Alembic

"MXY" (wide aperture) and "AXY" (narrow aperture). Using ceramic magnets and a low impedance, humcancelling winding, Alembic pickups must be combined with their active system to boost the signal sufficiently. There are two control options; either "Q" control (a sweeping, narrow band boost) or bass & treble controls. Uses 9V- 48V power supply.)

Alembic pickups are "hand" wound by the Wickersham grandparents in California and are supposed to reproduce the "acoustic" sound of the bass with no coloration. Because these pickups are low impedance they require a specially designed preamp circuit from Alembic, these circuits are modular in design with solderless connectors. (Meaning you can keep adding tone modules a la Series II.) The circuits use the best components available and are extremely quiet. That said, the basic setup doesn't do much for me. It is very easy to work with and get what you need but don't expect to be blown away on the first try. Some folks say it's bass shy...

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Bartolini:

Available in all known shapes and sizes. Bartolini is set up to make virtually any possible configuration. Generally ceramic type.

Bill and Pat Bartolini have been winding pickups for a lot longer than I have been playing bass. They know what they're doing. With hundreds of different pickup models in thousands of permutations you might have to wait a while for your own custom wound Bartolinis. It's difficult to generalize the "Bartolini sound" except to say that they sound nice with the sharper edges in the sound slightly rounded over, smooth, clean, fast response with lots of midrange definition. There are two winding options available on most of their pickups; "Bright" or "Deep". Most people will find the the "Bright" pickups midrangy and bass shy though they excel at giving a voice-like quality to solo bass and can give a very percussive attack and "growl". The "Deep" pickups have great low mids but still won't go as deep as the the deepest. (This is generally an asset when mixing bass in large venues with boomy or difficult sound). Slappers seem happy with the compromise between slap tone and fingerstyle warmth.
"These Bartolinis (M4 dual coils) would be excellent in a hard rock band, they remind me always of a typical punchy Fender Precision sound and cut through a Marshall full stack like a knife." -Manfred Kromer.
Bill has a new ceramic magnet structure, known as "CX", which gives an extended range similar to the Lane Poor pickups. This pickup should fill the gap for those players who seek a true full range pickup with the low noise that the Bartolinis are renowned for.
Hum-cancellation comes in four configurations;

"vertical hum-canceling" AKA "stacked" (lower output for use with active preamps),

"linear"*, i.e., "split", "quadraphonic", "pentaphonic", "hexaphonic" etc. (A separate coil and magnet under each string or pair of strings. *These pickups cannot be mixed with other types or some strings will be out of phase, also, these pickups must be built to the exact string spacing of the instrument or the strings won't be over their respective magnets and volume will be uneven).

"Dual coil", a traditional humbucker which can be wired in several ways to alter the tone.

"Triple coil" is a refinement of dual coil where a dummy coil (no magnetic structure) sits between the regular coils to cancel out hum when only one of the coils is used.

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EMG:

4 string: "Jazz", "Precision", "P+J" combo, "VJ","35J", "35P4", "35P", "DC35"
5 string: "LJ5", "40P5", "40J5", "DC40",
6 string: "45J", "45P", "DC45".

All EMG pickups are active and require a 9V battery. All use ceramic magnets except the 4 string "VJ" which uses alnico V magnets. Some models use ceramic magnets and iron cores to warm up the tone.

It seems people either love or hate the EMG sound. I like it. These pickups always sound good to me. What's more they record well and engineers love them. If I had them in my bass I would probably hate them because they always sound exactly the same. They do pick up string movement in 2 axis which is important for slappers. They seem best suited to good old rock and roll and not much else because they are not very dynamic and don't have the extended lows of some passive models. They don't work when the battery dies. They are quiet and hum free, the "DC" line being the quietest of the bunch. I used to think the LJ5's had a nice low end but it's hard to say now for sure.

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Fender Lace Sensor / Actodyne:

4 string: "Jazz", "Precision", "P + J combo".
Lace sensors are passive and use flexible magnet material.

