Great series! My top 3 were the Bigman, Turner, and Blademan. That Turner pickup has such a uniquely angry growl to it, and I'll definitely be ordering one for the next bass project. FWIW, a Bigman paired with the Darkglass Tone Capsule is absolutely beastly in all the right ways.
Everyone's tastes are different, but I favoured the Nordy's with the Bigman my preference. The Turner Multicoil was also really nice. Thanks SO MUCH for going through with this comparo.
Lobster, thank you again for these reviews. They are nice just to listen to and share opinions and get educated on what's out there but also, to me, they serve the purspose of supporting (or not) the theories I've developed/acquired on how pickups produce their sound. I've looked a lot into pickup science and what I have learned so far is this: 1. If there are two rows of magnets, the distance between the rows plays a major role in the character of the pickup because this distance dictates the frequencies that will be attenuated/enhanced/left alone by the filter comb effect. 2. The thinner the pole pieces are, the more ultra-highs (the "air") will be allowed through. Even P Basses with their huge bottom end, can have nice "air" to them, whereas you can never have such "air" from an MM pickup. I don't know if this "air" is of relevance for a bass guitar, my experience tells me that it almost always gets lost in a mix but I bet it's another story if there is any overdrive/disortion applied. 3. For each string, the closer the pole-pieces are together, the more 2nd-order harmonics you'll get. That's why J pickups sound somewhat crispier than P-pickups (P-pole pieces are spread apart more than J-pieces) and that's also why '51 P Bass pickups sound the crispiest of all (geometrically speaking it's like they have the 2 pole-pieces "embedded" into one-another, for a distance of 0). That's also the reason why blade-style pickups always have a very solid bottom end - it's like they have their "pole pieces" extended into infinity, and they usually sound nice because they get wired to have a relatively high resonant fequency. So they don't get drowned by sizzling or aggressive upper-mids but just produce an even tone with huge bottom end and healthy highs. They suffer in the upper0mids department if you need those frequencies but noone han have everything in life. That said I never like Bartolini's iterations of blade pickups, to me they just sound muddy and muffled, probably because they are wired to have resonant frequencies much lower so they do away with highs which are needed -in my opinion- for such pickups. Julia Hofner (or Hoffer?) from Thomann made a blind P-Bass comparison/quiz somewhere here on UA-cam and one of the P-Basses she tested, a Sandberg one, had single MM-style pole-pieces in normal P-style pickup housings. It was the only pickup which I immediately recognised in the quiz - less bottom end and air, but a bit more "nosy boldness". The rest had identical pole pieces and from certain respects were much closer to each-other than the Sandberg. Also, here you can play around with various pickups configurations and look for tourself what happens to the sound depending on the width/placement and combination of pickups on a guitar: www.till.com/articles/PickupResponseDemo/
Lobster, I’m happy you did this because it helps me to reinforce the decision I made for the MM pickup going into my next build. Of these ‘Strange’ MM pickups, I liked the BigBladeMan best, though it seems to have mated to the 500k volume pot best. The Turner is Second Best. (Opposite your 1st and 2nd…lol) The BigMan sounded like it had a lot of high-end but a pillowy-soft attack. I’m not sure I like that personally. I would like to hear it with a 250k pot as you mentioned. The Delano and MEC sound as though they need a 1Meg volume pot. Don’t even talk to me about the BiSonic… My build will be running a 250k VVT Jazz bass setup (each coil to one Vol pot), plus Series Parallel switch, along with a 2-band preamp. I chose the Duncan SMB-5D Ceramic pickup. Great job, and thanks!
They all sound good, but I really like that Delano. I'd like to hear it in single coil mode in that Stingray position. The MEC sounded like a proper Stingray, and is a great choice for those Sterling SUBs when you 're going for that Stingray tone. Kinda really liked that Bisonic as well. I think for the most part I preferred all of the pickups in parallel over series mode. The stock pickup almost sounded good in parallel as well, if it wasn't picking up all that noise.
