Great job Jonathan! I like the stock pickups and everything else about the Mikro for that matter. Funny how some cheap instruments just "come together". I mean you could build your own bass by purchasing high end materials and hardware and still come out with a sound devoid of character, but the Mikro with its combination of budget hardware and odd scale length just seems to work.
Right on! Absolutely, I have owned numerous expensive/higher end instruments that were uninspiring. Nothing wrong with them, but they lacked a certain mojo. But then there are a few inexpensive ones that just have a ‘thing’ to them. So hard to predict what combination of parts gives you that extra something special. Thanks for watching!
I've gotten a number of pickups branded Wilkinson Mseries sold via Musiclily on Amazon (in Canada), seems to be mostly Musiclily boxing of Wilkinson stuff. I've found there at least, most seem to have both an Alnico & a ceramic option so that gives some range of sounds as well. The most used is in my Harley Benton PB20-SBK cheap experiment bass, the "Wilkinson M-series WOPB Variable Gauss Alnico 5" pbass pickup. Since then, the bass has had La Bella flatwounds on, has been defretted (and all wiring, bridge, tuners, pickguard, knobs, etc changed) with the flats and now currently has La Bella tapewounds on and the pickup still sounds great on all of those variations for the sounds I've wanted at least. Thanks for the video :)
I've got a set of the Ibanez Dynamix P & J pickups and they are ceramic voiced pickups. The Wilkinson's did sound more like an Alnico, but they are ceramic too. Typically I find ceramics to be more biased to the high and low frequencies, with more articulation. Alnicos tend to be more mid range biased and a little softer in the articulation. Nothing wrong with ceramics, it's just most of what I like, Alnicos are voiced more to my taste. I have and use both, but mostly Alnico. I have used some budget Alnicos with surprisingly good results. Notably from eBay dealer Guitar Madness and Artec. A buddy of mine with a studio had an old Peavey Fury that was in need of some work. I did a full rework of the electronics, installing a GM Standard PB pickup and CTS/Switchcraft/Sprague wiring. I installed a set of Blacksmith uncoated nickel round wounds and he loves it. It's now the studio's number one bass an for a very low budget.
That's awesome to hear! It's about finding the right pairing between the instrument and the electronics. Not all 'great sounding' pickups work equally well in all basses. I've learned that one the hard way! Thanks for watching!
I agree with you that the Wilkinson p'ups sound better blended than the stock ones. As you pointed out, the J has better midrange and a bit more dynamic. I think most higher end p'ups are overpriced, especially artist signature ones. Thanks for the comparison series Jonathan. Cheers from Utah
Thanks for watching! Yeah, you're right. Pickup prices have gone a little wild, but at least there are more options now. It's amazing you can get a PJ set for $40 that sound alright!
There is a bass pickup maker called epic custom shop. They are fairly priced and you may want to give them a look. They are more than the Wilkinson's but less than the geezer butler set. They are priced at $104 U.S. but sound great and have excellent reviews.
Hi I has been looking your Bass Modification video list, its an awesome job! ! I would like to see in this bass a different pot configuration, 250k on neck pickup and 1m on bridge pickup, do you think it would sound any better?
Thanks for watching!! Here’s my opinion on pot values: it really depends on what you want to hear but more importantly, it really depends on the sounds your hands and fingers (and technique) naturally make on the bass. For instance, some people’s hands naturally produce a dark tone and may benefit from more open sounding pots (more highs) from 500k or 1meg pots. The flip side, some people naturally get a brighter tone from their fingers and might benefit from a 250k pot. So I think it’s more than just what someone else on UA-cam thinks. It’s more optimizing the sound and tone you naturally produce and what you want to hear from a particular instrument. My personal take. The higher value pots can make lower/entry level instruments sound harsher and exposes some of the less favourable sonic qualities from lower grade wood. I’m not a tone wood snob, but not all woods sound the same either! So with my hands, I generally use 250k pots unless a particular instrument is naturally dark and needs to be brightened up. On the Mikro, I would be fearful higher value pots would make it tonally too harsh. It’s just a hypothesis! Interesting question!
I'm pretty happy with the stock neck pickup sound, it sounds really great, but the bridge pickup is really noisy. Given the only issue I have with the neck pickup is that it doesn't "cut" well(doing so would probably change what I like about it), what could I put in the bridge to balance it? Ideally I want a noiseless/stacked pickup but won't want to pay much.
