Kent Armstrong Aria pickup question --

[sumeursault]

Can someone tell me the difference between the lesser and more expensive versions of these Kent Armstrong Aria replacement pickups? Huge price disparity and there's no difference in spec from what I can tell. (Not referring to diff b/t exposed pole pieces and not)

 

[tindrum]

I don’t have a clue. I bought 2 in the past year. One “normal” and the other wound to sound similar to a Stingray. Both were around $150 each I don’t remember seeing the $280 option. The website doesn’t explain the difference (?) Best to send them an email I reckon. Super pleased with the pickups though!

 

[sumeursault]

I don’t have a clue. I bought 2 in the past year. One “normal” and the other wound to sound similar to a Stingray. Both were around $150 each I don’t remember seeing the $280 option. The website doesn’t explain the difference (?) Best to send them an email I reckon. Super pleased with the pickups though!

From Aaron Armstrong:

There is no difference in the pickup itself. Basically one is made in Vermont by Kent, himself, and the the U.K. is made over here by me in the U.K. as we have to import the Kent Armstrong one we have to add taxes and shipping, so the price is more. This is not how things will be moving forward, we have a .com site which will be going live any day now and then the $ prices will make more sense then. For the time being if you ordered one at the U.K. price, I would get my dad to build it over there and send it to you for that price. Sorry about the confusion, like I say we are trying to sort this out, but have only recently taken back full control of the brand name.

How does the Music Man version compare to the original?

BTW, I ended up with this interesting translucent metallic bronze R60:

 

[tindrum]

From Aaron Armstrong:

There is no difference in the pickup itself. Basically one is made in Vermont by Kent, himself, and the the U.K. is made over here by me in the U.K. as we have to import the Kent Armstrong one we have to add taxes and shipping, so the price is more. This is not how things will be moving forward, we have a .com site which will be going live any day now and then the $ prices will make more sense then. For the time being if you ordered one at the U.K. price, I would get my dad to build it over there and send it to you for that price. Sorry about the confusion, like I say we are trying to sort this out, but have only recently taken back full control of the brand name.

How does the Music Man version compare to the original?

BTW, I ended up with this interesting translucent metallic bronze R60:
View attachment 5407167 View attachment 5407168

Ok that makes more sense. The MusicMan version is REALLY nice. It very much does as advertised. Of course as the Aria pickup spot is further from the bridge of a Stingray and that has an impact on tone (quite a bit actually). That being said it’s WAY closer to a Ray tone than I thought was possible. Pretty blown away by it honestly!

 

[sumeursault]

Ok that makes more sense. The MusicMan version is REALLY nice. It very much does as advertised. Of course as the Aria pickup spot is further from the bridge of a Stingray and that has an impact on tone (quite a bit actually). That being said it’s WAY closer to a Ray tone than I thought was possible. Pretty blown away by it honestly!

So maybe a bit more grindy sounding? Trying to resist the temptation to just order both.

 

[tindrum]

So maybe a bit more grindy sounding? Trying to resist the temptation to just order both.

Definitely. It was way more “snarl” or grind. It has plenty of low end but the high midrange is very reminiscent of a Stingray. The normal pickup is all about low mid punch so there’s definitely a difference there.

 

[Port Moody Bass]

Aaron sent my new bridge pickup (old one is dead) but it sounds very weak and lifeless. My neck pickup simply KILLS the new bridge pickup in output and tone. I had him build the new one Music Man style. It tests fine with an ohm meter so my tech doesn't know what is going on. Aaron has been great as he is trying to sort out the problem and may have to send a new pickup. If he builds a new one, I will have him make up one as close to the original as possible.

Does anyone have ohm meter measurements (set at 20K) for their pickups? It would be helpful to compare. My original neck PU measures 5.23 while the new one measures 5.56 on one coil and 5.57 on the other.

I have cream-colored pickups and the color is way off which I FREAKED out about.

 

[sumeursault]

What happens when the old ones fail?

 

[Port Moody Bass]

Occasionally, for the unlucky few, the drying/shrinking resin pulls on and snaps one of those thin winding wires breaking continuity and resulting in a dead pickup with zero output.

 

[sumeursault]

Occasionally, for the unlucky few, the drying/shrinking resin pulls on and snaps one of those thin winding wires breaking continuity and resulting in a dead pickup with zero output.