Glad you corrected the ZenBlade comment. I was scratching my head wondering how in the world they fit two sidewinder pickups into that housing. I have a set of ZenBlades on a bass. They are amazing. But the coils are located to each side of the magnet, so they are very wide.
This is a great video, especially for those of us who are contemplating changing out our pups. I heard differences in each. It was hard to determine, well for me, that is, which ones to go with. After listening a few times carefully, I kinda liked the Turner Multicoil. But like in many things, it all boils down to personal taste.
I think my favorite pickup is the Nordstrand Blademan 4. For me i appreciated the clean solid tone and the availability of tone, without it being to bright, bassy or hollow sounding. Next favorite would be the Turner Multicoil. Good job on all the work to make these videos. It is so intereting the tones you can create with different setups. Until we groove again 🦞🎸♥️✌️😎👍♥️🎸🦞
Hi Lobster, Thank you! It’s a treat to hear all your basses and mods. I went back to listen to the individual pickups and with some frequency sweeteners, most of them are speaking in a good voice. It’s easy to be tinted by output levels when comparing all of them and it’s why I went back to the single contender to the stock pickup. Having said that, I like both Nordstrands.
Call me crazy but the Novak was my favorite. Really fun video. I would dig a video like this with a jazz bass or p-bass. But I’m sure this takes A LOT of work! Thank you!
This was awesome Lobster!! I think the MEC and Novak look the best but I think the best sounding one is the bigman then the big bladman, the stock one is fine minus the string noise thanks again!
Typing this before I watch the video but I have to say I appreciate the heck out of you doing this to try to take a bit of the guesswork out of it lol.
I really like your videos, you're a nice guy and nice bassist. I'm not into Stingray basses but found the series cool. Think I would pick the blademan. Regards from Brazil.
Lobster, Thank You for the great series. Note: After reading the comments, please consider in the future swapping in a GL-1000 MFD pick-up reviewing against the Turner.
I like the MEC and the bionic shame you didn't have EMG in their too . Peace . Love to see you come back with more videos but I know and I'm te same way I like to b out their and laying in front of a crowd .peace .ps enjoy
Thanks so much for this comparison! I came to pretty much the same conclusion as you, Lobster: The Turner was my favorite in most settings. So well-balanced, extended without being harsh, with lots of detail. Might lack a bit of the aggressiveness associated with a StingRay, but this might also be exactly what some people are looking for. Second for me, again, was the Nordy BladeMan. Similar balance but different timbre, also worked great for most styles. Thanks also for throwing the Bisonic into the mix! Awesome pick tone, and surprisingly nice for slap! But in comparison with the others it just sounded too dark most of the time. The Nordy Bigman and the Delano Hybrid were the most disappointing for me in this comparison. But I'm sure this is because they were not installed as recommended. The Bigman sounded harsh and peaky, the Hybrid (which I really love when installed as intended) sounded rather lifeless. And am I correct that those were the only AlNiCo pickups?? The MEC had some nice moments, but didn't impress me most of the time. It always sounded pretty good, never bad. I especially liked it in series for finger style. And finally, the stock budget MM pickup was the least surprise for me. Sounded like you'd expect a stock budget MM pickup to sound.
My favorite pickup from this series is Delano Hybrid. A nice sounding pickup with rich mids and singing highs in-between a Big Blademan and Bartolini MMC (my most favorite MM pickup that I own as well) from Ultimate Stingray Mod Guide 2020
Hi Lobster, very interesting comparison !! do you have a G&L MFD humbucker on hand ? Would be nice to see how it reacts in a Stingray. I plan on modding my Pbass during Christmas holydays by adding a MFD P.U. just below the P P.U, so roughly in the Stingray position, giving kind of a precision/kiloton bass.
I actually liked the output and sound of the delano and mec, im not a soft player, but use low action, so fi dong super hot and responsive pick ups, while nice and can be truly utuilized by true technical players with a light touch, Im usually better off with something a touch less responsive or jist end up sinking them almost flush with the body lol. Either way, that was a ridiculous amount of work lobster hope everypne apprecoates it! I know I did!
