My impressions: 60s: I love the tonal character. It's almost as if the bass is singing because of those overtones. 70s: As what Dave mentioned, fundamentals. Not as colorful as the 60s but does the job well on the fundamentals. HC: To my ears, this sounds like the 60s (colorful overtones) with more treble. HOT: This sucks. Haha! Yeah, probably good for heavily distorted music where the bass tone is usually buried. I love the tonal characteristis of overtones so I'd probably get either the 60s or the HC. Though I might get HC because that increased treble will save me from changing strings too often. :-P
On the rock/pop section he changes his plucking position. He plucks near the bridge pickup with the 70, but closer to the neck pickup with the other ones.
The hum-canceling are the winners for me, the most clarity and growl in the sound. The hots, I can see the use for heavy music, but it's also a great example of how overwinding kills the high end.
+altrogeruvah Thank you! Jonathon and I have been friends many years and we had a blast making the video. You are so correct. Jonathan can OWN a groove!
I got some AG 4J-HC's for my 4 string and liked them so well I got AG 5J-HC's for my 5 string. On this comparison, the HC's sound like the they split the difference between the 60's and 70's.
Interesting to know which pickup Jonathan used to solo on Dave's bass line at the end of the shoot ... my guess ... AG 4J-HC 1st candidate, AG 4J-60 second ...
To my ears and for my sensibilities: The 60s sound distinct from the others and better (for me) The 70s are crisper. Not my sound. The Hum Canceling ones sound like the 70s, but it might be worth it to be noiseless The hots sound great! I can't tell if I like them better than the 60s, but maybe. All great pickups and great playing, man!
Why no run-through with a pick? For those of us that play punk or faster/heavier music, it would've been nice to hear a comparison - I'm thinking the HC is still probably the best bet.
Dave nice explanation of all pickups , Hot sounds , dont know the word to use , covered up while slapping but was great for finger style. Thanks Jonathan , now I got to learn all that you played , palm mute was fine .
Inline coil humbuckers are a nice option for bass. The pickup still sounds like a single coil because you still have each given string being picked up by one coil. It's a little harder to do on guitar because the very middle of the pickup has a volume drop off if you bend a string into that area.
would have been nice the hear only neck or bridge PU by itself though for each type of PUs. for me the 70s and HC sound best and pretty similar to each other, HC with a little more input @ Hi mids. but you won't get any hum - great for blending both PUs togeteher the way u want ---> good for studio =) Thx for the video!
Nice comparison. Noteworthy though is the fact that Jonathan doesn't play with his right hand in the same position for all pickups for the Rock/Pop section - hence that section isn't an accurate depiction of the differences between the pickups. The rest of the video is very enlightening.
+at0mar Hmmm.... on a second look it appears that the tone knob was moved a tiny bit on the 60's pickup. Everything looks consistent. I am going to have to keep a closer eye on Jonathon!
I found the 60s and HC the best all-rounders. I liked the 70s best for slap and finger funk, but lacking with Rock/Pop and palm mutting. The Hot has a place but I'd rather go with a Humbucker if I want those pronounced mids.
I would have expected the AG 4J-HC to sound like the 60- or 70-model, just adding humcancellation to it. Sorrily it delivers a significantly different tone. So I can't have humfree and 70s tone?
Hard to really get "noise free" with a single coil pickup. You can always use a noisegate. Ttuthfully, you can get the HC and dial up the 70s tone with your eq.
I noticed that too. And also they don't switch between the pickups to compare the sound and hum. I had to shield my 4j-70's because they were too noisy.
