Questions about Blackouts & ASB2-5

[moshuajusic]

I'm looking for a pair of active soap bars (EMG 40 size) for my 5-string Warmoth.

1) Do Blackouts for bass come as calibrated neck & bridge, or is it just 1 pickup?

2) Do Blackouts for bass have crazy high output like the Blackouts bridge model for guitar? (On my 8-string guitar, I put the neck model in the bridge due to the bridge pickup's over-the-topness.)

3) Does the ASB2-5 have the same "balanced hybrid differential preamp" design as Blackouts?

4) Is the ASB2-5 as quiet and hum-cancelling as Blackouts?

5) Between Blackouts and ASB2, which is better for a wide range of stuff, from lush jazz to extreme metal?

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Questions about Blackouts & ASB2-5

1) No.

I have only ever found Blackouts For Bass pickups in "one-model-fits-all". Achieving an output balance between two placements involves setting the pickup nearer the fingerboard lower than the one nearer the bridge. Since the pickup has prodigious low end to begin with, I see no advantage to a second pickup. Three-band EQ would be more effective.

2) Yes. Some amplification struggles to cope.

3) Probably.

4) Yes.

5) IMO, the Phase soapbar series is the more versatile. Blackouts specialise entirely on all-out Rawk.

Here is the product description. http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/bass-pickups/soapbars/4string/45_string_black/ Neither this nor the Tone Chart specifies calibrated versions.

I have tried the four string Blackouts For Bass humbucker in several host instruments. So far, it has always seemed too hot and too one paced to suit either the host instruments or my playing style.