Newark Street SF2

bassman10096

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I bought an SF2 retrofitted w Curtis Novak Dark Stars and love it for all purposes except it seems to lack the high end I love from my other Bisonics and Dark Stars. I currently own a JS2 (with the oaks and acorns) equipped w Hammon Dark Stars. It has the odd pickup selector (obviously some phasing differences when both PUs selected) plus the infamous "suck switch"/bass boost. I can get that bass to do all the Casady high and mid range tones and anything else I want (without the extreme amp settings described below). The Newark St SF2 is a different story. As I said, the PUs are reputed to be Curtis Novak (seller is reliable) and it has seemingly the same odd 3 position pickup switch, master volume but no "suck switch".
To reiterate, the problem is that the bass lacks highs. Even with both pickup tone controls wide open I'm forced to boost the treble and high mid on my amp to the full extent (same settings on a Subway 800+ and a GK fusion 800). If you can help, I'd be forever in debt:

1. Is it something I'm doing wrong (with bass or amp(s))?
2. Should I be examining cap values? Would new caps help without draining off that deep bass?
3. Other ideas??

I absolutely love both the SF (earlier, narrow neck profile) and the JS2 (wonderful, gnarly-looking, old, nitro-finished mahogany slab with a pencil-thin neck). I was tempted to swap the PUs between the two basses (DS to SF2 and Novaks to JS2), but I'm not convinced the PUs are the difference. Any ideas?
 

mellowgerman

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Hammon Dark Stars are wound to a lower impedance than the Novaks (assuming the Novaks are standard Hagstrom spec). The natural result of that is more crisp highs, with slightly less output and woolly bass. Hammon made his pickups not as exact copies of Hagstrom Bisonics, but rather to get as close as possible to the Alembic modified Bisonics without requiring extra electronics.
So yes, swapping the pickups should yield more of that sparkly high end you might be missing with the Novaks. I would however encourage you to leave them in and play them as is for a while, tweaking the amp however it sounds best to you. You may find yourself getting used to them liking them just the way they are. Granted if you're using the same amp for both basses, you may struggle to find an amp EQ setting that is "perfect" for both without any tweaking required
 
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Minnesota Flats

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"Granted if you're using the same amp for both basses, you may struggle to find an amp EQ setting that is "perfect" for both without any tweaking required"

^This.

Taken a step further (past EQ): the "best" amp for one bass is not necessarily the best one for another. In fact, I think far too many people buy a new bass and quickly become disenchanted with it without considering the possibility that an amp other than the one through which they've been playing it (which may have worked great with a previous bass) might yield a far more pleasing result.

A good example of this (borrowed from the guitar world) is Fender Tweed amps which (at least to my ear) sound best when paired guitars loaded with single-coil pups (Fenders, P90s, P13s, Gretsch Dynasonics, etc.).
 

fronobulax

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Not sure what you mean by "odd pickup selector". Factory wiring is Neck, Both, Bridge. The deep/hard switch only works on the neck. If you are hearing something that sounds out of phase maybe it was miswired?

I have a Novak with a coil tap so I toggle between Novak's take on the Bisonic and a Dark Star. It's in a solid body so is hard to compare to a Bisonic in a '67 Starfire. I don't remember which is which on the toggle, but one has less midrange than the other. The treble seems about the same. That is not my go to bass for my "sound like Jack" fantasy but I think it is because of the woody growl that comes from the hollow body. While I can hear differences between the "four" Bisonics (three plus toggle) I would not say the difference is in the treble response. Hearing loss? I also note that on all three basses there is a noticeable tonal change between full volume and rolling off to about 7. The treble is clearer in that position, probably because it is not as overshadowed by the mids. But that's me...

I'd check the wiring.
 

mavuser

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if you are going to take the Novaks out, i would contact Curtis with the pickups removed and see if he can tell u what exactly u have. if it is a set of “Bisonics” without the “Dark Star” wind (he has an option for both Bisonic and Dark Star specs in one pickup, engaged with a push pull pot or a switch), then maybe you can send them back to him and ask for a Dark star wind or even maybe just swap them for a setof Dark Stars. or something of that nature. Id leave the JS II carved alone if it sounds nice, the NS Starfire will not sound like the JS just by putting those other pickups in. So if u are happy with the one id leave it alone. also your JS has the “Deep Hard” switch, not the “Suck Switch” from Hoboken/Bisonic era. the DH switch is actually pretty useful on those basses with the Guild humbuckers. it is the placement of the DH switch that really didn’t work for me (i kept switching it unintentionally while playing). the suck switch on the Bisonics is a fail...whatever they were trying to accomplish...was just a complete fail. it sounds awful when engaged.
 

fronobulax

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Does the seller have any documentation that the PUs were replaced? I have heard one or two people who did not know that Guild was making a Bisonic and so looked at a Newark Street pickup and thought it was something else. It was an honest mistake but my expectations are different for a pair of stock Guild Bisonics and anything built by Novak.

I'd leave the JS II alone since you are happy with it. You could end up with with two basses you are not happy with :)
 

hieronymous

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This might be too obvious, but could it be related to the strings? Not sure if you're using flats or rounds, if you prefer bright new rounds or older rounds, etc. Could be a relatively cheap place to start experimenting, or it might have nothing to do with it!
 

bassman10096

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Thanks for the suggestions. Lots of food for thought. BTW, the strings on both basses are Pyramid flats. I'm not going to mess with the JS - it is perfect just the way it is.
 

lungimsam

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Try D’Addario Chromes flats. Super bright and clear and punchy piano string type tone.
 
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