Pickups, Preamps and outboard electronics
This article gets a little (a lot, actually) on the techy side of things. When it comes to potentiometers for guitars, there’s this thing called taper. There are 4 kinds of tapers, and the designations for are logarithmic (also known as audio), linear, reverse logarithmic and graphic. Quick question answered 1: Why does the reverse … Read more
In a recorded phone conversation with Larry of Aero Pickups, he discussed many things, and one of them was single-pole-piece-per-string vs. two-pole-pieces-per-string. I always say when you have two pole pieces per string, the note is picked up twice every time the string vibrates over the magnets. There have been times when I’ve sent single-pole-piece-per-string … Read more
We asked our Facebook audience what type of pickup they prefer, be it single-coil straight, split-coil, dual-coil, rail design or something else… …and now it’s time to ask you. What’s your favorite bass pickup type, and why do you prefer it? Multiple answers are OK, because some players use specific pickups for specific applications. Post … Read more
Recently, we posted an open question on Facebook asking what your favorite pickup is. Feel free to check that out. Do you agree with the comments on that discussion? There were a lot of EMG and Seymour Duncan fans out there. What’s your favorite brand of bass pickup (even if it’s one we don’t carry)?
(Quick info for those that don’t like to wait and want a DI box now: See the SansAMP Bass Driver DI and SansAMP Character Series VT Bass DI.) “DI”, which most players know as “Direct Injection” (meaning not Direct Input and I’ll explain why in a moment), is a very standard thing to use when … Read more
In BBG’s pedal lineup is the Ashdown Dual Band Compression pedal for bass. Looks cool and sounds great… …but what exactly is dual-band compression and why would you want it? Dual-band compression for bass splits the incoming signal is split into two bands, low frequency and high frequency, runs each through separate compressor circuits, combines … Read more
Note up front, yes, we sell this, but that’s not the reason for this article. When it comes to envelope filtering, you have two ways of going about it. Either you use a manual bass wah pedal that you rock back and forth with your foot, or you use an envelope filter pedal. At first … Read more
Some players like using distortion, and that’s fine. However, there’s some debate that exists on whether you need a bass-specific distortion effect or not. Technically, no, you don’t: However…. Although the term “clean distortion” is a bit of an oxymoron (it’s like saying “clean dirty”), regular distortion pedals can’t distort cleanly. Why? Well, let’s take … Read more
Preamp vs. Pedal is can basically be defined as inboard vs. outboard. With a preamp, everything is literally inboard to the bass guitar itself. Internal power, internal board, all-direct connections with the least noise, and so on. With a pedal, everything is outside of the bass guitar. External power and board with two big wires … Read more
Above: Chris shows us how to install a Mike Pope preamp system along with Delano pickups on a Fender 4-string Jazz Bass. Yes, this is a long video, but well worth the watch. And yes, you get to hear it when the job is done!