1. multicoil 2. both Nordstrands depends what you need 3. Stock and mec 4. Delano, what have they done ? *novak if you time-travel with the stingray and have to play with „the beach-boys“
I loved this series. Overall, my tastes seemed parallel yours, except my favorite is the Big Blademan. Enough so, I'm now contemplating swapping out my SD SMB-4A, but that won't be until after I swap in a new preamp.
Thanks again for the hard work. Here are my impression before listening to yours: I think I may be swayed towards the Bid Blademan and Turner because of familiarity - I have 2 Big Blades in my Dingwall Super J and a multicoil from Bassculture in a custom multiscale Aviator bass. Or perhaps this just confirms I made good choices. To me the Bigman's too bright, The Novak is nice and fat but bordering on too dark, the Delano is bland and the MEC is a good execution of a flavour I don't love.
Another great video but title should say it is the Ultimate Stingray (SUB) Pickup Guide. It would be interesting to hear a USA Stingray against these. Fun watching this! The mods cost more than a new Sub which makes me wonder if you are not better off buying a better bass. I am OK with the stock pickup and preamp but wonder one day if I will get the urge to do a science experiment on my Sub.
Yeah, the stock PU does let the string noise sound. But why? I think it's because it probably has the lowest impedance of the bunch and therefore doesn't filter higher frequencies out. Maybe I talk nonsense, but frankly, I liked it for the Stingray :) Also liked the Turner in parallel, very nice.
Great series! Doing a musician and reverse P bass custom at the moment so this was super helpful! For me Mec on series and Delano for parallel. Before the video was leaning towards Mec and now I think I might go Delano. Although I know how well Mec pickups pair with distortion and fuzz
Thanks for doing this! Though the stock seems to have more low end extension I'm not hearing as much mid character as the others. Seems like it would get lost in a mix. Next time could you adjust in put levels please? Differences between pups during the series section weren't as apparent as the parallel section since every example was clipping in some way. Overall I liked the Turner and Blademan most
I liked the MEC pickup the best. It had some of the classic Sting Ray sound, but was a little darker and somewhat compressed sounding - like if a Sting Ray started leaning a bit P-Bass-like. I'm wondering if these will end up in my Ray35HH at some point... The Turner was a close second, it had the classic Sting Ray sound, but BEEFY. The BiSonic sounded very much like the passive Short Scale Sting Rays.
Great stuff Lobster. I'm a bit confused about the pots though. When you talk about 250k vs. 500k I'm assuming you're talking volume pots? The reason I ask is my sub ray4 vol pot was 25k which i replaced with another 25k pot and went with the aguilar pickup and 2 band preamp. I find this tone lacking upper frequencies. Can i change this by putting in a 500k vol pot or changing the treble and bass pots?
Hallo Lobster..... Very useful comparison👍Question... Your personal opinion between Delano and MEC? I'm thinking to repleace in my Corvette $$ MEC to Delano?
Big blademan was the one that sounded best, but was that because it came after the stock? The big man has my favorite design but it's way too hot and bright.
Odd thing is I thought the Bigman sounded the worst in Parallel and the best in Series, overall the Turner Multicoil was the best across both wirings, the Delano and Blademan were both very nice aswell, the MEC sounded good parallel but quite dull in series, the chrome cover look is real cool though.
the Turner definitely wins this comparison for me, with the Nordstrand Blademan being a close second. the Nordstrand Bigman sounded like if there was a low pass filter at around 80%, it has too much high mids and not enough highs for my taste. the Delano sounded like there's quite a clear imbalance between the two coils, might be cool for a hot rodded Jazz bass but not really a Musicman thing for me. the MEC sounded chunky and a bit muffled the Bisonic sounds interesting, will not outright replace a real Musicman pickup but a very interesting flavor that sounds like a brightened P Bass
You could have a song where everytime the ostinato loops around it’s played with a different bass pup, I was reversed of your opinion I thought nordstrand sounded best but I thought the multi coil was the most interesting
Thought the MEC would have given more Warwick vibes (nasty hellscape growls) but it didn't quite turn out that way. I need to research more about how those Warwicks work.
