Horseshoe pickup on the CS Bass

[2112]

I'm a big fan of Chris and his bass tone.
I have the tribute bass and am just curious about that hoseshoe pickup.

I guess it would have been cooler to have the "real thing" on the tribute basses instead of something that looks like it but dosent have the true sound of it.

OK, no problem.

Bye.

[rickinroma]

I am sure that the right approach to play and to make it sound righty can be more important and relevant compared to the differencies between the original and the repro HS.
In other words, with the right attitude, a high gain pickup could probably sound like the original HS...more than an original HS in the wrong hands

[marc61]

If I'm not mistaken, the bridge pickup on Squire's 1999 is non working. He gets his sound from the neck pickup.Also believe he gets his sound from the way he uses his pick. I'm sure you have the Chris Squire bass licks VHS. If not, pick it up.

[weemac]

There was a point there where the pickup was disconnected (I believe that was just inbetween repairs) and then once repaired and regaussed he was not too keen on the tone of it so he favoured the neck only sound for a time.
Most of the sound resides in the neck pickup as demonstrated here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xx7Zb7xa0RU
Eden.

[aceonbass]

Anyone who's ever seen one of Rickinroma's YouTube videos with his CS4001 knows the sound is in the technique more than the pickup.

[wints]

Cool vid Eden! Nice to hear the RM at work there....

The neck pick ups are far more prominent than the HS's in 60's basses, and as Dane correctly points out, much of the sound comes from the technique and attack that CS and others have, rather than the pick up itself.

[henry5]

Chris's 'shoe pickup is fully working again; as others have said, they can be remagnetized.

[just_bassics]

If I'm not mistaken, the bridge pickup on Squire's 1999 is non working. He gets his sound from the neck pickup.Also believe he gets his sound from the way he uses his pick. I'm sure you have the Chris Squire bass licks VHS. If not, pick it up.

I can assure all that his bridge pickup works just fine! Chris does use both in combination for his usual sound, but it wouldn't make much sense for him to lug a complete stereo concert rig around the globe if the bridge pup never worked! There was one story about the bass arriving at RIC for a repair with the bridge pup disconnected, but I believe that was immediately after another repair. Chris has never performed on stage in stereo without the bridge pup i working order.

As for the CS model bridge pickup, that was also my disappointment, when researching the CS model years ago, that the pichup was not the original style. They are still great basses (the two I've played, anyway) but not worth the current market prices, IMHO. I would have purchased one at list price had I known about them at the time, but I'm quite happy with my 1982 4001 "XOVS" as pictured below. (and my V63!)

BTW, Thomas, nice to see you back!

[jingle_jangle]

They are still great basses (the two I've played, anyway) but not worth the current market prices, IMHO.

I think you're referring to market prices back in '07 and '08, before they tumbled. The CS has lost more in the last 18 months, or so than any other Artist limited edition model. It'll be some time before they creep up again to those "golden" prices we saw back then.

[just_bassics]

I have no idea why this is such a big deal. Sorry, I just don't.

It's not, really, most seem quite happy with the tone of the RI HS. I know I am. But...

...when a guitar string is plucked, it travels quickly in a figure 8 pattern, as most (or all) of us here know. The key to an original HS magnet pickup, if I understand it correctly, is that the shape of the magnetic field created by the horseshoe allows the movement of the plucked string to be more correctly converted to an electrical signal, three dimensional movement (figure eight) as opposed to just back and forth / up and down. This would give any instrument with a true magnetic HS pickup a different sound from conventional pickups, and that is where it ends for me. "Better" "worse" "vintage" and other adjectives used to describe the sound are all subjective and we all know that many factors come into play after that point, string type, gage, picking technique, the list goes on... Geddy Lee said that tone comes from the fingers and I agree. All of the variables that come into play after that are, to me, what makes all of this fascinating and interesting.

I purchased a 1960 lap steel with the intention of having the pickup rebuilt into a true working model for the bass pictured above, but two things stopped me; 1, the RE HS that I already purchased sounds great, 2. The lap steel sounds so nice that I decided immediately not to mess with it. It wasn't important enough to me. I know another forum member that had one of these 60's lap steel pups installed in his 4001 and he loves it.

So as far as the CS model goes, some people were disappointed that it was not created to be an exact replica of Chris's original RM1999, but that bass is really one of a kind now and should probably stay that way. Just my opinion and if the CS models return someday to a reasonable market price (or if Chris gives me one of his ) then I'll get one, otherwise, I'm quite satisfied. I've never played Chris's however, and if I ever do, well, I'm told by many that RAS will strike hard (Tony!)

Paul, I've seen so few for sale lately that it's difficult for me to judge... economic times what they are, I guess.

[henry5]

I recently got less for my '91 CS (admittedly cosmetically a little the worse for wear and without cert and case) than generic used 4001s and new 4003s are going for on this side of the pond.

[Prowl]

just curious but would you get the same tone from the current C64 series horseshoe as with Squire's original bass? Dunno if its been asked or not, sort of just tuning in. I had a 4003s I gave the vintage treatment years ago and put a HS pickup in it. Unfortunately it was very very weak on the E string but strong on the other three, then it completely stopped working. I believe it was from a v63 though.

[cassius987]

I believe it's already been pointed out--very illustratively in the YT video--that the neck pickup is by far the dominating pickup in the overall sound. The HS seems to blend in some nice tones on the top but the Toaster dominates. And I personally feel that technique has the most to do with it. Finally, don't shoot me, but on the YT video for the RM1999 I thought the HS sounded lackluster compared to the Toaster.

The transverse wave of a plucked string should be easily seen by almost any alnico magnet or similar magnet with a good magnetic field. While the HS may optimize this "visibility" a bit I think we've already seen that the Toaster and other pickups do an equally admirable job or better...

Just my two cents guys. I'm not flaming anyone. It's just that, as long as we're talking about it, I feel I might as well say something.

[Prowl]

I actually agree with Josh on this, but my HS was sort of thin sounding. I was very big into the vintage look and sound and didnt know any better at the time to research more. I eventually swapped my hi-gain back into the bass and loved that far more. "Should of known better with a girl like you . . ." sort of a moment for me. Does anyone have any vids or audio clips sort of showcasing the differences between the HS form the RM1999, V63, CS and C64 basses?

[just_bassics]

.... Does anyone have any vids or audio clips sort of showcasing the differences between the HS form the RM1999, V63, CS and C64 basses?

I envy the guy who can make that video!