Thanks for watching! Indeed, the stock Mikro bridge J is on the noisy side. You may be finding that the stock neck P doesn't 'cut' well due to the scooped mid-nature of its output. It's the midrange that helps with definition and cut. You could consider replacing only the bridge p/u with a noise cancelling J model. Another commenter talked about the Dimarzio model J bridge, which could be a good option. It'll be quiet, but the tricky thing is getting the outputs to be balanced in a way that is pleasing to you. For short scales in general, due to the smaller string orbit/vibration at the bridge position, I find hotter pickups tend to work better. But there are many variables to can affect output balance (eg pickup height, pots, string type) and unfortunately I don't think there's a single recipe that will please everybody's tonal desires. But I think looking into a hum/noise cancelling hotter output J bridge p/u might be a place to start. You don't necessarily need to have matching brands between pickups. But it's potentially more difficult to gauge output across different brands as their descriptions and materials are not consistent. Eg DCR measurements are less useful here.
Dimarzio makes several J style humcancelling pickups. Personally, I like these because they are built more like a P pickup/split coil than other “stacked” pickups. Each coil only “sees” half of the strings, so they cancel hum without cutting as many of the frequencies that would be cancelled by seeing each string…at least that’s the idea. They aren’t much taller than single coil J’s like stacks can be either. DM also has good frequency and output charts so you can get close to what you want. I believe the Area and Ultra J’s have the normal exposed pole piece appearance, if that matters to you. I don’t work for DM, I just have used and liked their stuff for years. 🤣Cheers!
The Wilkinsons sound darker and fatter overall. Actually, the Wilkinsons with the tone at 100% sound more similar to the stock pickups with the tone at 50%, but with a bit more character. I like them, especially for the price. Not a huge upgrade in this case, but still a bit better, and I think they are a really nice option if you are looking to upgrade a cheap bass with crappy pickups.
![Small Bass But Big Tone! - Ibanez Mikro GSRM20 [Demo]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/9yVl44tVzjM/mqdefault.jpg)
![GarageBand Tutorial - Complete Course - [Everything You Need To Know For The SUPER Beginner]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/RpOfou3K-L8/mqdefault.jpg)
Great job Jonathan! I like the stock pickups and everything else about the Mikro for that matter. Funny how some cheap instruments just "come together". I mean you could build your own bass by purchasing high end materials and hardware and still come out with a sound devoid of character, but the Mikro with its combination of budget hardware and odd scale length just seems to work.
Right on! Absolutely, I have owned numerous expensive/higher end instruments that were uninspiring. Nothing wrong with them, but they lacked a certain mojo. But then there are a few inexpensive ones that just have a ‘thing’ to them. So hard to predict what combination of parts gives you that extra something special.
Thanks for watching!
I've gotten a number of pickups branded Wilkinson Mseries sold via Musiclily on Amazon (in Canada), seems to be mostly Musiclily boxing of Wilkinson stuff. I've found there at least, most seem to have both an Alnico & a ceramic option so that gives some range of sounds as well.
The most used is in my Harley Benton PB20-SBK cheap experiment bass, the "Wilkinson M-series WOPB Variable Gauss Alnico 5" pbass pickup. Since then, the bass has had La Bella flatwounds on, has been defretted (and all wiring, bridge, tuners, pickguard, knobs, etc changed) with the flats and now currently has La Bella tapewounds on and the pickup still sounds great on all of those variations for the sounds I've wanted at least.
Thanks for the video :)
That's so nice to hear about! Cool mods!
Thanks for watching!
I've got a set of the Ibanez Dynamix P & J pickups and they are ceramic voiced pickups. The Wilkinson's did sound more like an Alnico, but they are ceramic too. Typically I find ceramics to be more biased to the high and low frequencies, with more articulation. Alnicos tend to be more mid range biased and a little softer in the articulation.
Nothing wrong with ceramics, it's just most of what I like, Alnicos are voiced more to my taste. I have and use both, but mostly Alnico.
I have used some budget Alnicos with surprisingly good results. Notably from eBay dealer Guitar Madness and Artec. A buddy of mine with a studio had an old Peavey Fury that was in need of some work. I did a full rework of the electronics, installing a GM Standard PB pickup and CTS/Switchcraft/Sprague wiring. I installed a set of Blacksmith uncoated nickel round wounds and he loves it. It's now the studio's number one bass an for a very low budget.
That's awesome to hear! It's about finding the right pairing between the instrument and the electronics. Not all 'great sounding' pickups work equally well in all basses. I've learned that one the hard way!
Thanks for watching!
