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Nordstrand pickups


Big Bottom End
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I have a MIM PJ Mustang with NP4 and NJ4SE at the bridge... with new loom and VVT control setup... so it's close.

Totally subjective view... and bearing in mind that I don't want you to go off and drop £200 on pickups and then not like them...

I believe I now have the bass of the gods. I wanted something vintage-y but with a bit of whoomph (don't we all). For me, it was essential to have a bridge pickup that held its own... and it does that. I now find I have huge control over tone with just the two volume controls and don't need to twiddle any controls on the amp.

I've tried this out through a Rumble 100 at home (this is also my rehearsal amp). I have a Rumble 500 for gigs... but obviously not been able to try this out in anger. For me the tone is ideal for classic rock and blues.

I have to point out that I'm terrible at analysing or discussing tone and all the finer points of techie-stuff. I just like what I like.

You will already know this, but as the SE is a split coil the whole lot is dead quiet... you'll have to double-check the amp is on.

In set-and-forget mode I tend to have P on full, J backed off very slightly and tone backed off about a third.

 

Edited by Trueno
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The biggest affect on your tone is the strings. Before you change pickups it may be an idea to look into the strings you use.

I spent years and years thinking I needed the right pickups to get me sound I want. Turns out finding the right strings got me pretty much there. For pickups you need to decide vintage or modern sounding, that's pretty much it. 😎

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A player that I really like the sound of is Mick Karn.

The background to all of this is that I'll be taking possession of a new fretless with a rosewood board soon. I was thinking that a pick-up replacement might give it some extra sparkle (because it's quite an inexpensive instrument). I played an old single-coil (fretted) tele bass for years with Rotosound roundwounds on it and loved it, but I imagine putting these brutes on a RW fretless would be like grinding round files over soft cheese. I'd like to stick with rounds and have read that nickels are gentler on the board. So, I'm thinking DR nickel Lo-Riders, Sunbeams or Pure Blues. Or maybe D'Addario nickel NYXLs? Or La Bella nickel rounds. In the 45-105 range.

The bass is a PJ with an ash body, maple neck and rosewood board.

Thanks - any tips would great!

Edited by Big Bottom End
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For the Mick Karn sound you need soapbar pickups, no jazz pickup will cut it. The p maybe ok with the tone rolled off 40%.

If you want roundwounds, I'd go for Fender pure nickel 7150, they are fairly high tension, but sound big and warm straight out of the packet.

Also, you'll need to play fairly heavy, and slightly out of tune to get that wobbly effect.

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On 27/09/2020 at 08:31, hooky_lowdown said:

The biggest affect on your tone is the strings. Before you change pickups it may be an idea to look into the strings you use.

I spent years and years thinking I needed the right pickups to get me sound I want. Turns out finding the right strings got me pretty much there. For pickups you need to decide vintage or modern sounding, that's pretty much it. 😎

I think strings are most important just like you said. Pickups 2nd most important.

What are your favorite strings?

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