DiMarzio X2N for 12 string bass?

[exiledarchangel]

I think that guy is into "modern bass sound", that's why he doesnt like SVTs and pickups with lots of mids.
On the other hand he seems to know alot about pickups and such.

[Dave W]

He does know a lot about pickups. That's the Pickup Makers Forum within the larger forum. And I wouldn't say he's necessarily into modern bass sound, this is the same guy who has analyzed the LP Lo-Z pickups. He just doesn't like most overwound pickups, and he's trying to set someone straight who thought the X2N was balanced from reading DiMarzio's "tone numbers." Can't blame him for telling the guy the truth, it's not balanced, both the bass and guitar versions are heavy in the midrange and they're not clear.

[Bionic-Joe]

I didn't mean to sound like a dick. 

[exiledarchangel]

You are the hot-blooded type, eh?
X2Ns on guitar sound good with distortion, they nail that 80s metal sound easily if you know what I mean. I believe they will sound good on bass with distortion too.

[Dave W]

I didn't mean to sound like a dick. 

You're just mildly excitable. 

[Psycho Bass Guy]

If they sound anything like the Epi guitar-sized 'buckers I pulled out of my Les Paul Standard, which is what everything seems to indicate, I'd have to agree that they're NOT good sounding pickups, even though it seems weird for me to be agreeing with that SVT-hating douche. (BTW, someone is in love with himself, no?) I certainly would never use those for a 12-string, they're all overblown mids and little bottom.

[gearHed289]

Well I pulled the EXB circuit out, and installed a standard 25K EMG passive style tone pot, so at least now I can tame the savage highs. Still gonna go all passive though. Just scored like 15 gigs between now and late November, so my piggy bank is filling back up. 

[chromium]

If it helps you to hear the Pitbull isolated on a 4 string, I could record a bit of it.  I have one in my Ampeg (maple, 34", rounds).  Sounds just like I like em to sound- "vintagey", nice solid mids, no brittle high end...  Cuts thru great in the band setting, just don't get it out much because I love the 'birds more.

That would be cool. Wouldn't mind hear something.

Sorry it took me so long to get to this.  Here's a rough sample of the Pitbull:

    

I'm pickin' here (...not my strong suit!) figuring that the sound would be more relevant since you're considering this for a 12ver.  The first eight bars are the coil-tapped single coil sound, and the next eight were done in humbucking mode.  I usually play fingerstyle, back the tone off a bit, and use a bit of OD with it - sounds really gutsy!

Here's the bass I have that pickup in - all maple, 34", EXL170 rounds...

[gearHed289]

Wow, that single coil tone is great! Humbucker mode is really dark considering it's an all maple bass. Thanks a lot man.

[chromium]

Yeah I find that I'm mostly using single coil mode on that one.  The HB mode turns it into a behemoth!  It sorta reminds me of the sludgebuckers that I used to have in my JS-2.  Dark and punchy.  Cool for those medicine ball to the chest kind of sounds...

I have that bass setup with two push/pull pots (vol and tone) - one switches coil tap, and the other activates a little passive diode fuzz thing (why? no idea...).  The fuzz sounds like absolute butt, and I've been meaning to get back in there to ditch it.  I think I'm going to rewire it so the HB mode puts the coils in parallel instead of series as it sits today.  That should give something similar to single coil sound without the buzz.  I can then use that other pot to switch between series/parallel.  I'll also set it up so my preferred settings leaves both knobs in the downward position.  The way it is now, I have to pull one of them up for single coil mode.

[gearHed289]

The parallel option is a good idea for sure. The fuzz thing.... they make pedals for that. LOL!

[gearHed289]

Interesting (to me at least  ) info from DiMarzio. I inquired as to whether there was a difference between the X2N and the X2NB. This is what I got:

"X2NB specs are not available, but it is louder and bassier than the X2N. I do not feel that either pickup is a good choice for the instrument, purely in terms of sound quality. I think you would do better with a D Activator-X neck model (DP221) in both positions. This pickup was not in existence when the Hamer 12-string bass was built. It is cleaner-sounding and less muddy than either of the X2N versions."

I'm ordering a pair in BLACK!