Seymour Duncan SMB-5A

Pickup features: passive humbucking
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Yamaha BBN-5II
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: Yamaha stock passive doublecoil
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup: eh, many
You musical style(s): funk, metal, some freejazz too
Reason for pickup change: I wanted the beloved MM sound for this nice bass from Yamaha

Perceived output level: Quite high output level.
Tone: First time I used this new pickup on stage I almost stopped playing. During several years of gigging I never ever felt like this: "MAN, I SOUND INCREDIBLE!"
Sonic evaluation: My trustworthy (heavily modded) Yamaha BBN-5II and a Hughes & Kettner Bassforce XL. I usually use a Digitech BP-8 too.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: This pickup is the best for slap and tapping, while I have to be careful in fingerstyle: sometimes the signal gets too overdriven. Not that I don't like that tho...

Comments: This is a keeper for me. I heard lots of original MusicMans, but this combination I built sounds better than most of them, while it costs only half the money.

Pickup features: Alnico Polepiece humbucker, passive, Musicman style
Impedence or other specs: don't know

Model of guitar or bass: NeufTone Custom
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: Came stock.
Other pickups on guitar: Actually theres one in the neck AND bridge, so this review is for two pickups
Artists using this pickup: Me and my client!
You musical style(s): Funk, rock, jazz, pop, RnB
Reason for pickup change: None, came stock.

Perceived output level: Quite hot, but not with an unnatural "boosted" feel.
Tone: All sorts of punch. VERY nice thump, with a balanced feel overall.
Sonic evaluation: I built this into a bass for my customer, it was a custom 5-string jazz bass with a koa body, and a goncalo alves/pau ferro neck. I included miniswitches to switch between series and parallel for each pickup. These pickups sound FABULOUS in this bass! Better than I imagined. It is my favorite bass, and I hated having to give it up to my customer. If I can ever afford to build my own I will. It affords a number of pickup configurations, all humfree...with the series/parallel switches for each pickup, it gives both the high-power, thick bass sound of series, and the lighter, more delicate sounds of parallel wiring. Its a very warm sounding bass at all times...it never gets muddy though, but you can't really dial a "thin" sound. Those with an aversion to any sort of midrange might not like this bass as it has a smooth creamy thick presence in the mids, but its the good kind...it feels mostly like "bass punch". Great for rock styles, and funk. The client likes his Warwick bass better for modern slap-style...but for me, I even thought the slap sound on this bass was better than any others I'd tried...somehow, the natural passive warmth of the bass made my slap riffs sound fuller and richer. This bass isn't a cutting bass like my beloved Rickenbacker, but it fills! And its always rich and defined. This is the bass that would shake the faith of any active-pickup person. The woods (warm mahogany like body wood, super dense exotic neck wood) contribute to the sound of the bass too. The best way I can describe the sound is "warm clarity". Its fantastically inspiring to play...at least, the handful of times I have gotten to play it! The alnico versions of these pickups definately need no preamp. The tone is pure, and the bass exceeded my expectations by far. I would have charged my customer more than $1000 if I knew it would sound this good! These are great pickups, and I would especially recommend them for custom built basses with passive electronics. The B string sounds tight and focused, as well as tremendously deep. Again, it has the rare combination of warmth and clarity in its tone, and for that, its priceless. I want to build a single pickup 4-string version for myself, eventually.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Theres nothing this pickup wouldnt do right. Its the closest I've heard to a perfect bass sound. Only thing would be jazz...but rip the frets out, and you'd be there. Sounds great in both bridge and neck positions...bridge position in particular (more accurately, the Musicman position...slightly away from the bridge) has a thick clear punch thats not nasal, but great for rock. Try this position in series and you will fall in love with the sound; still one of my fave configurations.

Comments: Well, if you want a bass or guitar custom built at parts cost, contact me, as I am still unknown enough to be perfectly willing to do the work for free...I love building guitars, but I can't afford it very often, so I have to have sponsors, so to speak. This was my best success story so far, but my other guitars are great too (I generally use Lindy Fralin pickups). These pickups can do so much, it would be the kind of bass that would become your standby for a very long time. If you want a super distinct tone, its not going to be able to nail the nasal honk of a vintage Jazz Bass, or the gritty treble grind of a Rickenbacker, but it will give a rich, unique, full sounding bass tone that will sit well in just about any band, any style. Country, jazz, numetal, funk, prog, blues, pop, rock...I would use a bass so equipped for any of those genres. though I probably would avoid playing country or numetal in the first place. The pickups have the best parts of the modern and vintage sounds...it really does have the warmth of vintage tones, and it has the clarity of modern tones. makes me smile just thinking of it!
Sorry to be a hawker, but really, I just got lucky with the ingredients...perfect woods, perfect pickups...
BTW, you should see how beautiful this thing is. Anyway, great pickups, I'd buy again in a flash. Please email me if you have any questions or (ding! ding!) INQUIRIES, hehe. seriously, I'd love to talk about the pickups with any interested person. Remember to take the antispam text out of the email address below.