The Inspiration Behind the Big BladeMan pickups, plus Demo

[@jagged_little_phil]

Out of tons of videos testing bass pickups, I can confidently say these pickups kick the ass of everything I've ever heard.

[@somebrains5431]

I just ran out to my car in socks to grab my earbuds.

[@drphalanges1520]

You came really close to playing a Tool bassline there for a second.

[@garrydhintz8017]

Lovely bass and beautiful job all the way around!!! As a guy who loves the Justin Chancellor and Geddy Lee wal sound I really love what you've done on that bass!!! I hope I get a chance to get your pickups in a bass of mine and turn it into an instrument that can capture that unique tone! thanks again for the vid and I'm glad Justin liked your work enough to get it in his bass!

[@Toolmybass]

Justin returned it...ended up using his new Stingray for a song on the new album.

[@garrydhintz8017]

That's another bass he's had history with.

[@ts4gv]

sweet bass, really love the sound of the neck pickup especially

[@kennethwilson1984]

I gotta say, I am not usually impressed by pickups but this sounded fantastic

[@jairajswann]

Sounds great Carey, great detail on the bass and great demo.

[@joelb79]

Way to go man. You had fun, learned something new and Justin dug it. I love these pickups, wow

[@Bassic778]

Parallel mode sounds great to my ears! That's a very nice looking bass with great tone!

[@GunnySmithApple]

I’m a huge fan of these pickups, but man, that bass all together sounds fantastic!

[@ercanmpal]

That instrument is beautiful!

[@MobileFreedomEnterprise]

Beautiful!!!! Thank you so much for sharing!!! You should ask if you could record the delivery!

[@GroovemanJ5]

I use Nordstrand in the basses I build because they are great! Grunt, growl, sweet, aggressive....whatever I need they have something for. Nice demo.

[@mysteryloaf]

I got a chance to briefly play a Wal maybe 10 years ago and when you flipped your Nordy into "Wal mode" it brought that familar sound right back. I think the fact that Chancelor kept it suggests that he agrees! Great bass, great sounds! Wouldn't mind having one myself! Congrats on the successful sale!

[@Toolmybass]

He sadly didnt keep it. I know its current owner.

[@xwasssabix2347]

Sounds awesome! I'm really exited to get these for my Warmoth build and try them for myself!

[@jojoba619]

XwasssabiX I have the same idea.

[@AllbeeHivezChristianAllbee]

I’m considering a Warmoth build with these pickups myself

[@71bassg]

lovely sounds i like the growl.

[@jplater9191]

I bought the fatstacks a few years ago, awesome sound and now it’s getting the obp-3 to have more tonal options. Big fan of the product!

[@jayfoghino5392]

Does anyone know where to get the knobs he talks about at 2:06? D Devon Klein? Decline Design? I don't know what he is saying and cannot find any based on searches.

[@kenchuba6024]

Just stumbled onto this vid. Very very cool bass and the sounds are awesome!

[@TheBartExperience]

Thanks a lots for posting this. I am currently building my own custom bass to suit my playing style and was considering your electronics, I was very much interested in MM/MM set up with blademan pickups and after seeing this I am finally convinced. Thank you, keep up the good work!

[@jojoba619]

I like the tonal versatility of this bass.

[@gabrielnilsson5398]

Great sounding bass! And yes, one piece body sounds best to my ears.

[@derwinmoss5709]

Fantastic sounding bass, Carey! And it's definitely not a one trick pony. -And, it also looks great!

[@markkeneson6806]

Would it be possible to get a pre-wired 4 knob version of this preamp to use in a Warwick Double Buck Corvette(Volume/Passive Tone stack, Pan, Mid with the Push/Pull frequency shift, Treble/Bass stack, and 2 switches for Series/Parallel switching) with a pair of the Big Blademan pickups? I don't need or want an Active/Passive bypass Push/Pull.

[@hhatexas]

i know nordstrand has a custom shop. give em a ring. i'm sure they could stack a few knobs or eliminate them as necessary.

[@bartwitek9526]

How much would cost the entire electronics package ,pickups plus preamp?

[@secretjourney4815]

uhhhhhh.... So so so so so so so much

[@minibuns5397]

Sounds great. Looks like Wal pups tbh. Would be cool if the onboard pre was parametric or had filters.

[@The_sinner_Jim_Whitney]

That's an amazing bass, I'm glad he liked it and may well build myself one like it soon. Those Big Blade Man pickups sound great, and the whole package does sound a fair amount like a Wal. Awesome work all around. Come on, though, you couldn't learn 46 and 2 real quick for the vid? Haha!

[@joconnorwi]

THAT is a killer bass!!!! I love the obsession!!!

[@gingaleanda]

Sounds great 👍

[@TheTonewavesound]

Hey do have any pickups that would fit my Sire M5

[@TheTonewavesound]

Would be nice if you could make your Big BladeMan pickups, to fit Sire M5 bass guitars

[@klaymeister]

They actually do funny enough. The Big Blademan can come in EMG 35 40 and 45 size

[@andreamorse6064]

This looks like something I might be interested in.