I just bought a used SUB Stingray4 for €250 and dropped it at my luthier o check a couple of high frets. My plan is to use it with no mods for a while and get my bearings. My tastes tend to Tony Levin early 80s Stingray tone so I guess I'd go alnico SD. I also liked he passive EMG tone a lot. Would these pair well with the stock preamp?
Hey Lobster, is the series/parallel switch reversed on the Delano? It has a lot more treble in series than in parallel, unlike every other pickup I know. Would be crazy if it does that, I certainly liked the series sound here. A great video nonetheless.
Good to know, I have one in a bass that I modded and it is wired in Single/Parallel/Single. I might just have to change that. Thanks for that!@@LowEndLobster
Of the MM pickups I’d go 1. Turner Multicoil 2. Delano 3. MEC But the BiSonic was the best of all. I now know why I wasn’t fussed on a SUB when I test drove one a little while back. It was the crappy pickup, not my poor playing technique! 🤫
Nordstrand Big Blademan for me is the winner, followed by Turner multi-coil, MEC and then Nordy Bigman. The Delano one wasn't too interesting to my ears, and the Bisonic is a whole other thing, I can't categorize it with the others.
I am anxiously awaiting a 5-string Stingray-style pickup comparison whenever you are able to do one. I enjoyed this series but unfortunately I don’t play and don’t see myself ever owning a 4-string Stingray when I usually play 5-string Stingrays as the gigs and songs most usually require.
So my favorite was the blademan!!! BUT the Turner wasn't used like it could be either....wonder how much thicker it would have been with the coils SPLIT like a Super P????.And a HUGE ....IMMMMMMM BAAAAAAAACK.....HAHAHA
For future demos - would it be possible to get a sound sample with a pick? I find it easier to tell the difference in the high end when there's a pick involved
For me it's the Bigman 4. I was pulling for the Turner multi coil and still interested in hearing a review of Gordo Solo if you can manage to get your hands on one. The owner commented on my other comment that he's been talking about getting you one to review. Everyone talks about Rickenbacker alternatives so I think this pick up could be a mod that would make most basses be able to be a alternative with this pickup so I'd love to see you do a in depth review with one and see what results you could get.
Am I the only one who thinks that the combination of playing style, amp choice and settings, additional effects and blend in an overall band sound makes this discussion pretty useless?
I really liked these reviews. They all sounded good (even stock), but different enough to warrant a listen. Well done!
Great series! My top 3 were the Bigman, Turner, and Blademan. That Turner pickup has such a uniquely angry growl to it, and I'll definitely be ordering one for the next bass project. FWIW, a Bigman paired with the Darkglass Tone Capsule is absolutely beastly in all the right ways.
Everyone's tastes are different, but I favoured the Nordy's with the Bigman my preference. The Turner Multicoil was also really nice. Thanks SO MUCH for going through with this comparo.
Lobster, thank you again for these reviews. They are nice just to listen to and share opinions and get educated on what's out there but also, to me, they serve the purspose of supporting (or not) the theories I've developed/acquired on how pickups produce their sound. I've looked a lot into pickup science and what I have learned so far is this:
1. If there are two rows of magnets, the distance between the rows plays a major role in the character of the pickup because this distance dictates the frequencies that will be attenuated/enhanced/left alone by the filter comb effect.
2. The thinner the pole pieces are, the more ultra-highs (the "air") will be allowed through. Even P Basses with their huge bottom end, can have nice "air" to them, whereas you can never have such "air" from an MM pickup. I don't know if this "air" is of relevance for a bass guitar, my experience tells me that it almost always gets lost in a mix but I bet it's another story if there is any overdrive/disortion applied.
