Very good review. I own two Squier Mustang bass guitars. I have some Mustang bass pickups such as the Nordstrand dual split coil, Fender Vintera Mustang bass, Northern Mustang bass from the UK, Toronado Mustang bass and Squier Classic Vibe and maybe some others. If you want to test and review any of them, let me know and I will send them to you and you can send them back when finished.
@@jonathanwong458music I have the Duncan Design and Custom Shop in the large size and all of the others are the small sized units. I have all of them mounted in pick guards, 4 are totally wired and the others are just the pickups mounted in new bare pick guards with no wiring.
I featured the Duncan Design that came stock in my Schecter mustang in Ep.1. Sounded very tonally similar to the True Custom Shop in my opinion. I also featured the Nordstrand NM4 in Ep.2. Those were much more P-bassy in tone and midrange. How did you like the Seymour Custom shop?
@@jonathanwong458musicI haven't heard those pickups. The Mustang pickups that I have are the Squier Classic Vibe, Tornado split coils, Duncan Designed, Fender Vintera, Jerry Sentell (large poles), Northern from the UK and one other set that I currently have installed but can't remember what they are. The Duncan Design is the large size and is mounted in a bare pickguard. All of the others are the small size and are all mounted in pickguards other than the Tornados.
Hey Jonathan, I was watching this review cause I'm thinking in getting a Mustang bass pickup but I can't figure out which. My reference for a supreme bass tone is the London Burns, kinda like the sound of Ballad of Melody Nelson from Serge Gainsbourg. Does any of this can achieve a similar tone? Cheers
Thanks for watching and asking! For the Placebo track, there's a lot going on down there. It's doubled by a synth for a lot of it. The bass part is pretty subby and there's probably dirt/fuzz with a lot of compression to get that sine wavy-type electronic tone. Of all the mustang pickups I featured, the Curtis Novak had the most grit to its natural tone. That being said, you'll need the right combo of EQ and effects to get that sound you referenced regardless of the pickups. It sounds more Gibson-y than Fender - need that rounder tubby tone without the high end slice. I wouldn't be surprised to know that it was all neck pickup!
Yes indeed! I’m trying to orchestrate a comparison with a Fender MIJ reissue Mustang with rounds (trying to borrow one!). If I can’t make that happen, I can try with my Groove Mustang (also with rounds). Thanks for watching!
@@jonathanwong458musicThat stankface you were making in the first comparison tells me you were really digging the beefy girth of those novaks...I take it the novaks would be better for filling in the sound in a trio, while the lollars would be better for cutting through a dense mix?
Hahaha! Did my stankface give it away?! Yeah, I am digging the character and beefier bottom of the Novaks. The Lollars, albeit traditional sounding, were a bit too clean for what I'm looking for. If I wanted clean, my multi-laminate bass with bartolinis does that. From a Mustang, I want some attitude! But also agree that in a dense mix, some of the character would probably just get lost and be less noticeable. Thanks for watching!
Very good review. I own two Squier Mustang bass guitars. I have some Mustang bass pickups such as the Nordstrand dual split coil, Fender Vintera Mustang bass, Northern Mustang bass from the UK, Toronado Mustang bass and Squier Classic Vibe and maybe some others. If you want to test and review any of them, let me know and I will send them to you and you can send them back when finished.
Thanks so much for watching and for such a generous offer! With your Squier, are your pickups in the smaller/vintage 40mm size?
@@jonathanwong458music I have the Duncan Design and Custom Shop in the large size and all of the others are the small sized units. I have all of them mounted in pick guards, 4 are totally wired and the others are just the pickups mounted in new bare pick guards with no wiring.
I featured the Duncan Design that came stock in my Schecter mustang in Ep.1. Sounded very tonally similar to the True Custom Shop in my opinion. I also featured the Nordstrand NM4 in Ep.2. Those were much more P-bassy in tone and midrange.
How did you like the Seymour Custom shop?
@@jonathanwong458musicI haven't heard those pickups. The Mustang pickups that I have are the Squier Classic Vibe, Tornado split coils, Duncan Designed, Fender Vintera, Jerry Sentell (large poles), Northern from the UK and one other set that I currently have installed but can't remember what they are. The Duncan Design is the large size and is mounted in a bare pickguard. All of the others are the small size and are all mounted in pickguards other than the Tornados.
Sorry, I misunderstood. Thought you had the Seymour Duncan custom shops! Sounds like a great collection of pickups. Do you have a favourite?
Great video! I am sad you are done though. Very interesting overall
Thanks so much for watching! Depending on what becomes available to me, I might be able to make more comparisons!
An interesting comparison as usual, I would find it useful to have a guitar playing chords to hear the cut through. Thanks.
Thanks for watching and for the feedback! I don’t play much guitar anymore these days, unfortunately.
Hey Jonathan, I was watching this review cause I'm thinking in getting a Mustang bass pickup but I can't figure out which. My reference for a supreme bass tone is the London Burns, kinda like the sound of Ballad of Melody Nelson from Serge Gainsbourg. Does any of this can achieve a similar tone? Cheers
Thanks for watching and asking!
For the Placebo track, there's a lot going on down there. It's doubled by a synth for a lot of it. The bass part is pretty subby and there's probably dirt/fuzz with a lot of compression to get that sine wavy-type electronic tone.
Of all the mustang pickups I featured, the Curtis Novak had the most grit to its natural tone. That being said, you'll need the right combo of EQ and effects to get that sound you referenced regardless of the pickups. It sounds more Gibson-y than Fender - need that rounder tubby tone without the high end slice. I wouldn't be surprised to know that it was all neck pickup!
Thanks for the video and the series. Would you consider comparing the Curtis Novak to the Nordstrand?
Yes indeed! I’m trying to orchestrate a comparison with a Fender MIJ reissue Mustang with rounds (trying to borrow one!). If I can’t make that happen, I can try with my Groove Mustang (also with rounds).
Thanks for watching!
Lollar for the win…. You’re right, the Novaks are going to mix better in the studio.
Thanks so much for watching and commenting!
For me, no comparison Novak all the way . . .
They’re quite tonally different! I liked the Novak Fats too.
Thanks for watching!
@@jonathanwong458musicThat stankface you were making in the first comparison tells me you were really digging the beefy girth of those novaks...I take it the novaks would be better for filling in the sound in a trio, while the lollars would be better for cutting through a dense mix?
Hahaha! Did my stankface give it away?! Yeah, I am digging the character and beefier bottom of the Novaks. The Lollars, albeit traditional sounding, were a bit too clean for what I'm looking for. If I wanted clean, my multi-laminate bass with bartolinis does that. From a Mustang, I want some attitude!
But also agree that in a dense mix, some of the character would probably just get lost and be less noticeable.
Thanks for watching!
@@jonathanwong458music I'm there with you, I don't want a mustang to be polite, leaving some clank in there can do it a world of good
Yeah man!