Am I just an 80s proll or what's going on (ceramic pickups, SS strings)

[uOpt]

I am making progress testing pickups and strings.

It seems that I heavily favor the heavier pickups, with ceramic magnets, and the bright stainless steel wound strings (although with round core).

Am I just an 80s proll or what's going on? A "proll" is a German term for a mentally more straightforward person liking cheap muscle car looking cars (but can't afford a big engine in one) and doing "come at me" talk.

I hope I don't get hired by Loreena McKennitt anytime soon...

[Aceman]

Re: Am I just an 80s proll or what's going on (ceramic pickups, SS strings)

I love the tone of ceramic bass.

Also love Loreena McKennitt.

It's all good.

[uOpt]

Re: Am I just an 80s proll or what's going on (ceramic pickups, SS strings)

I love the tone of ceramic bass.

Also love Loreena McKennitt.

It's all good.

Now I have a mental image of Alice Cooper's bassist on stage with Loreena.

[Falloffthebonetone]

Re: Am I just an 80s proll or what's going on (ceramic pickups, SS strings)

I use hothothot ceramic passive pickups with SS flats on it, pretty sure they're hex core though. I love it too. They yield a lot of sonic weight and volume but have the aggressive top end pick response too. They require taming sometimes (easier with flats) but the unbridled tonal wrath is too sweet to say no to. I do hate an overly scoooped, bass and treble heavy bass tone though. You know the one where the bass is too heavy so there is no note definition but the treble is too strong so all you hear is booming and scratchy noise from the strings being played?

With most hot ceramics and ss strings you don't need to boost or cut anything, it's all there for you right away, at least IME. So that gives me the most flexibility from my gear, because my eq settings usually have everything almost at 12 o'clock (with the exception of slightly boosted mids usually) and it sits in my band perfectly. So yeah it's great.

[uOpt]

Re: Am I just an 80s proll or what's going on (ceramic pickups, SS strings)

I also think that the SS strings lie better on the frets. Or something.

What I mean is that the fretted notes are not as easily choked as with nps wound strings. With nps you have a larger difference between fretted and unfretted notes, and then you have different frets sounding differently.

Same for round core. Sure you can have lower action with hex core. But the stiffer string causes the overtones to be more too sharp than normal and that doesn't sound clean to me.

[Falloffthebonetone]

Re: Am I just an 80s proll or what's going on (ceramic pickups, SS strings)

I also think that the SS strings lie better on the frets. Or something.

What I mean is that the fretted notes are not as easily choked as with nps wound strings. With nps you have a larger difference between fretted and unfretted notes, and then you have different frets sounding differently.

Same for round core. Sure you can have lower action with hex core. But the stiffer string causes the overtones to be more too sharp than normal and that doesn't sound clean to me.

I hear ya. I used nps exclusively until I got the steel flats. Steel does sound more consistent along the frets. I wouldn't like steel rounds with a hex core for that reason, heck my fresh hex core nps would be too obnoxious for my tastes until they died down, but it brings my flats to a nice harmonic middle-ground so it has more than just thumpy fundamental, and can actually get into roundwound territory if eq'ed right. And the high tension helps me pick more consistently.

[blueman335]

Re: Am I just an 80s proll or what's going on (ceramic pickups, SS strings)

I love the tone of ceramic bass.

Also love Loreena McKennitt.

It's all good.

+1. I'm staunchly against ceramics in my guitars, but they work well in basses. Whole different instrument. And yes, Loreena's a talented lady, especially compared to a lot of the commercial crap these days.