Clarence Poirier – Toronto, Ontario
Bassist with Blue Radio and Ultimate Urban
I recently cut back my bass collection down to only those I absolutely love enough to gig with. At the end of the month-long purge, I had sold 3, traded one for another, and traded a maple neck for a rosewood one. Then after having four different sound guys this summer mention the improved tone of my main bass – the sunburst one – over the others, there was one last thing left to do … call Smitty.
The sunburst one has had MJS Hand Wound Custom Pickups pretty much since I’ve owned it (3-4 years maybe). The increased dynamic range is immediately notable. You know how normally if you roll back the treble on stock pickups, it sounds like someone put a thick blanket over your amp because the tone is muffled so bad? Not so with these pickups … roll back the tone knob, and you get a darker tone that retains punch and note definition. With the tone full up, the notes are big and articulate and balanced across all strings. No mud, no annoying boom. Alnico V magnets, 10.2K to 10.5K for the Ps, and 8.2K (I think) for the J pickups.
Check them out! If you don’t want to take my word for it, go to YouTube and search “Rik Emmet MJS Pickups” – Rik knows the difference! Thanks Mike “Smitty” Smyth for the awesome service (and sorry I’ve run out of basses to put your pickups in – for the time being at least).