Members pariah223 Posted January 29, 2006 Members Share Posted January 29, 2006 Hey everyone. I am building a bass guitar, self designed, but influenced a little by fender and wal. I am a guitar player, but have already built electric guitars, and now i want to build a bass and learn to play it. I am however complelty clueless on bass pickups. I know the difference between active and passive, but thats about it. SO my request is that you guys post some opinions as well as any 'facts' you know about bass pickups that will help me in my choice. The music i like to play and will be playing on this is metal/hardcore as well as some rock and blues. So a pickup with some versitility is ideal. So throw some stuff at me and ill look into them.. thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Spectorman Posted January 29, 2006 Members Share Posted January 29, 2006 For sheer power and response, EMG's, but beware i had some fitted to mine proffesionally, and the tone pots do nothing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pariah223 Posted January 29, 2006 Author Members Share Posted January 29, 2006 yea i was looking at EMG's. the P series to be specific.. and from what i have gathered, im better off with passive ones if i dont have a preamp? sound right?. Are P pickups versatle or is there another type i would be better off with? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Spectorman Posted January 29, 2006 Members Share Posted January 29, 2006 The "P" pups are fine. A lot depends on where you are placeing them. For punch, go near to the bridge, for warmth , centre. The choice of "P" or "Soapbar" is very personal. As for versatility, IMHO you can only get full versatility with actives. The most versatile is with active tone controls as opposed to active pups. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pariah223 Posted January 30, 2006 Author Members Share Posted January 30, 2006 how do active pickups work exactly? do you have extra nobs on the guitar? or is it a preamp type thing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Spectorman Posted January 30, 2006 Members Share Posted January 30, 2006 Active cicuitry requires a pre amp, the only extra knobs are if you are going for a three band eq. Theere are two distinct types of actives, if you just have active pups then all the power goes to the pups, with active cicuitry its the tone pots that receive the power, allowing you to cut or boost the bass/treble/mids. The active tone are the most versatile. But they also require more electronics, which means cutting out a cavity in the back to hous the board/battery and componants. The EMG's come ready wired. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Apendecto Posted January 30, 2006 Members Share Posted January 30, 2006 You couldn't go wrong with a lot of peoples pickups. Seymore DuncanBartaloniRio Grandetc. Your decision would be what kind you want. There's really only a few different kinds. P, Jazz, Humbuckers, Music Man humbucker. They all sound good but different. If you can play some it might help you out. I play a P in the center and a J stacked humbucker in the neck and it's very versitile. Yo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pariah223 Posted January 30, 2006 Author Members Share Posted January 30, 2006 Originally posted by Spectorman Active cicuitry requires a pre amp, the only extra knobs are if you are going for a three band eq. Theere are two distinct types of actives, if you just have active pups then all the power goes to the pups, with active cicuitry its the tone pots that receive the power, allowing you to cut or boost the bass/treble/mids. The active tone are the most versatile. But they also require more electronics, which means cutting out a cavity in the back to hous the board/battery and componants. The EMG's come ready wired. are the ready wired emg controls sufficent enough for good control? 2 knobs dont seem like enough to have a decent amount of control considering that one is volume. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jiggo Posted January 30, 2006 Members Share Posted January 30, 2006 It seems youre focusing too much on just having lots of nobs. With an extensive active preamp, you'd most likely have a pickup balance pot, a cut/boost treble, bass, and mid(maybe a mid freq selector) and finally a volume pot. In my experience with both active and passive basses, i dont think i would ever buy an active bass for the sake of "having more knobs". I have an Ibanez srx700 with a balance, volume, bass, and treble pots and for the most part everything stays flat. The main control i use to change my sound is the pickup balancer. IMO, 2 well placed pickups give you all the tonal variation you need. I find my jazz bass to be quite versatile with its 2 volume controls a treble cut. Decide what you want the bass to do, then go about figuring out what that will require. Just thinking "well 2 knobs arent enough" isnt a good way of going about things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bassmanatlarge Posted January 30, 2006 Members Share Posted January 30, 2006 The emg active pickups have the preamp built in. The passive tone control does suck for sure. If you're using the p pickup by itself, you might want to add the btc or bts eq (bass/treble concentric or seperate). If you use dual pups like pj or jazz set, you may be satisfied with just 2 volumes and let the pups give the tone you want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pariah223 Posted January 30, 2006 Author Members Share Posted January 30, 2006 now thats the kinda answers im looking for! thanks jiggo! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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