Spoombung Posted March 5, 2012 Share Posted March 5, 2012 I'm Interested in any experiences players may have of the standard Kent Armstrong soapbar humbucker, ie this one: I need to replace the bidge pickup in my Bass Collection bass. I'm after a fatter sound than the thin-sounding single coil I have there at the moment - especially on the D and G strings. I'm interested because the Kent Armstrongs are considerably cheaper than Bartolinis and EMGs. the blurb reads: [i]"Our model HB4E3B 4/5 string pickup is a classic soapbar with great tonal character. It can be used either active or passive mode, alone or in pairs. In parallel there is the characteristic CLICK of a Stingray® when popped, and in series it has the full, round growl of many classic bass Pickups. The full-length bar pole-pieces allow any string spacing up to 80 mm to be used and play as hard as you wish without the fear of pulling a string out of the magnetic field. The widely spaced coils sample a fairly long section of the string, giving a high-tech bass sound. Great for 4 or 5 string bass builders and custom mods! 4 conductor wiring allows coil splitting, series/parallel, phase inversion, and more.[/i]" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4000 Posted March 5, 2012 Share Posted March 5, 2012 Can't speak for that pickup specifically but I have KA soapbars in my current Sei and prefer them to the Barts I've had in the others. They seem very open with a good output; they don't seem to colour the sound of the instrument as much as the Barts (which appears to be the general consensus)and somehow seem more balanced sonically. They certainly suit me, although YMMV. If I was having another Sei or similar built I'd have KAs in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoombung Posted March 5, 2012 Author Share Posted March 5, 2012 [quote name='4000' timestamp='1330951524' post='1565143'] Can't speak for that pickup specifically but I have KA soapbars in my current Sei and prefer them to the Barts I've had in the others. They seem very open with a good output; they don't seem to colour the sound of the instrument as much as the Barts (which appears to be the general consensus)and somehow seem more balanced sonically. They certainly suit me, although YMMV. If I was having another Sei or similar built I'd have KAs in it. [/quote] Thanks. do you know the exact model? 'KA Soapbar' is the just Kent armstrong soapbar - like the pic above, isn't it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4000 Posted March 5, 2012 Share Posted March 5, 2012 Sorry, I don't know. It doesn't look the same as that (different case and no lettering), and I know that Aaron custom winds for Sei so it could be a custom wind or off the shelf (I'm not the bass's original owner). Of course it could be the same pickup in a different case. KAs have a reputation for being very neutral and uncoloured with good output; I know they custom wind for a lot of high-end builders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wil Posted March 5, 2012 Share Posted March 5, 2012 I have an Aaron Armstrong wound bridge soapbar in my bits bass. It was originally intended for an ACG I think. It's very well made, cast in resin. Sounds good - thick but plenty of top end detail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdwardHimself Posted March 5, 2012 Share Posted March 5, 2012 great pickups for the price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahpook Posted March 5, 2012 Share Posted March 5, 2012 (edited) [quote name='EdwardHimself' timestamp='1330956512' post='1565288'] great pickups for the price. [/quote] plus the one. i fitted a KA pickup just like the spoombung has in a friend's westone bass and it sounded great. Edited March 5, 2012 by ahpook Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Vader Posted March 5, 2012 Share Posted March 5, 2012 I have two of them knocking about, I've used them in a couple of different basses before, they sound great but I can never get on with the look of them (which is just stupid i know) but they are earmarked for a future fenderbird idea i've got. You won't be disappointed though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoombung Posted March 7, 2012 Author Share Posted March 7, 2012 Anybody else using them...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Len_derby Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 I've got an Epiphone Embassy 5-string with them fitted. They'd been fitted by a previous owner ( who's not a basschatter) so I don't know how they compare to the originals. However, they do give a neutral but slightly 'woody' sound to my ears. They do the job just fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahpook Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 [quote name='Len_derby' timestamp='1331137305' post='1568293'] ...they do give a neutral but slightly 'woody' sound to my ears. They do the job just fine. [/quote] i recall the pickup i put in my friend's westone had a 'woody' tone too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batfastard Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 [quote name='Len_derby' timestamp='1331137305' post='1568293'] I've got an Epiphone Embassy 5-string with them fitted. They'd been fitted by a previous owner ( who's not a basschatter) so I don't know how they compare to the originals. However, they do give a neutral but slightly 'woody' sound to my ears. They do the job just fine. [/quote] My Embassy 5 string has the original pick ups and sounds pretty good but has a low output. Would be interested in hearing yours. If your interested I can do a recording for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzneck Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 My son one used one back in 1995 on a fretless he built. Fantastic woody tone and absolutely ideal straight into an ampeg V4BH (no tone or volume control on the bass itself!). Oh, the other bit is that it is mounted in the preEBMM Stingray sweetspot. Hope it helps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Len_derby Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 [quote name='Batfastard' timestamp='1331138407' post='1568314'] My Embassy 5 string has the original pick ups and sounds pretty good but has a low output. Would be interested in hearing yours. If your interested I can do a recording for you. [/quote] I'll put something on my Zoom H2 and save it as an .mp3. It'll probably be the weekend by the time I get around to it though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BILL POSTERS Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 Dunno about the soapbar one, I put vintage 10K KA pups on my P bitza and theyre great. My Bass Collection 301 (passive) had rubbish weedy pups on it, I swapped them for some Wilkinsons that I came by mega cheap, and theyre a gazillion times better, i definitely will fit KAs to it when I'm feeling a bit richer. i love the bass, just didnt like thw wimpy sound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoonBassAlpha Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 My US Masters fretless has them as standard. The Masters were not particularly cheap, and these were what they chose, so I guess that says something. They sound really nice. I'd say neutral, and pretty woody. I don't think you would go far wrong for the money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benebass Posted April 14, 2012 Share Posted April 14, 2012 (edited) Does anyone have any sound clips of these in action please? Thinking of using a pair of them on a project & really want to hear them in action... Cheers, B. Edited April 14, 2012 by benebass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTUK Posted April 15, 2012 Share Posted April 15, 2012 I have KA pickups in a Sei J5 and they sound immense wired up to the East pre. I do prefer Barts straight out of the box though but am glad I have both in my basses. I think Aaron A could make any sound you want from a pickup, so I am less concerned with typical model sounds, personally, so therefore the soapbar case and the fit onto the bass is its only real function, IMO. I would definitely talk to KA/Arron A about what you want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benebass Posted April 15, 2012 Share Posted April 15, 2012 Hi JTUK - the custom stuff's a bit out of my budget, so it's the cheaper Korean soapbars I'm trying to find some soundclips for. Cheers, B. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WHUFC BASS Posted April 16, 2012 Share Posted April 16, 2012 (edited) They're not actually made by Kent Armstrong, they are a Kent Armstrong design made by "Sky Pickups" in Korea - hence the cheap price. Proper Kent Armstrong pickups are just as expensive as Barts and SDs, sometimes more so. They're good pickups all the same - I have a set of single coil Jazz vintage hot pickups in one of my basses and used to have a P bass with the vintage hot p-bass pickups in. That gave a real poweful output and a superb precision sound. Edited April 16, 2012 by WHUFC BASS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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