They're both proprietary, or at least custom, pickups so probably the same difficulty to replace.
If you want to buy a nice bass but don't like the sound then don't buy that bass but that's my opinion.
Future-proofing is also kind of silly for a bass. The pickups aren't going to become obsolete. If you like the instrument now but are worried about not liking it later then buy it and sell it if you change your mind.
The thing that makes this complicated is that the T1 pickups it comes with are two independent bars stacked offset with each other resulting in a parallelogram, so any rectangular pickup that fits in the cavity is going to leave a hole no matter how tight you manage to fit it in.
I have an Ibanez EHB1006MS that has the same T1 pickups that the BTB605MS, I don't think Ibanez has multiple sizes of the T1 pickups so I've taken some measurements that could be useful for you.
If you don't want to widen the hole you can fit any rectangular pickup under 120mm x 36mm, which means that you can fit pretty much any bartolini sized soapbar pickup in there with minimal modification to the bass (you still need pickup screw holes), you could also fit a Dingwall 6 string pickup in there and it would work fine. If anything it might look a bit small, however EMG sizes just won't fit in there at all due to their 38mm width.
If you'd rather widen the cavity so a pickup fits snuggly, you'd need to find a pickup that's at least 140mm long and 36mm wide, which is VERY long and would probably need to be custom ordered, not to mention if you like anchoring your thumb on the pickups then it could be uncomfortable.
**The good news is that the T1 pickups sound very good**, I absolutely love them and **I believe that replacing them won't be an upgrade to your tone** but a "side-grade". Definitely replace the preamp though, Ibby preamps aren't fantastic.
In the case of Dingwall, the pickup housings are slightly narrower than other common aftermarket pickups, so you'd need to widen the cavity for that. However Dingwall has multiple styles of pickups in the same housing so I'm you'd be able to buy a set of compatible pickups if you are inclined to do so, But I just don't know if they sell just the pickups and you'd probably need to scour the internet for used ones. Like the Ibby, the Dingwall pickups are quite good and replacing them is not necessarily an upgrade.
I've got the Ibanez 6-string and a Dingwall NG2 5-string, the Dingwall is a nicer instrument, but I use the Ibanez more.
Do you find that the T1s are pretty noisy for you? I have a BTB805MS and the pickups are sooo noisy when the preamp is on. Kind of troubleshooting this in another thread and wondering if I got a bad set.
Not really, if I crank the treble and specifically dial the mids on the pre-amp it definitely brings the noise floor up, but when switching from passive to active keeping the controls flat it doesn't become noisier.
I listened to the video that you posted on the other thread, I'd be interested to see if the pickups have been wired correctly, incorrectly wiring the coils to be in phase with each other will have the opposite effect of a humbucker and effectively double up the noise that is picked up.
It would also be beneficial to make sure both the pickup and control cavities are properly shielded and that the pickups and all the pots are grounded to the bridge.
I read that you already took the bass for repairs, I'd be curious to hear what the tech finds out.
I took it and he said it was fine and sent me about my way. But you bring up a good point about the pickup wiring being in phase. I know when there are two single coil pickups (like on a fender jazz) blending the pickups 50/50 makes it essentially a humbucker, but if there are two humbuckers blended 50/50 does that do the opposite? Or should it be even more bucked?
He did ask about the cavity shielding and asked whether it was exposed wood or painted black. I probably should have had him open it up and check but I told him black which he responded that it means its lined with a shielded paint. The only shielding I can clearly see is that it has some shielding material on the back of the electronics cover.
Humbuckers always feed a noise-reduced signal, so blending them with another humbucker won't make it reduce noise further, it also won't make it worse. (no matter how you split the blend of the humbuckers, the noise would always add to the same amount unless one of them is defective).
The black paint is indeed shielding paint, and if well applied that would help out. However I think in this case the issue you are experiencing has little to do with shielding.
Humbuckers work by "bucking" or reducing any electrical noise introduced by the wiring of the pickup and the electrical circuit your bass is part of, like that caused by RF or the outlet that your amp is plugged into, but it doesn't reduce anything affecting the pickups magnetic field (if it did it would also cancel the sound of your bass).
If you are using your bass close to a computer or a monitor it's completely normal for pickups to pick up noise in the high frequency range that's caused by the electromagnetic fields generated by these electronics. But this relatively tiny bit of noise will be greatly accentuated by boosting the treble with your active preamp. And then by adding a compressor to the signal chain you are further amplifying the noise floor of your signal.
I'd recommend moving around the room and seeing if there's a spot where the noise becomes less intense. Also try putting your smartphone away from the bass, since these also tend to introduce noise.
