-string basses.

 

I usually record bass through virtual amps in the studio so I don't know how much a difference the upgrades will make. I also don't do any slap bass or have any songs where the bass is the dominant instrument, the bass is always just an accompanying instrument in the mix.

It seems as though typing a "bass pickups" on ebay's Searchbar has barely any options to look at as compared to the amount of guitar pickups available for purchase online.

 

 

 

 

Thanks in advance for your input!

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I suppose that depends on whether or not you can get the sound(s) you want from the bass you have.

 

I don't think of myself as a toan freak. I can usually get an acceptable tone with most any bass and amp combination. Recording can be a bit more demanding, of course. Noise can be a real problem, but you did say the bass has humbucking pickups. There could also be issues with the electronics: bandwidth, for example. But it all gets back to my first statement. If you can get an acceptable tone from the bass, who cares if it has cheap electronics?

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I'm not much of a bass player so my only real experience with playing a bass is through Amp Sims in a studio, and that really comes down to the producer's equipment available and experience to get the best possible tone out of an instrument.

 

So I'm guessing it's not that important to upgrade the pickups then?

Would there be a massive difference between a $30 active humbucker vs a $180 one if the bass is just in the background?

 

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Manufacturers usually choose pickups that are a step above your cheap replacements and there shouldn't be any reason why you cant get the tones you want. The only thing I see you running into a problem with is when you're using drop tunings. Strings are designed to sound best in standard tuning. I use drop D on some songs and its fairly easy to tell the reduced tension can cause tone, tuning and intonation issues if you aren't using strings designed for lower tunings. You want the best tone using heavy core strings goes a long way to producing solid tones and getting rid of flabby buzzy tones drop tuning can cause and you're not having to retweak the instrument's settings like the neck relief and intonation to compensate for the reduced tension.

 

Pickups aren't going to be an issue with most bass guitars unless they are thin sounding with normal tuning, but string brands can surely make a big difference, with standard or drop tunings. A longer or extra long neck scale length will sound better then a medium or short neck scale length too. The longer strings will retain better sustain and tone in drop tuning

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Thanks for your input, WRGKMC.

 

Yea, it's a full length scale 5-string bass and I've only just dropped to Low B-string to a Low-A. I've got a heavy strings on (45-130), unless you think the Low-A should be even thicker?

 

I suppose maybe the need to get the pickups and pots replaced is somewhat psychological since I've done that to basically ALL the guitars I own, except the 2 Gibsons, which I've kept stock standard.

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On my 5-string, the low B is 130, and I find it a bit floppy when tuned down to Bb. A would make it worse. If practical, I'd try to get a thicker string. A heavier core, as WRGKMC suggests, might also help by making the string a bit stiffer, less floppy.

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I think it's also good to remember that tension and stiffness are not the same thing. People often use the words interchangeably, but they are different, though related. Tension is the pull on the string. A heavier string naturally resonates at a lower frequency, so it has to have more tension on it to bring it up to pitch. As the tension increases, it gets harder to move the string; it gets stiffer. But there are other factors which affect stiffness, such as the thicker core mentioned above. Like copper wire: a solid wire of a given gauge is much stiffer than a stranded wire of the same gauge, and there's no tension on either one.

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To add to what Isaac said, The string thickness can be deceiving. You can have a thin core and fat string wraps and have a thick string, or you can have a large core and thinner wraps and have the same gauge. The two strings can feel very different.

 

The wraps themselves add nothing to the tension. They are wrapped around the core in a circular motion. If you've ever broken a string, the wraps simply uncoil like a spring. Its the core that sees all the tension. What the wraps do is add inertia and a stronger magnetic field displacement which all add up to increased bass tone. If bass strings were solid all the way through you wouldn't be able to flex nor tune them. Ever try and bend a metal rod about the thickness of a bass string? There's no way you'd get it to wrap around a tuning post either.

 

Different manufacturers have different stiffness's and tensions. There's enough brands you can try to find the best match for your instrument.

I've gotten to know many quite well.

 

DR's for example are a very flexible string, too flexible in fact for my tastes. They use thinner cores and thicker wraps to get their gauges. When switching from other brands you can often notice them bending at frets when you press them down. If you have high frets this can cause high notes in the lower registers.

 

D'Addario are one of the stiffer strings. They tend to be brighter too. They do an excellent job balancing their long scale sets. I like the way they sound on my Precision, but I have had some issues with the sets I've bought in the past couple of years. When I pick strings with my fingers I've gotten small metal splinters under my skin. I'm not sure if its the chrome splintering off or they are simply using dies which are dull when they draw the steel through them leaving the finish rough but man, 5 minutes playing and its like I got blisters. I got around the problem on the last few sets using ultra fine sand paper on them to remove whatever splinters were there and they played fine after that.

 

Labella Deep Talking - My favorite strings for a long scale playing live. These strings produce the tones you need get that big hall resonance. Perfectly balanced and touch sensitive. Labella is probably the oldest string manufacturer still in business making they're own products. Most others are simply cheap import branded labels. They really know how to make well balanced sets of strings and don't use weird alloys that produce synthetic sounding tones. The steel they use is the best sounding out of all other strings made.

 

Boomers are an excellent brand too, even their budget basis are decent. Very well balanced, durable and tones are good too. I can use them on just about any instrument including my short scale bases and not have flabby strings or oddball intonation issues. They are excellent for the money and like the D'Addario wont bust your wallet. I've used their flats, coated, and they're progressives are excellent for bright tones.

 

Fenders were good many years ago. They moved to Japan in the 80's and they're quality control became unreliable. They then switched to making them in Mexico and went totally down the tubes.

 

Roto Sound strings used to be the #1 bass string when I was young but the stuff they're selling now isn't so hot. They are good for a few weels and sound very good but they loose they're tone and corrode badly within a month or two. They must have switched to using cheap steel wire because they aren't the same strings any more.

 

Ernie Ball are about the same as Boomers and D'Addario. They are gauged well and sound good. Nothing super special. They have a longer break in period where they stretch quite a bit but they will last fairly long and retain a steady tone even when they get older.

There are a few branded bass strings I haven't used and I cant see spending $75 a set for gold plated strings. I tried a set of Optima's once and spend allot of time keeping them in tune.

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