Curtis Novak custom pickups for Oteil Burbridge

NKBassman

NKBassman

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Jun 16, 2009
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#1


Thought this was interesting. So sounds like Curtis Novak has put together some custom 6-String pickups for Oteil Burbridge (Allman Brothers, Dead & Co).

The way Oteil describes them they sound like maybe overwound sidewinders in an EMG 45 shell. Pretty cool idea. If anyone can make them sound good, it'd be Curtis Novak and Oteil Burbridge. :)
 
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#4
He (Curtis) says he's made pickups for extended range basses for some time, but doesn't list them on his site. I think he makes a lot of things that he doesn't list. Anyway, I found out about the pickups after seeing the Oteil post. I contacted Curtis and described what I wanted. It was after I installed the pickup and heard it that I asked him what he based the winding on. He said it was the design he came up with for Oteil.
 
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#5
68bassman said:
He (Curtis) says he's made pickups for extended range basses for some time, but doesn't list them on his site. I think he makes a lot of things that he doesn't list. Anyway, I found out about the pickups after seeing the Oteil post. I contacted Curtis and described what I wanted. It was after I installed the pickup and heard it that I asked him what he based the winding on. He said it was the design he came up with for Oteil.
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And so, how would you describe the sound?
 
#7
This is what I asked Curtis for and this is what I got:

"As far as the wind...I really like Anthony Jackson's sound. To me it sounds like a blend of old school growl/vibe and a hifi sound. I don't want to try to sound like Jaco or Marcus Miller. I like the old school approach with some clarity for chord work because I play a lot of chords and solo stuff. Basically a good fundamental, non muddy low with a clear singing high for chords/soloing. I will probably use overdrive at some point, and I don't like tweeters in my rig."
 
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#9
salcott said:
I have had several of Curtis' pickups and loved them all.
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I've tried all three of his main split-P pickups. The PB-90 and PB-CC both sounded excellent, but were too hot for what I was going for. Curtis was very kind to let me keep exchanging them one at a time until I found what I was looking for. I currently have the vintage wind PB-V in my Precision and it sounds great.

Curtis was super nice to chat with by email and on the phone. Very helpful and always friendly.
 
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