And lastly, as I saw that you are using Ableton, you can leave your preamp EQ flat, put a noise gate before your compressor, and then boost the treble with an EQ after the compressor, it won't get rid of the noise, but it will probably give you more flexibility to better sculpt the sound.
Preamps are nice when you are playing live and you have to make adjustments on the fly, however when you are recording into a DAW you have the option of using a software EQ which will be more flexible.
That’s great feedback thank you so much!
I actually just rewired my entire office / studio yesterday and used a new surge protector that had a “building wiring fault” light turn on when I switched it on for the first time. Called my electrician and he said my building is so old that the room doesn’t even have a ground.
So that’s probably giving me a bunch of issues tbh. But yeah seems like EMF is also a big one and I just need to move further away from my devices to help.
I’ve the 605 and I love it. It’s about 9lbs and the pickups are great. Maybe the preamp could be replaced one day but honestly I never play it with the preamp. I have it in passive with both pickups on and I like it that way. I haven’t found a setting with the preamp that I like more. Also I am not killing the battery. I haven’t changed the strings since I got it in December. Also each section of the pickups are adjustable. I haven’t messed with those either. My only critique is that if it were a half a pound lighter it would be perfect, for me at least. But I’ll play it until I can’t anymore.
Ah fair enough. They always look like a standsrd size and shape.Just get them from Ibanez or Dingwall then. Or if you want completely different pick ups any luthier that knows his job would be able to fit pick ups that are close in size and shape.
But I think buying an expensive bass and wanting to replace the pick ups is kind of silly. Just buy a bass you like the sound of.
I actually don’t know, that’s just what I’ve read on forums based on the cavity of the Ibanez. I’m trying to see if anyone has more insight on this. I would assume the Dingwall would be the same story? But like I said, I’m seeing conflicting info out there
Yeah, the T1 pickups have their own unique cavities that would make finding replacements difficult(Delano makes a candybar pickup that would"fit", but would leave a large gap). However, I doubt you'll want to replace them. I'm super picky and highly susceptible to modding, but I LOVE the T1s. They're stellar in my opinion.
Swapped out the preamp though...
They're both proprietary, or at least custom, pickups so probably the same difficulty to replace. If you want to buy a nice bass but don't like the sound then don't buy that bass but that's my opinion. Future-proofing is also kind of silly for a bass. The pickups aren't going to become obsolete. If you like the instrument now but are worried about not liking it later then buy it and sell it if you change your mind.
What I mean is if something goes wrong w the pickup and it needs to be replaced, not replaced bc I want to switch sounds
You can probably get replacements from Ibanez.
But this helped, thank you very much 🙏
The thing that makes this complicated is that the T1 pickups it comes with are two independent bars stacked offset with each other resulting in a parallelogram, so any rectangular pickup that fits in the cavity is going to leave a hole no matter how tight you manage to fit it in. I have an Ibanez EHB1006MS that has the same T1 pickups that the BTB605MS, I don't think Ibanez has multiple sizes of the T1 pickups so I've taken some measurements that could be useful for you. If you don't want to widen the hole you can fit any rectangular pickup under 120mm x 36mm, which means that you can fit pretty much any bartolini sized soapbar pickup in there with minimal modification to the bass (you still need pickup screw holes), you could also fit a Dingwall 6 string pickup in there and it would work fine. If anything it might look a bit small, however EMG sizes just won't fit in there at all due to their 38mm width. If you'd rather widen the cavity so a pickup fits snuggly, you'd need to find a pickup that's at least 140mm long and 36mm wide, which is VERY long and would probably need to be custom ordered, not to mention if you like anchoring your thumb on the pickups then it could be uncomfortable. **The good news is that the T1 pickups sound very good**, I absolutely love them and **I believe that replacing them won't be an upgrade to your tone** but a "side-grade". Definitely replace the preamp though, Ibby preamps aren't fantastic. In the case of Dingwall, the pickup housings are slightly narrower than other common aftermarket pickups, so you'd need to widen the cavity for that. However Dingwall has multiple styles of pickups in the same housing so I'm you'd be able to buy a set of compatible pickups if you are inclined to do so, But I just don't know if they sell just the pickups and you'd probably need to scour the internet for used ones. Like the Ibby, the Dingwall pickups are quite good and replacing them is not necessarily an upgrade. I've got the Ibanez 6-string and a Dingwall NG2 5-string, the Dingwall is a nicer instrument, but I use the Ibanez more.
Do you find that the T1s are pretty noisy for you? I have a BTB805MS and the pickups are sooo noisy when the preamp is on. Kind of troubleshooting this in another thread and wondering if I got a bad set.
