Product: MAMA pickups Punchman 8
Price Paid: UNKNOWN
Submitted
08/01/2009
at
01:46am
by
Armando Pugliese - Prometeus Guitars
Email: info at prometeusguitars<dot>com
Features
:
Hello! Trying to make this brand known outside Italy. MAMA pickups (Maurizio Malerba) is a small producer of custom pickups. I've actually bought several times from him and I've always been extremely pleased. http://www.mamapickups.com - the site is in Italian but if you drop a line to Maurizio he will help.
This model is an humbucking for my 8 strings bass, tuned B - Bb. Passive, 8mm Alnico 5 pole magnets. The signal is pretty hot but clear and the amount of details and nuances is amazing. Besides Maurizio only needed a couple of weeks to create this puppy and the price was very nice. These pickups don't have a real "cover", they're basically two plates with the poles in and black protective tape for the wire. Pretty simple to fix if it ever breaks but very durable IMHO. Offers series/parallel option too.
Instrument
:
I decided to go for this pickup 'cause I needed a good humbucker for my extended range bass. I could probably order from Delano but I think MAMAs are better and they can be custom made for your needs. The pickup has been placed in the sweetspot and I couldn't be happier, really. The right hand technique heavily affects the final sound and the pickup really brings out the "acoustic" side of the instrument without being weak or muddy.
Sound
:
10
Good output level and pretty low noise if well shielded and if you have a ground wire on your amp. I'm using this bass on a 3 ways cabinet with Eminence stuff in, a PA power amp and a DI. No need to eq. since the tone is already there. Extremely balanced on all the wide frequency range of an 8. I wouldn't hesitate to order another pickup like this for another bass like this, it can't get any better.
Overall Rating
:
10
I'd certainly buy again if the bass was sold or broken. I started playing in '98 and started building basses in 2007. I love the way these pickups sound and I already used MAMA pickups for 4, 6 and 10 strings - being always very happy.
Comparing the 4 strings model with a Barts MMC or MMC CB I find it's more detailed, warmer, with better highs. Basically "better", if "better" exists in music. :-)
