Q-Tuner BL6 Medium Z

q-tuner.com/bl6.shtml

I got a semi-custom model which fits perfectly into an EMG45-sized slot and has 4-conductor wiring, allowing for the parallel operation I prefer. Just email q-tuner using the Contact link on their page, and you should be able to get the same kind of thing.

The pickup is too expensive for me to buy more than one, so I installed it in the bridge position to get maximum frequency response (Brice HXB-406 for now, Carvin LB76 when I can afford one). I can just filter the output appropriately in software (Logic Studio is my current weapon of choice). No famous artists that I know of are using Q-Tuners yet, and to me, that says they are either ignorant or insane :-)

This is the best bass guitar pickup in the world, at the time of this review (February 2008). I have used a ton of pickups over the past decade, and none of them can touch what this model can accomplish. In series mode, it is just a touch better than running the clearest of other humbuckers in parallel, albeit with greatly reduced noise / improved dynamic range. However, in parallel, there is absolutely no comparison. This wiring does theoretically reduce the dynamic range slightly, but in practice, the pickup performs so well that it doesn't matter, and it is worth running in parallel to get the most accurate, clear-sounding timbres you can get out of an electric bass. It is louder than probably all other pickups (at least all other passives), so there may be a concern of clipping the input channels easily on amps without an input level control. However, that is a fault of the antiquated amplifier hardware, not the pickup.

There is not a style or pickup position for which this product would not be an excellent match. The website advertises "ruthlessly accurate wideband sound" and "clarity, transparency, enhanced low-frequency definition, and above all, an extremely wide dynamic range". Those are apt descriptions: the noise floor with Q-tuners is the lowest you are going to find, so you really get out what you put it. The expressive results can be likened to what you get by simultaneously recording the direct signal along with a mic placed near the strings, only with more consistency and definition. I chose to get the medium impedance model for the very best in high frequency response, but there is a higher impedance version which could be useful to other people.

You can listen to some recordings I made with these pickups at teamuv.net/qtuners
I have not used any amplifiers for several years, and have been going direct into Firewire and USB audio interfaces, using software for all of my signal processing. These clips represent that signal flow. If you want to hear more, feel free to e-mail me and ask for a further demonstration.

I had to think hard about ordering my Q-tuner pickups, because of the price, and the fact that I am impatient and had no desire to wait the two months that it took to get them. However, the sound clips available at q-tuner.com were so ridiculously impressive that I decided I would never be satisfied unless I gave them a shot. This ended up being a marvelous decision. Even given the price and wait, I still consider Q-tuners a "fantastic value". They are less than twice as much as most other high-end pickups that you can find readily available, and offer performance that nothing else can approach at this time. I only hope that these pickups can become more popular, so they can be easily sold all over the world, with reduced cost and decreased time of construction. I am not one to be loyal to brands, but I consider Q-tuners to currently have no competition, so if I find myself needing to get magnetic pickups for any further instruments, these will be my choice.