[@Stewr306]

@Carey Nordstrand What are the settings on the preamp when you’re going for the Wal tone ?

[@chriswenkle2635]

With the ungrounded blend pot noted on the video - do you have any grounding noise or RF interference? I've always thought that everything had to be connected in the cavity to complete the shielding.

[@markkeneson6806]

As long as the cavity has shielding all around the inside of it, it should be fine, think Faraday Cage.

[@MrPrincebass99]

Dang! I want one just like that one. Beastly..

[@johndharris819]

Love the versatility, tone, & looks of that bass - I'm assuming I could replace the H in my StingRay5 with one of these? Mine doesn't have the tabs on the pup. Is there a tab-less version?

[@careynordstrand1805]

Yes, it will drop into your SR5, and yes, we have those without the tabs for five string.

[@astevenson1008]

Really great sound. But I have a question for you. When will you put this design into a Soapbar? If not this how about a Dual Big Blade design in a Soapbar with a toggle switch, Parallel/Single Coil/Series.

[@tigerscott2966]

Great work.

[@bassman3235]

Sounds really fricking awesome!

[@blackrecluse9488]

Did Justin use this bass on fear inoculum?

[@mixc8]

I wish it was a production bass! :)

[@cromag31]

what pre was used?

[@jayfoghino5392]

He stated "standard preamp"...but in a reply comment he linked the JC 3b....

[@sidthebassist89]

What woods were used? I want to build that bass

[@Deep42Thought]

first time i liked sound of humbuckers

[@otisthick3274]

NEW G.A.S attack coming on

[@angelmarrerochunkybass]

Awsome pickups

[@nolanw3991]

What’s his custom pre amp?

[@nolanw3991]

What preamp is in this bass?

[@scottcruickshank870]

Any plans to produce an alnico v big blade man in the future?

[@HC_original]

Is this preamp available for purchase?

[@NordstrandAudio]

Yes its the JC-3B pickup! nordstrandaudio.com/products/3-band-preamps?variant=48371052820

[@hhatexas]

Yes AND they recently came back in stock. Already have mine in-hand.

[@garethcooper3544]

I've not seen that type of skunk stripe before. It's really nice and unusual, you should make it a regular option!

[@Crushin123]

IS THIS BASS FOR SALE?

[@NordstrandAudio]

One bass. sold

[@Crushin123]

@@NordstrandAudio so do you offer the pickups and these electronics as a complete pkg on your website? I would be interested in this :) Thx Carey

[@NordstrandAudio]

@@Crushin123 nordstrandaudio.com/products/big-blade-man-4 and the jc 3b preamp nordstrandaudio.com/products/3-band-preamps?variant=48371052820 It's a popular combo with vicious tone.

[@Crushin123]

Nordstrand Audio great!!!! I need this in my life. It will be great to do tonal comparisons with my Wal MK3 - very cool thanks.

[@dr.fruityboots4706]

theres ne way somebody wouldnt love that bass!

[@chrisharrison809]

Why 50hz roll off? If the Fundamental of E is 40hz, aren't you killing the bottom?

[@bradbarker4041]

Chris Harrison The human brain can fill in the fundamental based on the harmonics. It's pretty wild; there are some KZbin videos on psychoacoustics you can check out. The one I saw was from Adam Neely's channel.

[@careynordstrand1805]

I'd recommend looking this one up. Search "high pass on everything" and see what you get. It has to do with keeping the energy in the recorded signal from being soaked up in the extreme low end. Tends to make recordings punchy and tight without letting the lows get floppy. They're still there, but they're much more controlled. IME

[@chrisharrison809]

Thanks guys. I think it sounds perfect for a clear mid range focused rock tone, but on a gospel record with the b string tuned down to a, I think you'd want those frequencies.

[@MatthewtheBassPlayer]

Very unlikely. Due to the psycho-acoustics mentioned you're already primarily only hearing the 1st harmonic and your brain is filling in the fundamental tone, and an HPF doesn't completely eliminate frequencies either; it's just a rolloff, either slight or steep depending on the slope. As Carey mentioned, the bottom end doesn't go away: it's just tightened and less "pillowy". I just mixed a hard rock track tuned down to G#, that had an HPF on the bass around the same frequency, and the bottom end of the bass was still absolutely massive.

[@holdencaustic]

Andrew Gouche does a rolloff at 100, a direct multiple ( one octave up ), to clear up his tone for gospel, so it makes sense to cut at 50

[@luigi.zanini]

4:19

[@joconnorwi]

whoa, I see my comment from 5 years ago that I forgot...life is strange....

[@dariusmitchell8427]

Hey I inbox you on facebook. Can u make a bass for me? Will pay

[@brentoncarter4275]

I'd settle for a Nordy and Carey's studio please

[@alexmora2723]

I need that bass! Exactly this bass 😫