Hi,

By chance I was watching some live footage of the wonderful Peter Gabriel recently and saw Tony Levin using a stick. I knew he used a strange tapping instrument to produce some of those lovely basslines I know so well, but that was about all. It was one of those things I always meant to find out more about but never did. I also knew they would be expensive! Anyway, somehow watching the video awakened by interest in this strange looking instrument.

So after just few days of trawling these forums and the SE site, I was very fortunate to find a second hand 12 string mahogany grand with stickup. I think you could say I have been bitten by the stick bug.

Like so many newcomers to the stick, I have never even seen one in the flesh, let alone played one. I live in Northern Ireland, and unfortunately the number of stick players here are very few so I'd be very grateful for some advice before I take the plunge.

Since the stick is being sent via SE, I have the luxury of upgrading it if I want to. My gut instinct is not to mess with it too much, but one thing I do wonder about is the pickup. I am primarily a drummer and melodic bass player (though I also play some guitar). I do love a good compressed bass sound with lots of deep bass and top end. Will the stickup give me this? How about other tunings - would the ACTV be more suitable if I start to experiment with other tunings such as DBR, DMR, etc? (I must admit tunings is something I know very little about at this stage). Also, what happens if I start to get more into the melodic and lead style of playing - is the stickup suitable for this? I guess it's very subjective, but if someone could give an outline of the best applications of each pickup that would be really helpful.

Shame about the loss of the old forums. I'm sure there was a goldmine of information in there that is lost forever. Thanks in advance for your help.

Jamie

Hi Jamie,

Just my personal observations:

The Stickup will give you the identifiable "Stick sound". While Tony Levin made that bass sound famous, it also has a particularly crisp high end, but not the "bitey", hard high end that you can get with active pickups. It's a great pickup for solo Stick playing and my experience has been that the Stickup almost always sounds good on its own, plugged in to virtually any system. It actually sounds ok through really horrible old keyboard amps and near-stunning through an average home stereo. In full-on band situations it can easily get "lost" if you're not careful. Many Stickup users tend to use an external preamp to get the most out of the low-output pickup.

The ACTV-2 adds more on-board variety, but also seems to have a more inherent guitar-like midrange. Personally, I think it excels as a bass pickup. Listen to players like Nick Beggs and Kevin Keith (who is on this forum). It's like a good slap bass sound, just the right amount of fullness and snap without brittleness. It's also a sound that seems to sit well in a band, and the EMGs work well with effects. At the other end of the scale, Bob Culbertson uses this pickup for solo playing without effects. Irrespective of Bob's mastery of the instrument, some might say that the ACTV-2 lacks a little bit of "sparkle". I have to say that the first time I played an A2-equipped Stick next to my Stickup, I found the A2 somewhat "dark" and perhaps a little bit lifeless without effects.

The PASV-4 is undisputed as the pickup with the most variety. It seems to me that most people who own a P4 generally take some time to figure it out, which is to be expected. If you're the kind of person who likes a huge amount of on-board control over your sound, this is it. I have yet to hear a distinctive "personality" or coloration from the P4.
Also, if you really want "that" sound (see Stickup comments), I'm not sure that you're going to get it from the P4.

Conclusion: It's "cheap", cheerful and sounds like nothing else - Stickup.

Cheers,
Andy

Hi Andy,

Great post. Here are some links to videos that are illustrative of the various pickup sounds:

Stickup:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZbOdgevxDE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeNhSOeHCM4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TgbnXMM5eo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCZQsg_lz0w (thought Larry's is customized a bit)

ACTV-2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icuE_KMCcUk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huWju0Ntn5g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w99q5zLpxs4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6rt1XaGmzs

PASV-4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JjimMO2SdE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FX6-bLH79X8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqHqBenLjnQ

I think these all show different aspects of the various pickup's tones If any of you have some other examples to post, please do.

It's also worth noting that as processing becomes more and more sophisticated, the role that pickups play in determining your overall sound lessens to a degree. If you think you're going to be using a lot of effects, especially a lot of modeling, then it doesn't really matter as much.

Welcome to the forum and to the Stick world! I came from guitar and I want the full harmonic richness that the Stick is capable of. I also want to play solo more than in a band. I have compared the Stickup and the PASV-4 but not the ACT-2. For me and my ears the Stickup is best. I have not encountered anything quite like it and I love it. I have a new 12-string on order with a Stickup. There are some here on the forum who have multiple pickups with custom mounting systems and can switch around for different purposes. Hopefully, they will chime.

-Eric

I have 2 grands one with Actv2 and one with a hybrid stickup bass/actv melody (I used this one on my new cd) I really like the sound of all of Emmetts pickups. My next stick will probably have pasv4. There are some tunes I like better with one stick and some with the other. I really think that the sound comes mostly from the fingers. I can also eq both my sticks to get close to what i need for each song. I'm not sayin there is no difference its just that you can make any pickup work for you they are all good with minor differences.

Brett

Thanks a lot for the quick and informative replies. I'd seen some of the videos before, but this gave me some extra context. I definitely like the tone of the stickup - it seems to have very well defined lows and highs. I think I'll save myself some money and stay with that, at least for now.

One other query, I couldn't quite work out from the SE GK-3 page how this midi pickup is modified from the standard unit. Can anyone shed any light? I presume it's easy enough to fit myself if I bought one later on...

Thanks again,

Jamie

The modified pickup has a flat housing (as opposed to the curved one that is standard for guitars) and the string spacing is closer I believe. A channel also has to be routed into the wood to accommodate the pickup, so it may not be a DIY job unless you're experienced with that kind of thing.

Hi JamieR
I thought I posted this earlier I don't know what happened, anyway I wanted to recommend the midi pick-up because of your drumming background. BTW I have introduced the Stick to a number of different people
guitarist, bass player etc but only the drummer was capable of setting right out and playing
independent parts in the first five minutes
So here is a video of Verna Splendor and her Stick group with a midi controlled Stick on
drums http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_MjVA8oVuQ This would be a cool trick
to use in a live looping performance as well
jrj

I didn't consider that before but I guess it would be cool for looping "live" synth drum patterns! I have the GR-20 module and synth pickup on my Stick. Someday when I finally get a looper I'll have to give it a try. Opens up a lot of possibilities.

I think there is some drum sounds and looped percussion on the Gr-20 but Roland
makes some dedicated drum moduals that have great sounds so the midi out
of the GR-20 to what ever box you have. A very cool Stick experiment
^j^
. ~