These are a very interesting passive pickup, quite unique in design with the single coil on the inside and the magnets on the outside. They can sound great considering the limitations of the old Fender shells but are not hum free as advertised despite attempts to shield the coil from RF and buzz. I like the strong, sweet, tight low end however the flexible magnetic tape may have something to do with the absence of extended highs.

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Lindy Fralen:

4 String "Precision" and "Jazz" with alnico V magnets or ceramic magnets and steel pole pieces.

Lindy Fralen is a custom pickup winder in Richmond, VA. His specialty has been "vintage" stratocaster pickups for which he is world renowned. He has since started manufacturing replacements for Precision and Jazz basses. If you are looking for a top of the line Fender type pickup these are the ones to start with. Lindy will wind them hot if need be. The alnico V magnets are warmer, smoother and higher output, the steel/ ceramic ones are "clangier" but feature adjustable pole pieces to balance string volumes.

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Lane Poor: (Note: Lane Poor has temporarily ceased operations, very limited stock.)

4 String: "JC", "M3.5W", "M3.5hb" "MMdv"
5 string: "JL", SB3.950, SB4.250, "M4.0W", "MM5".
6 string: "JXL", "SB4.650", "M4.5W",
7 string: "SB 5.0", "M5.0"

All with ceramic magnets, "MM" denotes Music Man, SB" denotes soap bar, "W" denotes wide aperture, "HB" denotes humbucking, "dv" denotes dual voice.

Ahh Lane Poor, the savior of the modern bass luthier. This guy was production manager at Monster cables in S.F. and then went on eventually to design and produce an ungainly and short lived line of 4 and 5 string headless basses. Eventually he found his true calling. These pickups are quite remarkable as they seem to combine some of the best features of several of my favorite pickups. They are available in 16 replacement sizes and with a backlog of only 2 weeks. I prefer the "wide aperture" and humbucking models for all around rock and roll. These pickups are pretty neutral, they let the bass speak in it's own voice. They also sound incredibly clean and accurate. The low end is tight and full at the same time with quick response. The low mids are very audible so you know what note you're playing on a noisy stage. The mids aren't barky or annoying but you can coax a good growl with some eq. These guys pick up beautifully in the vertical axis, your slap sound is balanced and matches the volume of your fingerstyle playing (a minor miracle.) The Music Man shell can hold any 2 of the pickup units; narrow, wide and or humbucking. When connected in series mode the sound rivals any pickup on the planet for fatness. They look sharp with their little holographic disk logo. Some people have experienced RF noise problems in certain situations, the "hb" are quietest.

"I found Lane Poor Pickups get me a nice clear, warm and punchy sound. Just what I was looking for. You should consider making these the default pickups in all your basses." Manfred Kromer.

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Seymour Duncan:

4 string: Vintage Jazz, Vintage Precision, Hot"J", Hot"P", active "J" with EQ., Active "P" with EQ., 1/4 pounder "P", 1/4 pounder "J", "Music Man"
5 & 6 string: active, humbucking soap bar. "Music Man" 5, "J 5", "M4", "M5"

Many different versions are available using alnico II, alnico V and ceramic magnets some with iron cores or pole pieces
"Basslines" is the name of the company's bass division headed by Kevin Beller, they have some money for R & D and they seem to be doing things right. The passive pickups boast a "big" sound that's hot, aggressive and a little bit "dirty". Their active pickups are more conservative, something between an EMG and a Bartolini. (They've even told me so). Not quite sterile, fine slapping tone, very tight sounding when played aggressively, almost warm sounding when fondled but never really dark sounding. Not too hot for passive inputs. There is still a man behind the name and if you are big on vintage Fender sound then Mr Duncan himself will hand wind a pair of Jazz or Precision pickups with formvar wire on alnico II magnets and then personally "age" them by beating them with some blunt objects, ask for the "Antiquity" series at your Seymour.
Outside commentary: "I have a set of Basslines "Active five string for Jazz" (AJB-55 SET) that came stock in my Hamer Cruisebass Five. No preamp other than the one inside the pickups themselves - passive controls. These are the nicest pickups I've ever heard in my relatively brief five years on bass." -Kraig Olmstead

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