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Post subject: Opinions requested!
Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2016 3:07 pm
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Ladies and gentlemen, children of all ages. My '87 Fretless Jazz has Bertoli (or whatever)(not the spaghetti) on it, they're nice and sweet and gentle.

I hate them. I even went round Roto's on it, which helped, but I want more!

MORE I SAY!!!!!

Sorry about that, too much coffee.

I swapped out SPB-3's on my Precision and am very happy!

I want something that will make people's eyes bleed.


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Post subject: Re: Opinions requested!
Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2016 9:14 am
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The Real Pennywise wrote:
Ladies and gentlemen, children of all ages. My '87 Fretless Jazz has Bertoli (or whatever)(not the spaghetti) on it, they're nice and sweet and gentle.

I hate them. I even went round Roto's on it, which helped, but I want more!

MORE I SAY!!!!!

Sorry about that, too much coffee.

I swapped out SPB-3's on my Precision and am very happy!

I want something that will make people's eyes bleed.


RotoSound PSD-99
You will not find a more in-your-face bass string than these.
They are expensive and they are tricky to install (you'll understand why when you go to put them on) but if you are looking for spank, pop, note definition and growl there is nothing else on the market like them.

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Post subject: Re: Opinions requested!
Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2016 3:07 am
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The Real Pennywise wrote:
I want something that will make people's eyes bleed.


Perhaps what you really need is a different amp......

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Opinions requested!
Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2016 11:59 am
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Bartolini pickups should come with a no eye bleed guarantee. There are several varieties of them and the original 9J1 L/S have a longer bridge pickup. I am very familiar with this set and it is notoriously devoid of upper mids, but are virtually noiseless. Sounds like you might have this set. The neck pickup is 3-5/8" long, with the bridge pickup being 3-3/4" long. Some modern Jazz Bass designs use two 3-3/4" pickups. You are going to have to measure, no way around it. None of the other passive Bartolini Jazz Bass sets are noted for their brightness either.

Since you like the Duncan SPB-3 in the P-Bass you might like the Duncan quarter pounder Jazz set but no matter which set you get you are going to want to measure first. The quarter pounder pair is higher output primarily because of the larger pole pieces but they tend to deliver a scooped tonal palate emphasizing highs and lows while the mids are slightly diminished.

For a more balanced pickup pair just old fashioned Alnico single coils are the way to go. In this category the Original Jazz Bass pair (120 dollars at Musicians Friend) or the Custom Shop 60's set (160 dollars at MF) would be very appropriate and more affordable than some other options. With any of these three sets I would add full copper shielding to the pickup cavity, back of the pickguard and control cavity. Alternately you could use the brass pickup baseplates, but copper foil works as well and is cheaper.

Another option would not need additional shielding and that is Fender Noiseless pickups. That would be the Fender Noiseless and Fender Noiseless N3 pickup pairs (also $160 at MF.)

Based on your eye bleed requirement I think shielding with full fidelity vintage style single coil Alnico pickups will get you closer to where you want to be. You could also opt for other Alnico single coils like the various SD incarnations but stay away from the HOT output ones if you want to accentuate upper midrange. Overwinding kills upper mids. Good luck Ron.


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Post subject: Re: Opinions requested!
Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2016 1:43 pm
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Arjay brings up a very valid point.
Some amps have more eye-bleeding capabilities than others.
For lots of reasons.

I also agree with low-ish output single coils for sharper note definition and improved spank.

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Post subject: Re: Opinions requested!
Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2016 12:54 am
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While it is true that some rigs have more eye bleed potential than others through sheer power, bi-amp capability, active EQ sections, astounding headroom in all sections, etc do not forget that cabs also play just as important a part including a mandatory high power horn array, a front porting location for the main drivers, computerized cab design, high quality plywood cabinetry, high power SpeakOn connectors, a beefy crossover, etc.

STILL though, if blinding upper mids are not there in the first place from the pickups or get filtered out by a high capacitance cable then it is impossible to boost what is not there with preamp EQ. I would never ever consider Bartolini pickups for myself. Some people of course love them but I find them limiting. I also do not like overwound "hot" single coils. Split coils or stacked coils are not the best solution here either and that would include either of the Fender Noiseless sets.

Full fidelity Alnico vintage type single coils is the solution if the rig is capable and you have a good low capacitance instrument cable.

Funny that people will spend 4 grand on a rig and passive instruments and $20 on a cable and wonder why their tone disappoints. Most players of passive basses have never heard of cable capacitance, yet it effects all passive bass players that are in the dark about it. So, you should not skimp on the cable. A low capacitance cable makes a lot of difference, but even with a low capacitance cable the longer it is the higher the capacitance total winds up being. So do not buy a longer cable than you actually need. I use MIT Ripcord Bass cables, now discontinued but they pop up on eBay now and then. I have a lifetime supply of them. I bought several spares still unused. MIT Ripcords are ultra low capacitance cable systems utilizing passive (no battery required) proprietary technology and were sort of expensive but unequaled until recently. MIT has continued their high end studio and audiophile cable offerings like $2,500 speaker cables, but their budget minded musician products have been discontinued and that is a pity.

There is a new player in the super low capacitance cable business making a product called Zerocap Cables by custom order out of Virginia. (They are not really zero capacitance but mighty close to zero.) They are slightly less expensive than the mass marketed MIT cables were but they are active with a small inline powered box running on a 12V A23 battery with an on/off switch. The batteries average about $1 each and last a long time. If you want to see why I use ultra low capacitance cables for bass see their video demo here:

[youtube]https://youtu.be/ZiZtqTi4epE[/youtube]

As awful as the audio quality is on that video you can still hear quite a difference when the Zerocap device is switched on. 10 to 20 dollar cables are usually the cheapest cabling available meaning the maker did not give a hoot about mF per foot just cents per foot. Even what is considered premium cables like Canare and Mogami cables that can get very pricey have higher capacitance than you might think! You can have the right passive pickups, the right amp, the right cab array and still not max out your eye bleed potential without an ultra low capacitance cable.


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Post subject: Re: Opinions requested!
Posted: Fri Jul 29, 2016 8:13 am
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For the purpose of in-your-face-bass that cable may be of some help.
For all other purposes it would be a matter of preference.
I preferred the sound of his Strat with the switch off.
With the switch on it seemed like he removed "Fender" from the amplifier.

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Post subject: Re: Opinions requested!
Posted: Fri Jul 29, 2016 9:19 am
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Retroverbial wrote:
The Real Pennywise wrote:
I want something that will make people's eyes bleed.


Perhaps what you really need is a different amp......

Arjay

Agreed! This will make your ears; eyes, and most especially your wallet bleed!
http://shop.fender.com/en-US/bass-amplifiers/bassman-pro/super-bassman/2249000000.html#start=1

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