3. For each string, the closer the pole-pieces are together, the more 2nd-order harmonics you'll get. That's why J pickups sound somewhat crispier than P-pickups (P-pole pieces are spread apart more than J-pieces) and that's also why '51 P Bass pickups sound the crispiest of all (geometrically speaking it's like they have the 2 pole-pieces "embedded" into one-another, for a distance of 0). That's also the reason why blade-style pickups always have a very solid bottom end - it's like they have their "pole pieces" extended into infinity, and they usually sound nice because they get wired to have a relatively high resonant fequency. So they don't get drowned by sizzling or aggressive upper-mids but just produce an even tone with huge bottom end and healthy highs. They suffer in the upper0mids department if you need those frequencies but noone han have everything in life. That said I never like Bartolini's iterations of blade pickups, to me they just sound muddy and muffled, probably because they are wired to have resonant frequencies much lower so they do away with highs which are needed -in my opinion- for such pickups.
Julia Hofner (or Hoffer?) from Thomann made a blind P-Bass comparison/quiz somewhere here on UA-cam and one of the P-Basses she tested, a Sandberg one, had single MM-style pole-pieces in normal P-style pickup housings. It was the only pickup which I immediately recognised in the quiz - less bottom end and air, but a bit more "nosy boldness". The rest had identical pole pieces and from certain respects were much closer to each-other than the Sandberg.
Also, here you can play around with various pickups configurations and look for tourself what happens to the sound depending on the width/placement and combination of pickups on a guitar:
www.till.com/articles/PickupResponseDemo/
Lobster, I’m happy you did this because it helps me to reinforce the decision I made for the MM pickup going into my next build.
Of these ‘Strange’ MM pickups, I liked the BigBladeMan best, though it seems to have mated to the 500k volume pot best. The Turner is Second Best. (Opposite your 1st and 2nd…lol)
The BigMan sounded like it had a lot of high-end but a pillowy-soft attack. I’m not sure I like that personally. I would like to hear it with a 250k pot as you mentioned.
The Delano and MEC sound as though they need a 1Meg volume pot. Don’t even talk to me about the BiSonic…
My build will be running a 250k VVT Jazz bass setup (each coil to one Vol pot), plus Series Parallel switch, along with a 2-band preamp. I chose the Duncan SMB-5D Ceramic pickup.
Great job, and thanks!
They all sound good, but I really like that Delano. I'd like to hear it in single coil mode in that Stingray position. The MEC sounded like a proper Stingray, and is a great choice for those Sterling SUBs when you 're going for that Stingray tone. Kinda really liked that Bisonic as well. I think for the most part I preferred all of the pickups in parallel over series mode. The stock pickup almost sounded good in parallel as well, if it wasn't picking up all that noise.
100% aggree on the Turner! It's really rich and defined, and dead quiet. Amazing.
Glad you corrected the ZenBlade comment. I was scratching my head wondering how in the world they fit two sidewinder pickups into that housing. I have a set of ZenBlades on a bass. They are amazing. But the coils are located to each side of the magnet, so they are very wide.
This is a great video, especially for those of us who are contemplating changing out our pups. I heard differences in each. It was hard to determine, well for me, that is, which ones to go with. After listening a few times carefully, I kinda liked the Turner Multicoil. But like in many things, it all boils down to personal taste.
Thank you for this awesome pick up guide...Love It..Can hear the different pickup voicing.. although this great preamp....was amazing...cheers 🤗🤗🤗
Really helpful demo... thanks for putting in all the time to do this comparison video
Great stuff as always, excited to see the EB-0 mod series!
Loving the SHIRT!! HAPPY AND HEALTHY HOLIDAYS TO YOU AND YOURS
I think my favorite pickup is the Nordstrand Blademan 4. For me i appreciated the clean solid tone and the availability of tone, without it being to bright, bassy or hollow sounding. Next favorite would be the Turner Multicoil. Good job on all the work to make these videos. It is so intereting the tones you can create with different setups. Until we groove again 🦞🎸♥️✌️😎👍♥️🎸🦞
Hi Lobster,
Thank you! It’s a treat to hear all your basses and mods. I went back to listen to the individual pickups and with some frequency sweeteners, most of them are speaking in a good voice. It’s easy to be tinted by output levels when comparing all of them and it’s why I went back to the single contender to the stock pickup.
Having said that, I like both Nordstrands.
Call me crazy but the Novak was my favorite. Really fun video. I would dig a video like this with a jazz bass or p-bass. But I’m sure this takes A LOT of work! Thank you!
