Uwe goes bad (and sure regrets it!) ... finally ...

[Highlander]

We'll-come to the dark side...

[uwe]

... where looks are apparently worth more than sound: I heard those Lulls today over my Orange Little Terror at a rehearsal of a new band I was auditioning with. Unremarkable, Bicentennial pups come to mind. It was not the orgasmic sonic experience at all I had hoped for to compensate me for the loss of my beloved teflon coating. TB Plus pups - whether as soapies or as guitar size humbuckers - sound a lot raunchier. I had my Piezo Shadow 80ies Explorer, a Midtown and an ES 335 Bass with me, each one of them was more assertive than the Lull-equipped Explorer. Maybe those pups need an amp with treble and presence emphasis (which neither my Ampeg nor my Orange have), will have to try them with my Mark Bass rig, that has tweeters and all that horrible stuff which by rights has no place in a bass rig.  

So now we have scientific proof: Chrome pups not only look worse, they don't sound good either. Wretched gadgets they are, they need to be eradicated off the face of this earth.  

I should have been warned when I got my new Volvo V 70 a few months ago, adorned with more chrome than the predecessor model, it now looks like a friggin Volkswagen from the 90ies.  

[Barklessdog]

Bicentennial pups wow, ouch!

[4stringer77]

So did you change any of the pots or caps in the explorer before you dropped in the Lulls? Since they are supposed to be 60's pickup replicas, shouldn't they be in a circuit similar to what you'd find in one of your 60's T-bird IVs to get the best results? Or maybe it's some other factor in the design of the Explorer that doesn't pair well with the pickups. I find it hard to believe the Lulls are that bad considering what people are willing to pay for them or the basses they come equipped in.

[godofthunder]

 Get Thunderbuckers! Now will people believe me? To be fair I have not played actual Lulls but I have a number of Seymour Duncan Custom shop Thunderbird pickups, essentially the same thing, SD is a supplier of Lull pups. They look great but leave me flat, I'll take them over black plastic though. Thunderbuckers sound like the real deal to me. My Cataldo got  sig. with a Thunderbucker Max through my Orange TB500 and 1x15 miced with a SM57. Done on the first take no studio trickery. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=474153225956006&set=vb.98848571338&type=2&theater

[Dave W]

Something about the Explorer body shape makes any pickup in it sound different. Same with a Flying V.

This thread jarred my memory of an old article. We need to do something for Uwe: when his time comes -- hopefully many decades away -- shouldn't we make advance arrangements to be sure that he goes out in chrome style like this guy?

[jumbodbassman]

I have a  early lull in my Bachbird and 3 sets of thunderbuckers.  The lull sounds  just  like the 63 thunderbuckers  which i prefer but  i may be the only one....  clean full sound.
Maybe he has changed who builds them for him.   Mark will chime in shortly I am sure.   

[uwe]

Unlike the Flying V, I notice no inherent drawbacks with the Explorer shape on bass. Bit beefisher than a TBird, but not radically different. Like two lost world wars, one must come to grips with it, I guess. But the Lulls had none of the eye-opening effect I heard when I put real TB Plus pups in my Epi Explorer for the first time.

[TBird1958]

Don't know what to tell you Uwe, as that's definately not my expierience with them. Mine are rewired to '63 spec, I don't know much about pots and values etc. but Mike seemed pretty adamant about doing that when I changed mine over. Mike's are made by either TV Jones or SD (they were brought in because Jones couldn't keep up with demand.) and are to '63 spec, so they are clean and not overdriven sounding - definately better presence and clarity of indivdual notes than any of my '76s.   

[westen44]

Something about the Explorer body shape makes any pickup in it sound different. Same with a Flying V.

This thread jarred my memory of an old article. We need to do something for Uwe: when his time comes -- hopefully many decades away -- shouldn't we make advance arrangements to be sure that he goes out in chrome style like this guy?
[/quote ]

I want my gravestone with teflon on it - bird crap won't cling to it then ... My son was already caring enough to ask which of my basses I would want to go "with me" - so he can sell the others!

I'd advise, however, living a very long time.  It reminds me of the story of the French woman who took out a reverse mortgage on her house.  She was already very old when she did that.  The person who she dealt with was expecting her to kick the bucket at any moment.  But that isn't what happened.  He died after a few years.  Then his wife died after a few years.  The woman with the reverse mortgage lived to be 117 or something like that.  Not sure of the exact age, but it was in that ball park. 

[uwe]

Something about the Explorer body shape makes any pickup in it sound different. Same with a Flying V.

This thread jarred my memory of an old article. We need to do something for Uwe: when his time comes -- hopefully many decades away -- shouldn't we make advance arrangements to be sure that he goes out in chrome style like this guy?

I want my gravestone with teflon on it - bird crap won't cling to it then ... My son was already caring enough to ask which of my basses I would want to "go with me" - so he can sell the others!

[Highlander]

Paint her red and gold plate everything... bound to sort out the sound...

[uwe]

Don't know what to tell you Uwe, as that's definately not my expierience with them. Mine are rewired to '63 spec, I don't know much about pots and values etc. but Mike seemed pretty adamant about doing that when I changed mine over. Mike's are made by either TV Jones or SD (they were brought in because Jones couldn't keep up with demand.) and are to '63 spec, so they are clean and not overdriven sounding - definately better presence and clarity of indivdual notes than any of my '76s.   

I'll keep on trying to like them. Obviously, all those years playing TB Plus have seriously deranged me. And except for the mudbucker, which is an idiosyncratic beast, I've never been much of a vintage pup fan. I also thought the new pups on the Grabber II and Ripper II reissues sounded better than the old ones by a mile. Vorsprung durch Technik!

[Lightyear]

I want my gravestone with teflon on it - bird crap won't cling to it then ... My son was already caring enough to ask which of my basses I would want to "go with me" - so he can sell the others!

I was thinking you might go for the more traditional funeral pyre - you know, massive pile of basses and a gallon, or 3.33 liters, of gasoline and one match   Very traditional

[Barklessdog]

Ouch!