Catch and release on a striped bass?

[Danzilla]

DanYmaL X - somehow I missed your post. After some more experimenting, I see no other option but the pickups, especially in light of your diagram. Last night, I even tried to capo the A string at the headstock, in case the string angle wasn't sharp enough; and to rule out using a Fatfinger to cure the problem. no help at all. Then, I played on the A string and bent the string really far- suddenly, it would get louder, as it entered the other half of the magnetic field. Pickups ARE the issue. So much for a cheap fix.

I'm probably going to order some Carvins. I was considering going with their cream pickup covers, to go for the all white effect; but band members think that the dark rosewood fingerboard and the black middle layer of the pickguard call for black pickups; the cream ones would "get lost". It'll be a few weeks before I get around to doing that, though; I've got a trip to Arizona at the end of the month. Any good bass stores there that might have a sale on pickups?

Thank you all for your support, knowledge, ponderings, and general inquisitions.

[Paul K]

 

http://www.bartolini.net/information/pu_gifs/shp_49j.gif

 

DX

 

Ha! Brilliant! That would also explain why flipping around the pickup didn't change anything. Great insight and detective work.

[jeremy c]

In Arizona, go to The Bass Place.

[Danzilla]

Hmmm... I'l have to see if that's feasable. We're going to be in Tempe, for a conference my wife is attending; then going to the Grand Canyon. Maybe I can sneak away while she's hobnobbing at the conference.

[5 string Mike]

Cool- you were able to figure it out. Rock on.

 

If you drop Carvins in it, you can maybe sell the Barts to offset some of the cost?

[saxofunk]

Glad you're getting it sorted.

 

FWIW, the image posted by DanYmaL X is exactly what I was talking about with DiMarzio Model Js.

[Danzilla]

Patience is a virtue.

And my wife is amazing (at least, at taking a hint. Na, she's amazing all around.)

She got me a set of Carvin H50A Alnico stacked humbuckers for Christmas. I'm off work tomorrow, and hope to give the soldering iron a little action to see if I can get these PUPpies into play. I'll let you all know how it works, and how many self-inflicted burns I get.

This could become the main bass for playing with Under Command.

[rumpelstiltskin.]

reading through this, i was wondering who would resurrect a year old thread. at least it was you, and not some jackass flaming everyone. did you get them in cream? i disagree with your band members. cream covers would have a high BA factor.

[Danzilla]

Basic black; it goes with everything.

Got them wired in on Sunday. My soldering skills are not the best, but not as horrible as some things I've seen (including a couple of spots the previous owner made on this bass).

Put the bridge pickup in, and all was well. A couple of tight spots, dodging other wires to solder these connections. Also made the realiziation that I should use the pencil tip rather than a chisel tip. (Chisel worked better for removing old solder, but pencil was easier to manuever for making new connections.) Gave it a quick plug-in to make sure I had the grounding ok, and I could tell a big difference between the neck Bartolini and this pickup.

On to swapping out the neck pickup. Problem! Even though I thought I had measured things properly, the neck pickup cavity was slightly smaller; maybe a milimeter or 2. I went ahead and soldered the wires, then took a blade and shaved off a little of the pickup casing on each side. It fit, mighty tight. Only problem now is that it's so tight, I can't get it to rise. I'm not too concerned, as there isn't a noticeable difference in output between the two pickups, even though the bridge is a bit higher & closer to the strings.

I haven't had a lot of time to put these through their paces yet, but my initial reaction is quite positive. Unlike the Carvin website's description, I wouldn't say "full bell tone and a nice extended top end". Definitely a full even tone across the spectrum, and strings; nice full midrange; but doesn't remind me of a bell. Not as scooped as the Aero J's in the Lakland DJ5. Bold, with a hint of aggression. (Do I sound like a wine snob yet?) The tone pot has decent play across the spectrum with these pickups, whereas the Bartolini's didn't seem to get much change between 1 and 10. Once the truss rod adjustment sets in, I think I'll have a keeper.

Anybody want to buy some Barts?

[Russkull]

(Do I sound like a wine snob yet?)

Yes.

 

Seriously, it is difficult to describe how something sounds without resorting to comparisons to other products. I'm always suspicious of the descriptions that these companies put out, just because what has a "full bell tone" to them may sound clangy to me. But good news that you like the pickups! Especially after waiting for them for so long.

[Danzilla]

For anyone who cares, here's what it looks like with the new pickups:

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n2/Awestruckdan/SchecterT5full.jpg

Not much difference.

Closeup of the pickups:

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n2/Awestruckdan/SchecterCarvincloseup.jpg

And the difference in the pickup height. Unfortunately, the paint at the edge of the pickup seems to be getting a small chip due to the pressure of jamming in the pickup; but I'm not looking for a museum-quality piece.

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n2/Awestruckdan/Schectersidepickupheight.jpg