I agree with you that the Wilkinson p'ups sound better blended than the stock ones. As you pointed out, the J has better midrange and a bit more dynamic. I think most higher end p'ups are overpriced, especially artist signature ones. Thanks for the comparison series Jonathan. Cheers from Utah
Thanks for watching! Yeah, you're right. Pickup prices have gone a little wild, but at least there are more options now. It's amazing you can get a PJ set for $40 that sound alright!
There is a bass pickup maker called epic custom shop. They are fairly priced and you may want to give them a look. They are more than the Wilkinson's but less than the geezer butler set. They are priced at $104 U.S. but sound great and have excellent reviews.
Very cool. Thanks for the tip! I'll check them out!
Thanks for watching!
Hi I has been looking your Bass Modification video list, its an awesome job! ! I would like to see in this bass a different pot configuration, 250k on neck pickup and 1m on bridge pickup, do you think it would sound any better?
Thanks for watching!!
Here’s my opinion on pot values: it really depends on what you want to hear but more importantly, it really depends on the sounds your hands and fingers (and technique) naturally make on the bass. For instance, some people’s hands naturally produce a dark tone and may benefit from more open sounding pots (more highs) from 500k or 1meg pots. The flip side, some people naturally get a brighter tone from their fingers and might benefit from a 250k pot. So I think it’s more than just what someone else on UA-cam thinks. It’s more optimizing the sound and tone you naturally produce and what you want to hear from a particular instrument.
My personal take. The higher value pots can make lower/entry level instruments sound harsher and exposes some of the less favourable sonic qualities from lower grade wood. I’m not a tone wood snob, but not all woods sound the same either! So with my hands, I generally use 250k pots unless a particular instrument is naturally dark and needs to be brightened up. On the Mikro, I would be fearful higher value pots would make it tonally too harsh. It’s just a hypothesis!
Interesting question!
I'm pretty happy with the stock neck pickup sound, it sounds really great, but the bridge pickup is really noisy. Given the only issue I have with the neck pickup is that it doesn't "cut" well(doing so would probably change what I like about it), what could I put in the bridge to balance it? Ideally I want a noiseless/stacked pickup but won't want to pay much.
Thanks for watching!
Indeed, the stock Mikro bridge J is on the noisy side. You may be finding that the stock neck P doesn't 'cut' well due to the scooped mid-nature of its output. It's the midrange that helps with definition and cut. You could consider replacing only the bridge p/u with a noise cancelling J model. Another commenter talked about the Dimarzio model J bridge, which could be a good option. It'll be quiet, but the tricky thing is getting the outputs to be balanced in a way that is pleasing to you. For short scales in general, due to the smaller string orbit/vibration at the bridge position, I find hotter pickups tend to work better. But there are many variables to can affect output balance (eg pickup height, pots, string type) and unfortunately I don't think there's a single recipe that will please everybody's tonal desires.
But I think looking into a hum/noise cancelling hotter output J bridge p/u might be a place to start. You don't necessarily need to have matching brands between pickups. But it's potentially more difficult to gauge output across different brands as their descriptions and materials are not consistent. Eg DCR measurements are less useful here.
Dimarzio makes several J style humcancelling pickups. Personally, I like these because they are built more like a P pickup/split coil than other “stacked” pickups. Each coil only “sees” half of the strings, so they cancel hum without cutting as many of the frequencies that would be cancelled by seeing each string…at least that’s the idea. They aren’t much taller than single coil J’s like stacks can be either. DM also has good frequency and output charts so you can get close to what you want. I believe the Area and Ultra J’s have the normal exposed pole piece appearance, if that matters to you. I don’t work for DM, I just have used and liked their stuff for years. 🤣Cheers!
The Wilkinsons sound darker and fatter overall. Actually, the Wilkinsons with the tone at 100% sound more similar to the stock pickups with the tone at 50%, but with a bit more character. I like them, especially for the price. Not a huge upgrade in this case, but still a bit better, and I think they are a really nice option if you are looking to upgrade a cheap bass with crappy pickups.
That's a great way of putting it! There's a subtly different midrange grind over the stock (?character). Pretty good for
How about just changing the bridge pickup to the wilkinson and keeping the neck pickup stock.
That is a really good idea! It might give you the advantages of both.
Thanks for watching!
#5_WhooHoo_MyBlutoothWideRangeSpeaker_IsFinallyOnBoard_NowWeCanFinallyHearHere_🇺🇸
Nice! Hope it sounds good!
Thanks for watching