Question: Thoughts on Aguilar DCB-M at Neck on an HH
For context:
I’m relatively new to playing bass and just picked up a Sterling HH (Ray34HH). First let me say I love it. Went to get a Fender Jazz Aerodyne and brought along my Ibanez SR305 to A/B what I know well. Was supremely dissapointed in the Aerodyne. Next on my list was an Ibanez AFR45, liked it allot though the piezo is admittedly a bit odd with allot of microphonics. Price wise though I wouldn’t have been walking out with it either way. Went through a few others before giving up on walking out with one when the Ray HH caught my eye. Needless to say I was immensely impressed and brought it home.
I’m very happy with it but for two reasons I am looking at various pickup options. First because I always do that with all my instruments, I want them to sound the way I want them to sound. Second because I have been very pleased with the Aguilar soapbars I have in my Ibanez. The qualities that I like about them is that compared to the stock pups they pickup allot of nuance / harmonics, add to the dynamic range, sound much more natural, and have nice even levels across the strings.
The Ray was admittedly a rather odd choice for me as I (theoretically) prefer a jazzy, wide dynamic range sound over the more aggressive full throated sound of the Ray. I say theoretically because those preferences went out the window when I played the Ray. All the same, and while I’ll still play the Ibanez some, I’d like to have a bit more of those dynamics and nuance available at the flick of a switch.
So, I’m really tempted to drop in the DCB-M at the neck and keep the bridge pup for the classic MM sound. My only hesitation in pulling the trigger is worry over how the two will blend (or not blend) in the middle position. I’ve found several audio examples of the DCB-M alone but no examples or conversations about mixing them.
Anyone have some insights on that? More broadly if anyone wants to add any thoughts on the DCB-M in general that’s helpful too. Most of what I’ve seen and heard has been promotional so I any real world impressions are great.
Thanks for anything you’ve got
Source: http://forums.ernieball.com