I preferred the MEC and the Delano. Great series - thanks!
This was awesome Lobster!! I think the MEC and Novak look the best but I think the best sounding one is the bigman then the big bladman, the stock one is fine minus the string noise thanks again!
I went off to get a glass of wine and some charcuterie to enjoy the conclusion to this. Very much enjoyed!
The Turner Multicoil & Trick Fish IPA Preamp did it for me .
The BiSonic didn't really do the Stingray thing BUT it was lovely!
it's tough to choose I need to watch a few times 💯🎸
Typing this before I watch the video but I have to say I appreciate the heck out of you doing this to try to take a bit of the guesswork out of it lol.
Thanks for all the mods and experimenting Lobster, always looking to mod a few of my basses even though I don't have a Stingray.
Check out the MB-4 SB from Harley Benton. They're $105 right now. Shipped it'll be under $200.00. I think Lobster did a review on it.
Huge work for this video series, thanks ! My 2 favorite pickups are the Bigman and the Turner, I really like the growl out here
What is that cherry burst fretless up on the wall? It's gorgeous!
Amazing channel and very well done as always. Thank you
I really like your videos, you're a nice guy and nice bassist. I'm not into Stingray basses but found the series cool. Think I would pick the blademan. Regards from Brazil.
Thanks for this in depth vid, my personal favorite is the nordstrand big man in series and the MEC in parallel
I liked the MEC.
Lobster, Thank You for the great series. Note: After reading the comments, please consider in the future swapping in a GL-1000 MFD pick-up reviewing against the Turner.
I like the MEC and the bionic shame you didn't have EMG in their too . Peace . Love to see you come back with more videos but I know and I'm te same way I like to b out their and laying in front of a crowd .peace .ps enjoy
Thanks so much for this comparison! I came to pretty much the same conclusion as you, Lobster: The Turner was my favorite in most settings. So well-balanced, extended without being harsh, with lots of detail. Might lack a bit of the aggressiveness associated with a StingRay, but this might also be exactly what some people are looking for. Second for me, again, was the Nordy BladeMan. Similar balance but different timbre, also worked great for most styles.
Thanks also for throwing the Bisonic into the mix! Awesome pick tone, and surprisingly nice for slap! But in comparison with the others it just sounded too dark most of the time.
The Nordy Bigman and the Delano Hybrid were the most disappointing for me in this comparison. But I'm sure this is because they were not installed as recommended. The Bigman sounded harsh and peaky, the Hybrid (which I really love when installed as intended) sounded rather lifeless. And am I correct that those were the only AlNiCo pickups??
The MEC had some nice moments, but didn't impress me most of the time. It always sounded pretty good, never bad. I especially liked it in series for finger style.
And finally, the stock budget MM pickup was the least surprise for me. Sounded like you'd expect a stock budget MM pickup to sound.
Great video...personally love the variation of Nordstrand big blademan 4
My favorite pickup from this series is Delano Hybrid. A nice sounding pickup with rich mids and singing highs in-between a Big Blademan and Bartolini MMC (my most favorite MM pickup that I own as well) from Ultimate Stingray Mod Guide 2020
Mec I like the best , Noritake second
Hi Lobster, very interesting comparison !! do you have a G&L MFD humbucker on hand ? Would be nice to see how it reacts in a Stingray. I plan on modding my Pbass during Christmas holydays by adding a MFD P.U. just below the P P.U, so roughly in the Stingray position, giving kind of a precision/kiloton bass.
I actually liked the output and sound of the delano and mec, im not a soft player, but use low action, so fi dong super hot and responsive pick ups, while nice and can be truly utuilized by true technical players with a light touch, Im usually better off with something a touch less responsive or jist end up sinking them almost flush with the body lol. Either way, that was a ridiculous amount of work lobster hope everypne apprecoates it! I know I did!
