Pickups, Preamps and outboard electronics
Some preamp systems allow for the use of either 9 volts or 18 volts for power. Check the specifications for your preamp to make sure that it is recommended. Some known systems that DO allow for 9 or 18V are: Aguilar OBP2, OBP3; Bartolini NTBT 918, NTMB918, Delano (all); John East (all); ACG (all); Nordstrand … Read more
Generally speaking, the term means that there is a battery in the bass. Most commonly, the battery is being used to power a preamp. The preamp uses a battery and thus the instrument is powered (active). Occasionally, the pickups are active; a bass with active pickups would, of course, also be considered active. Most pickups … Read more
Use this tip sheet if you need to figure out how to wire a long threaded barrel jack into your bass. This sheet covers the long threaded barrel jacks from Switchcraft that we sell, but may be relevant to your bass as well if it has this style of jack. Chrome and gold jacks: The … Read more
I have an older Marcus Miller Signature bass, and it used to be highly susceptible to noise picked up through the vintage single-coil pups (unless they were exactly balanced in volume, and also light buzzing (that would go away when I touched the strings). That’s all gone now. It’s absolutely silent until I thunder a … Read more
Measure from the center of the lowest string to the center of the highest string over the center of the pickup. In the example shown, starting at 100mm and ending at 151.5mm, the string spacing is about 51.5mm total. This measurement is most commonly done in millimeters. Calculating string spacing is often important in ordering … Read more
One of the best options of the NP4 pickup is that it is available with alnico III magnets. Alnico is not a company but rather a combination of three words that make up the magnet materials, ALuminum, NIckel, CObalt. For modern bass tones, many players prefer the alnico V. But for “warmer” bass tones where … Read more
The Lindy Fralin P 4 pickup you will hear below is intended to be a replacement for a Fender Precision Bass style pickup, with a few advantages. Namely, a very loud and clear tone thanks to its alnico 5 magnets and heavy 42 gauge formvar wire. These pickups are hand wound to vintage specs (10 … Read more
We constantly get asked what the tone of a pickup sounds like, so we’ve recorded a few videos demonstrating some sounds. This is the first one. VERY IMPORTANT NOTES What you hear in the video below is obviously not going to be exactly what you hear in person. Your bass, your amplifier, your speakers, how … Read more
We are often asked (especially for Bass of the Week feature basses) to hear what specific bass gear sounds like. Below is a video demo of something we carry, the Bartolini 9CBJD. This particular pickup set is designed to have an extended and more resonant frequency range. They’re also designed to have more definition without … Read more
An email from a customer arrived recently expressing gratitude that we were able to help out with a bass upgrade. It is not uncommon that we receive emails like this, but what made this one particularly special is how the upgrade happened. (The author wished to keep the names anonymous. Names have been changed.) Pink … Read more
