ESP SB-4 pickups

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bass_reaper

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I'm buying a new bass ( the ltd f104) and they seem to be fitted with the ESP-designed SB-4 pickups. active and with 4 band eq seems nice. does anyone have experience with these pickups?

thanks.
 
Re: ESP SB-4 pickups

The LTD website product description suggests that the SB-4 pickups are passive and that only the EQ circuit is active. http://www.espguitars.com/products/10102-f-104-blk?category_id=1963374-f-series-2 (This is not necessarily a bad thing. The Musicman Stingray and several Warwick models work the same way.)

Check the dimensions of the pickup housings. Hopefully, they will match those of EMG-35 series "soapbars" and, hence, the Seymour Duncan Blackouts for Bass humbucker. The EMG-35 series comes in numerous tonal "flavours". The SD Blackouts do loud/Heavy Rock. Period.
 
Re: ESP SB-4 pickups

Short answer:

Passive EQ requires no electrical power source. Turning the pot(s) simply shunts selected frequencies to ground. The specific frequency range is governed by the use of capacitors.

Active EQ is powered. Usually, it is capable of boosting the selected signal frequencies as well as cutting them. Some systems even allow the user to choose the frequencies.
 
Re: ESP SB-4 pickups

A pickup merely transduces string vibrations into an electrical signal. The physical characteristics of a given pickup influence the fidelity of signal reproduction. EQ controls allow the inadequacies of that raw signal to be corrected (equalised) and/or twisted to create novel sounds.
 
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