1. multicoil 2. both Nordstrands depends what you need 3. Stock and mec 4. Delano, what have they done ? *novak if you time-travel with the stingray and have to play with „the beach-boys“
fantastic job, great series
I loved this series. Overall, my tastes seemed parallel yours, except my favorite is the Big Blademan. Enough so, I'm now contemplating swapping out my SD SMB-4A, but that won't be until after I swap in a new preamp.
My top 3 picks were:
1) Turner Multi-Coil
2) Nordstrand Blade Man
3) BiSonic
Delano sounded excellent I was kind of shocked by it
I liked the Nordstrand Blademan the best
Honestly I know it was probably the least interesting but that MEC had such a clear sweet tone to it
Thanks again for the hard work. Here are my impression before listening to yours:
I think I may be swayed towards the Bid Blademan and Turner because of familiarity - I have 2 Big Blades in my Dingwall Super J and a multicoil from Bassculture in a custom multiscale Aviator bass. Or perhaps this just confirms I made good choices.
To me the Bigman's too bright, The Novak is nice and fat but bordering on too dark, the Delano is bland and the MEC is a good execution of a flavour I don't love.
The Nordstrands and that MEC are all suuuuper viable for a great great gain-boosted rock/metal upgrade.
Thank you for the effort. Very useful reviews. But... what if someone (me for example) like to keep it passive?
Another great video but title should say it is the Ultimate Stingray (SUB) Pickup Guide. It would be interesting to hear a USA Stingray against these. Fun watching this! The mods cost more than a new Sub which makes me wonder if you are not better off buying a better bass. I am OK with the stock pickup and preamp but wonder one day if I will get the urge to do a science experiment on my Sub.
Yeah, the stock PU does let the string noise sound. But why? I think it's because it probably has the lowest impedance of the bunch and therefore doesn't filter higher frequencies out. Maybe I talk nonsense, but frankly, I liked it for the Stingray :) Also liked the Turner in parallel, very nice.
Great series! Doing a musician and reverse P bass custom at the moment so this was super helpful!
For me Mec on series and Delano for parallel.
Before the video was leaning towards Mec and now I think I might go Delano. Although I know how well Mec pickups pair with distortion and fuzz
Thanks for doing this! Though the stock seems to have more low end extension I'm not hearing as much mid character as the others. Seems like it would get lost in a mix. Next time could you adjust in put levels please? Differences between pups during the series section weren't as apparent as the parallel section since every example was clipping in some way. Overall I liked the Turner and Blademan most
The bisonic sounded way more useable in a mix.
I liked the MEC pickup the best. It had some of the classic Sting Ray sound, but was a little darker and somewhat compressed sounding - like if a Sting Ray started leaning a bit P-Bass-like. I'm wondering if these will end up in my Ray35HH at some point...
The Turner was a close second, it had the classic Sting Ray sound, but BEEFY. The BiSonic sounded very much like the passive Short Scale Sting Rays.
Great stuff Lobster. I'm a bit confused about the pots though. When you talk about 250k vs. 500k I'm assuming you're talking volume pots? The reason I ask is my sub ray4 vol pot was 25k which i replaced with another 25k pot and went with the aguilar pickup and 2 band preamp. I find this tone lacking upper frequencies. Can i change this by putting in a 500k vol pot or changing the treble and bass pots?
Hallo Lobster..... Very useful comparison👍Question... Your personal opinion between Delano and MEC? I'm thinking to repleace in my Corvette $$ MEC to Delano?
Big blademan was the one that sounded best, but was that because it came after the stock? The big man has my favorite design but it's way too hot and bright.
Odd thing is I thought the Bigman sounded the worst in Parallel and the best in Series, overall the Turner Multicoil was the best across both wirings, the Delano and Blademan were both very nice aswell, the MEC sounded good parallel but quite dull in series, the chrome cover look is real cool though.
That is a great t-shirt.
Have you thought about wax potting the stock pickup? It would be interesting to see if it fixed the microphonic issues.