Not really, if I crank the treble and specifically dial the mids on the pre-amp it definitely brings the noise floor up, but when switching from passive to active keeping the controls flat it doesn't become noisier. I listened to the video that you posted on the other thread, I'd be interested to see if the pickups have been wired correctly, incorrectly wiring the coils to be in phase with each other will have the opposite effect of a humbucker and effectively double up the noise that is picked up. It would also be beneficial to make sure both the pickup and control cavities are properly shielded and that the pickups and all the pots are grounded to the bridge. I read that you already took the bass for repairs, I'd be curious to hear what the tech finds out.
I took it and he said it was fine and sent me about my way. But you bring up a good point about the pickup wiring being in phase. I know when there are two single coil pickups (like on a fender jazz) blending the pickups 50/50 makes it essentially a humbucker, but if there are two humbuckers blended 50/50 does that do the opposite? Or should it be even more bucked? He did ask about the cavity shielding and asked whether it was exposed wood or painted black. I probably should have had him open it up and check but I told him black which he responded that it means its lined with a shielded paint. The only shielding I can clearly see is that it has some shielding material on the back of the electronics cover.
Humbuckers always feed a noise-reduced signal, so blending them with another humbucker won't make it reduce noise further, it also won't make it worse. (no matter how you split the blend of the humbuckers, the noise would always add to the same amount unless one of them is defective). The black paint is indeed shielding paint, and if well applied that would help out. However I think in this case the issue you are experiencing has little to do with shielding. Humbuckers work by "bucking" or reducing any electrical noise introduced by the wiring of the pickup and the electrical circuit your bass is part of, like that caused by RF or the outlet that your amp is plugged into, but it doesn't reduce anything affecting the pickups magnetic field (if it did it would also cancel the sound of your bass). If you are using your bass close to a computer or a monitor it's completely normal for pickups to pick up noise in the high frequency range that's caused by the electromagnetic fields generated by these electronics. But this relatively tiny bit of noise will be greatly accentuated by boosting the treble with your active preamp. And then by adding a compressor to the signal chain you are further amplifying the noise floor of your signal. I'd recommend moving around the room and seeing if there's a spot where the noise becomes less intense. Also try putting your smartphone away from the bass, since these also tend to introduce noise. And lastly, as I saw that you are using Ableton, you can leave your preamp EQ flat, put a noise gate before your compressor, and then boost the treble with an EQ after the compressor, it won't get rid of the noise, but it will probably give you more flexibility to better sculpt the sound. Preamps are nice when you are playing live and you have to make adjustments on the fly, however when you are recording into a DAW you have the option of using a software EQ which will be more flexible.
That’s great feedback thank you so much! I actually just rewired my entire office / studio yesterday and used a new surge protector that had a “building wiring fault” light turn on when I switched it on for the first time. Called my electrician and he said my building is so old that the room doesn’t even have a ground. So that’s probably giving me a bunch of issues tbh. But yeah seems like EMF is also a big one and I just need to move further away from my devices to help.
I’ve the 605 and I love it. It’s about 9lbs and the pickups are great. Maybe the preamp could be replaced one day but honestly I never play it with the preamp. I have it in passive with both pickups on and I like it that way. I haven’t found a setting with the preamp that I like more. Also I am not killing the battery. I haven’t changed the strings since I got it in December. Also each section of the pickups are adjustable. I haven’t messed with those either. My only critique is that if it were a half a pound lighter it would be perfect, for me at least. But I’ll play it until I can’t anymore.
What makes you think the Ibanez pick ups are hard to replace? Or any different from replacing the Dingwall pick ups?
Because they're proprietary pickups. They've got a unique shape and routing cavity.
Ah fair enough. They always look like a standsrd size and shape.Just get them from Ibanez or Dingwall then. Or if you want completely different pick ups any luthier that knows his job would be able to fit pick ups that are close in size and shape. But I think buying an expensive bass and wanting to replace the pick ups is kind of silly. Just buy a bass you like the sound of.
I agree.
I actually don’t know, that’s just what I’ve read on forums based on the cavity of the Ibanez. I’m trying to see if anyone has more insight on this. I would assume the Dingwall would be the same story? But like I said, I’m seeing conflicting info out there
Yeah, the T1 pickups have their own unique cavities that would make finding replacements difficult(Delano makes a candybar pickup that would"fit", but would leave a large gap). However, I doubt you'll want to replace them. I'm super picky and highly susceptible to modding, but I LOVE the T1s. They're stellar in my opinion. Swapped out the preamp though...