Pickups - Page 3

Nordstrand Audio has expanded their P-style pickups with the Power Blade. The pickup is built with a thick steel blade, optimized wind, and ceramic magnets that the company says provide an authoritative low-end punch. “With half of its tonal DNA being derived from the classic P design, its character is inherently reminiscent of that hard-hitting P bass vigor we all...

Q-Tuner has expanded their bass offerings with new transparent, red-coiled pickups. Available now in 4, 5, and 6-string versions, the pickups are described as producing a “tight, clean and life-like bass sound loaded with harmonics.” They are created with neodymium magnets in a unique alignment for dynamic range. “There are many steps in making these pickups and we are actually...

Nordstrand Pickups has introduced the BigRig, a new hum-cancelling bass pickup that grew from a conversation with bassist Alberto Rigoni. “A dual 51 P-style pickup, one pole per string, was the initial concept,” Nordstrand explains, “but offset pole pieces are iconic for Nordstrand. What developed is a hum canceling pickup where the coils sense different parts of the string movement,...

Double bassists have a new option for amplifying their instrument with the Ear Trumpet Labs Nadine microphone. The medium-large diaphragm condenser mic is specifically designed for upright bass with its low end tuned to give a flat response at the mounting distance. Its cardioid pickup pattern is designed to pick up as much of the bass’s top as possible while...

Nordstrand Pickups has announced the Big J-Blade, a jazz-style single coil pickup that’s built with a continuous sensing blade. The new model will come in two versions with different winds to provide two unique tones. “One wind provides a ‘warm and wooly’ tone, while an alternate wind provides a ‘clean and clear’ tone,” the company writes. “Plus, as proven by...

Q-Tuner has announced a small-scale production of transparent versions of their neodymium q2.0 bass pickups. Each unit will be one of a kind and made to order. As such, the pickups can be fine-tuned in terms of output, dynamic response and frequency range, the company says. The new models, which will be available later this year, will act as a...

Nordstrand Pickups has once again expanded their signature pickup offerings with the new Big Blade soapbar. The pickup, which is available in standard soapbar shapes and sizes, was built for a “striking and aggressive sound.” “The Big Blade is a result of the pursuit of a continuous sensing blade style pickup whose tone brings with it the huge, rich, and...

Bartolini unveiled the b-axis series of bass pickups at the 2016 Winter NAMM Show. Based on the company’s original HI-A design from the ’70s, the b-axis pickups feature a fully encapsulated Alnico V exposed pole piece design that fits as a replacement set for J-style basses. “The main design principle was to provide a highly asymmetric magnetic field in order...

Swapping out your Jazz Bass pickups has just gotten a little easier. EMG’s new J System is a completely solderless setup that includes everything you need to drop a new set of their J pickups into your bass. The pickups come with a control plate that’s completely wired with a split shaft volume/tone control, an output jack, a battery clip...

Reed James Engineering was at the 2016 Winter NAMM show to introduce the VVN NEOA5 set of pickups. Based on their VVN RJNEO set, the new pickups differentiate themselves by creating a relationship between the neodymium magnets and vintage Alnico 5 rod magnets. “We mated precise amounts of each magnet material to create the magnetic pull and field in order...

After producing the model through their custom shop for several years, Seymour Duncan has announced that the Quarter Pound for 5-String P-Bass has been added to their regular pickup lineup. The pickup is designed to retrofit into any Fender or equivalent 5-string P-Bass model with a 6-pole/4-pole offset design. It features large diameter Alnico 5 rod magnets and a high...

Seymour Duncan has added to their line of bass pickups with the Apollo Jazz Bass Linear Humbucker. The new model employs two coils that sit next to each other under a standard single-coil-sized cover. Duncan’s head of R&D Kevin Beller designed the pickups to get a warm, traditional sound with modern attributes to clean up the sound. “I’ve been playing...