It's already encased in glue or epoxy or something.
the Turner definitely wins this comparison for me, with the Nordstrand Blademan being a close second.
the Nordstrand Bigman sounded like if there was a low pass filter at around 80%, it has too much high mids and not enough highs for my taste.
the Delano sounded like there's quite a clear imbalance between the two coils, might be cool for a hot rodded Jazz bass but not really a Musicman thing for me.
the MEC sounded chunky and a bit muffled
the Bisonic sounds interesting, will not outright replace a real Musicman pickup but a very interesting flavor that sounds like a brightened P Bass
You could have a song where everytime the ostinato loops around it’s played with a different bass pup, I was reversed of your opinion I thought nordstrand sounded best but I thought the multi coil was the most interesting
Thought the MEC would have given more Warwick vibes (nasty hellscape growls) but it didn't quite turn out that way. I need to research more about how those Warwicks work.
I just bought a used SUB Stingray4 for €250 and dropped it at my luthier o check a couple of high frets. My plan is to use it with no mods for a while and get my bearings. My tastes tend to Tony Levin early 80s Stingray tone so I guess I'd go alnico SD. I also liked he passive EMG tone a lot. Would these pair well with the stock preamp?
Great stuff!!! Thanks! 🙂🙂🙂🙂😎😎😎
Hey Lobster, is the series/parallel switch reversed on the Delano? It has a lot more treble in series than in parallel, unlike every other pickup I know. Would be crazy if it does that, I certainly liked the series sound here. A great video nonetheless.
Great question! No, but I was perplexed by that
Good to know, I have one in a bass that I modded and it is wired in Single/Parallel/Single. I might just have to change that. Thanks for that!@@LowEndLobster
MEC and Novak!
I want to put mec's in a spector and an MTD
Of the MM pickups I’d go 1. Turner Multicoil 2. Delano 3. MEC
But the BiSonic was the best of all.
I now know why I wasn’t fussed on a SUB when I test drove one a little while back. It was the crappy pickup, not my poor playing technique! 🤫
If you would allow me a guess: your main bass is a Precision with flats?
@@MotoMarios - Nope, Jazz Bass with rounds. I do have a P with flats, but it’s not my main bass.
Nordstrand Big Blademan for me is the winner, followed by Turner multi-coil, MEC and then Nordy Bigman. The Delano one wasn't too interesting to my ears, and the Bisonic is a whole other thing, I can't categorize it with the others.
Mec and Delano sounded the best
I am anxiously awaiting a 5-string Stingray-style pickup comparison whenever you are able to do one.
I enjoyed this series but unfortunately I don’t play and don’t see myself ever owning a 4-string Stingray when I usually play 5-string Stingrays as the gigs and songs most usually require.
What is the t-shirt from?
So my favorite was the blademan!!! BUT the Turner wasn't used like it could be either....wonder how much thicker it would have been with the coils SPLIT like a Super P????.And a HUGE ....IMMMMMMM BAAAAAAAACK.....HAHAHA
Big blade 4 for me
For future demos - would it be possible to get a sound sample with a pick? I find it easier to tell the difference in the high end when there's a pick involved
😂 keep on watching. He literally played with a pick ⛏️ in the video.
@@JVMC_ZR1 I didnt mean it for this video, but for other ones. I liked the inclusion of pick, thats why I commented
For me it's the Bigman 4. I was pulling for the Turner multi coil and still interested in hearing a review of Gordo Solo if you can manage to get your hands on one. The owner commented on my other comment that he's been talking about getting you one to review. Everyone talks about Rickenbacker alternatives so I think this pick up could be a mod that would make most basses be able to be a alternative with this pickup so I'd love to see you do a in depth review with one and see what results you could get.
Would these pickup options fit in a MTD Kingston Super 5?
I believe all these manufacturers make versions of these pickups that would fit a Super 5.
It would be either of the Nordstrands for me. MEC was a second.
I think we own all the same shirts...
Someone somewhere watched this video using a cellphone speaker.
I wish you had used a real Stingray instead of the sub model. Anything is going to sound better than the sub pup
Am I the only one who thinks that the combination of playing style, amp choice and settings, additional effects and blend in an overall band sound makes this discussion pretty useless?
I like the Turner and the Novak best. For typical stingray tone I like the MEC.
The big man is the star followed by Delano