| I got my Seymour Duncan brochure from Hamel Music in Chelmsford (across
from Marshall's). [btw, Marshall's is a clothing store, and NOT a
store that sells amps :^)
But you should be able to get a brochure from ANY music store which
stocks SD's, EMG's, DiMarzio's, etc. etc.
Hope this helps,
cheers/mike
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| A recent issue of Bass Player Magazine, focussing on Soloing, covered
some of your questions.
The best way to choose is to try out the combinations that you are
interested in at music stores, because a lot of factors go into
making up the final sound.
The bass has certainly evolved dramatically in a relatively short
period of time. Now you see set-ups like Billy Sheehan's where
a special neck pickup is routed to one amp where the signal is
divided, while the bridge pickup is routed to yet another amp.
You can get an eight string bass, fretless bass, synthesizer
bass, and you can use special tuning.
I recently upgraded pickups on my Ibanez RD700 to a set of EMG
PJ pickups. The changeover was straightforward, but only
because I had only three controls: the Ibanez panning pot,
volume and tone were replaced by the EMG neck volume,
bridge volume, and tone control. If the existing set-up had
been two or four controls, some serious body work would
have been needed. I am happy with the EMGs, they have a
wide tonal range and monstrous output - I no longer get
the cardboard treble tones that I suffered with.
Now, if I had wanted to make a radical change to two coil
type pickups, I would have been better off buying a new
bass due to the massive body changes.
I suggest that you figure out what kind of sound you want to
get, then check out equipment accordingly, bearing in mind
that the amp and speaker have a lot to contribute - I've
heard a Trace Elliot (top of the line bass amp) make a
Rickenbacker with years-old strings sound fat and warm;
when the guy plugged into my Carvin he experienced a dead
sound littered with the clicking of strings on the frets !
Also, it seems a sad fact that bass strings age very
quickly - I haven't found anyone that gets more than
a couple weeks of great sound. Considering that the
strings are 20 - 28 dollars, great sound doesn't
happen every day. Years ago, age was thought to be
useful, back when flatwound strings were in vogue. The
story goes that James Jamerson, the Motown great, fell
out of favor because he would not change his 2 year
old Labella strings that would no longer create accurate
pitch at higher frets.
Then of course there is tapping, which is easier with
lighter guage strings - but I haven't progressed into
that exotic land.
I still consider myself a beginner after almost a couple
years on the bass. When I have tone problems, I take a
close look at how old the strings are, and string
picking/plucking technique. From what I have been reading,
string plucking technique is the big factor in how a bass
sounds, given that the equipment is reasonable; and is what
I plan to focus on. Hope all this helps !
-Bill
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| Thank you very much for all your answers. I changed my strings
yesterday for Roto sound swing bass ones. I guess that my old
ones were very very old, 'cause had a dead fat sound before (I
play on Fender P.bass). Now, I can really change its tone just
by adjusting the tone control on the bass itself, which wasn't
the case before. Of course, I can get a larger sounds variety
by tuning my Carvin, but I was frustated that I could not do
it on the guitar.
I'm not looking to pickups now, but just looking for info on
what I can get, the price, the quality, and the sound I want.
My seller has just one Seymour Duncan cat. (we are in France)
and I would like to read some doc. quietly. That's why I was
looking for some addresses in the states where I could get
them. I'll check in the manufacturers note.
But if you have other advices for beginners, please do not
hesitate to put them here.
Patrick
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