I just wanted to say that I have always had a Stickup, and have always liked it and preferred my tone over many that I heard. But I have just listened to some clips that OceansInSpace recorded with his new PASV4, and man. I am blown away. It sounds so amazing! Ever since I heard Rob M.'s bass tone on one of his videos, my curiosity began. Now I really want one...

I have a PASV4 now (1st version) and came from a Stick-up. It's been said the Stick-up has and more acoustic sound than the other pickups. I've never tried the ACTV2 but I can tell you the Stick-up sounds a lot more acoustic then the PASV4. For my ears I think the Stick-up makes the Stick sound more like ONE INSTRUMENT The PASV4 on the other hand gives you so many tone combos that the sound possibilities take a lot of experimentation to find the sounds you want to use. But once you LEARN the combinations you like it's AWESOME having all those sound choices at your finger tips. And when I want to make my Stick with the PASV4 REALLY sound like one instrument I play it in mono ... a real nice feature to have. That way both sides are being processed the exact same way. Mono is a feature you have to create through patching with the Stick-up, with the PASV4 (and ACTV4) it's just a flick of a switch. About the only sound the PASV4 doesn't really make is the sound of the Stick-Up! BUT with enough tweaking and experimantation it can come "kind of" close.

I realize SE can't make the blocks smaller but it would be nice if SE could make a Stick-up that is BLOCK SIZED so we Stickist's with blocks could also switch to Stick-ups when we want THAT sound. And that would add REAL flexability to people who care about different tones enough to want different pickup choices.

Hey i have an idea .... how about a SUPER BLOCK Pickup that has both one of the block pickups AND a Stick-up in one housing? Hey ... what about an extra long stick with TWO pickups?! ........... Ah to dream!

Honestly ... when all is said and done I LOVE the sound of the Stick-up but I REALLY LOVE the sound and flexability the PASV4 pickup gives. It's nice to not have to totally be dependant on your outboard processing to change your tones. ...........

OH I have one more thing I'd like to add. .... If you're thinking about getting a PASV4 pickup you need to carefully read the sound setting discriptions on SE. There is no actualy TONE knob like you may be use to on guitars, basses and even the ACTV2 pickup and NS Stick. The TONE knobs are really preset tone switches that in some cases drastically changes the tone depending on the "tone" setting and pickup setting you're using. It's NOT simply volume, pickup selection and Tone. This is why it gets so many different tone combos and why you really need to experiment and LEARN the settings you like. It's really a different ... but wonderful animal!

All that being said ... I LOVE mine and would definitely recommend it to any Stickist!

Here's my kudos for the least talked about of the three pickups: the ACTV2. I have owned five Sticks over the years with the Stickup and ACTV2, but none with the Pasv4 (but I did play someone else's with this model). While I do indeed love the Stickup, I think the ACTV2 has the best "bite". It cuts through a mix like a laser. Very electric. The tone on the melody side is really what I like it for, very sweet and bluesy, like the neck pickup of a Strat. It responds very well to harmonics and fast runs. I have the Stickup on my old Grand, but I ordered the ACTV2 for my Alto. I think it really exaggerates the natural sparkle of the Alto, and is great for "unified" lines. You really can't go wrong with any of the pickups SE offers, but I just thought the ACTV2 could use some praise.

That's a great idea... It would also be cool if they could incorporate
a midi pickup into this system.

There were many discussions on the old site about pickup Blocks and hybrid pickups, but it all comes down to economic feasibility. S.E and their suppliers are all geared up to provide the current pickups and coming up with something new for a handful of people is just not worth it. Pity.

Yes, in some ways, I do miss the A2 in my old Stick, the clarity of it really cut through and it was very low hassle and easy to setup. Ideal for solo and small band-work, IMO. And great for driving guitar-type effects, sounds the best of all of them.

But because I use my Stick mainly for rock/funk work in a loud band, the P4 works much better for me. Actually, because I'm using Deep MR tuning, the combo of the graphite and the P4 has turned out to be the best choice as it reproduces the low notes the best.

Cheers,

EG

My two cents are is that they all sound great but fundamentally different. I went with the PASV4 and was fortunate enough to get the newer model. No looking back. I think the dual out of phase sound setting (position two, I think) is just unreal. I think if I ordered another Stick today it would have the PASV4; very versatile.

I am putting the final touches on two recordings that will be on my Mysapce page some time next week. It is worth mentioning (or repeating) the front end ability of the Stepabout for home recording. I have been trying to play live and hopefully capture something and then decided to plug directly into my EMU 0404 from the Stepabout. I was blown away. I can't wait to see what you guys think of it....

Steve

Let's hear it!

Steve, what is the Link to your Myspace page?

My Myspace page in under some construction and will be changing IP addresses. I plan on getting it ironed out by this weekend and I will post it here asap. I hane never had a media player on my page, so hopefully it goes smoothly.

Thanks for the interest guys...

Steve

So I can honestly say that each of the 3 pickups are brilliant. It is weird because I don't think I have a preference. It seems to me that they are all well optimized for tapping. That said, I get some kind of personal mental visualizations such as:
Stickup- the notes are made of small glass balls encircled by thin clear wires. Crisp, precise and exact geometric shapes magically apear.
ACTV-2- The notes appear as smooth free lines out in the air, forming shapes but not quite exact shapes. A web of clear but thickly patterned tones.
PASV-4- Not sure yet, but it seems like the notes have air behind them radiating outwards.

That may mean nothing to anybody but me, but thats okay.