Q for the Bassists

MOONDOGGY · Post by **MOONDOGGY** » Wednesday Sep 07, 2005

Has anyone on here tried a Lightwave equipped bass yet? I've had my eyes on them for about 2 years now, and my next bass may be a Lightwave. My curiousity is killing me!

I know only the major 'boutique' brands offered them at first (Modulus, Zon, etc..), but now the Lightwave company is mass producing their own bass guitars (Saber and Classica), and they're selling pretty darn cheap. I had my doubts at first because I didn't think an optical pickup would be able to differentiate between slapping, popping, picking, and fingering. I also didn't think that they'd be able to pickup harmonics, but I've been told by many people that they acutally pick up harmonics better than magentic pickups and they can tell the difference btn playing styles. However, I never got an opinion from someone who wasn't trying to sell me a LW bass!

Post by **Ron** » Tuesday Sep 13, 2005

Are there any advantages that optical pickups have over magnetics?

MOONDOGGY · Post by **MOONDOGGY** » Tuesday Sep 13, 2005

They claim that it improves sustain becuase there is no magnetic pull from typical pickups. It makes sense, but I know that most pickups don't effect string vibration significantly, or at all for that matter, especially EMGs. EMG actually encourages users to place their pickups as close to the strings as possible.

Included with the optical pickup (which is mounted in the bridge and 'looks' at the string just in front of where it rests on the saddle) is their own Piezo pickup called the IceTone or something like that.

Like I said earlier, Lightwave and other companies (endorsers) claim that their optical pickups pick up harmonics and other tones better than normal magnetic pickups.

grimmbass · Post by **grimmbass** » Friday Sep 16, 2005

Moondoggy,

I haven't tried the Lightwave stuff, but I have played some piezo-equipped basses...the sound, IMHO, ends up being a little more natural. When you think about it, there's no way that a magnetic pickup could be more than an approximation of string vibration...the light thing could be a new level of acoustic sound....I'm really psyched to try one of these basses out now!

That being said, I LOVE the sound of EMGs. Puncy, tight, and loud....same things I look for in a woman!

Kent

bassist_25 · Post by **bassist_25** » Friday Sep 16, 2005

Yeah, I always thought that piezos had a more "woody" timbre, comparable to the sound of a double-bass.

Isn't Zon using light-wave technology?

MOONDOGGY · Post by **MOONDOGGY** » Friday Sep 16, 2005

As for piezos, the only one that I really got to give a good test on was my Gibson Explorer w/ just piezo (no magnetic pickups) Since it is an '84 or '85, the piezo technology wasn't that great at the time, and the sound is pretty bland and tinny.

As for your question Mr. Paul.......Zon, Modulus, Conklin, Drozd, MTD, Pulcinella, US Masters, and whole slew of other high-end custom bass manufacturers have Lightwave systems as a custom option.

I somewhat agree with you on the EMGs Kent. Although IMO, the Spector and active EMG combo is kind of limited as far as tone. They are the best there is for rock and really punchy tones (hence their reputation), but mine (and others I'm sure) always has that brightness to it even with treble knocked way down. Occasionally I like a real earthy, growly tone and the best pickups for that are Lane Poors. Bartolinis can capture this tone, but the coveted LPs are famous for bringing out the true tone of the wood. I don't know how they do it, but it does it! I managed to find a customized Carvin LB20 (koa body wings) with a set of LP soapbars run passive, and that was growl growl and more growl! Lane Poors are no longer made, but if you ever get a chance to get a bass with them installed, grab it up! Thay are rare and worth a pretty penny! Fodera and Modulus also used Lane Poors but with their own logo in the bottom right corner of the pickup cover.

Also, has anyone tried Delano, Nordstrand, Villex, or Aero pickups? They're not very popular companies in the States....yet.

Sorry for rambling! I could talk bass gear for hours (obviously)!!!

bassist_25 · Post by **bassist_25** » Saturday Sep 17, 2005

Nodrstrand is becoming very popular with this line of electric upright basses. I assume that the pickup technology is being used on the instruments, especially since the idea of an EUP is to capture the natural timbre of an acoustic double-bass as closely as possible.