Ah, so not the typical way that older pickups fail. Keep us posted about your issue with the Armstrong replacement. Seems like maybe replacing both neck and bridge together might be a better option, especially considering the difference in color.

 

[tindrum]

Aaron sent my new bridge pickup (old one is dead) but it sounds very weak and lifeless. My neck pickup simply KILLS the new bridge pickup in output and tone. I had him build the new one Music Man style. It tests fine with an ohm meter so my tech doesn't know what is going on. Aaron has been great as he is trying to sort out the problem and may have to send a new pickup. If he builds a new one, I will have him make up one as close to the original as possible.

Does anyone have ohm meter measurements (set at 20K) for their pickups? It would be helpful to compare. My original neck PU measures 5.23 while the new one measures 5.56 on one coil and 5.57 on the other.

I have cream-colored pickups and the color is way off which I FREAKED out about.

View attachment 5407285

I will say this - the 2 I purchased from Aaron (one regular, the other MusicMan) were both notably quieter than stock. They sound great but I have to turn up my gain a bit. And he advertises that the stock ones were known for being weak sounding so he overwinds them (??!!) That’s pure nonsense. I own 6 Aria SB basses from that era and the stock pickups are VERY high output and loud. Funny thing is I had his Dad Kent make one here in the U.S. and it was super loud with high output. Almost too high actually.

 

[sumeursault]

I will say this - the 2 I purchased from Aaron (one regular, the other MusicMan) were both notably quieter than stock. They sound great but I have to turn up my gain a bit. And he advertises that the stock ones were known for being weak sounding so he overwinds them (??!!) That’s pure nonsense. I own 6 Aria SB basses from that era and the stock pickups are VERY high output and loud. Funny thing is I had his Dad Kent make one here in the U.S. and it was super loud with high output. Almost too high actually.

First of all -- you own six of them?!

Second -- Sounds like they have a serious quality control issue. I hope the one in mine doesn't fail...

 

[tindrum]

First of all -- you own six of them?!

Second -- Sounds like they have a serious quality control issue. I hope the one in mine doesn't fail...

Yeah they are my favorite basses. Maybe I have a problem…. LOL

 

[sumeursault]

Yeah they are my favorite basses. Maybe I have a problem…. LOL

Well... thankfully they're not too expensive.

Do you own the two-pickup configs as well?

 

[rojo412]

I'm not sure if you're in the US or this helps at all, but Kent himself builds these to order in Vermont. I ordered one of the dual-coil pickups for a 5 string a little while back directly from him. It was $210 shipped and he built it in less than a week (I swear, he's a wizard!). That pickup was AMAZING.
Every pickup I've ever ordered from the man was AMAZING.

 

[tindrum]

Well... thankfully they're not too expensive.

Do you own the two-pickup configs as well?

No all singles. I have a couple of the 2 pickup models in the past.

 

[sumeursault]

I'm not sure if you're in the US or this helps at all, but Kent himself builds these to order in Vermont. I ordered one of the dual-coil pickups for a 5 string a little while back directly from him. It was $210 shipped and he built it in less than a week (I swear, he's a wizard!). That pickup was AMAZING.
Every pickup I've ever ordered from the man was AMAZING.

Good to know. How does one make sure that Kent is the guy making them? I'm getting if-it-ain't-broke-don't-fix-it vibes from this thread, lol. My pickup is still working so far (only owned the bass a couple of weeks...)

No all singles. I have a couple of the 2 pickup models in the past.

Do you find them to be versatile? What kind of styles do you play?

 

[rojo412]

Good to know. How does one make sure that Kent is the guy making them?

I emailed him directly. We've done a number of orders together, honestly. He is awesome.

 

[tindrum]

Good to know. How does one make sure that Kent is the guy making them? I'm getting if-it-ain't-broke-don't-fix-it vibes from this thread, lol. My pickup is still working so far (only owned the bass a couple of weeks...)



Do you find them to be versatile? What kind of styles do you play?

I get the impression Kent is the one winding them. When I placed my order I called him and we chatted a bit. A ridiculously nice guy! He went into detail about what makes the original pickups go bad and how his won’t do that. He certainly knows what he’s doing.

I find the single pickup Aria SB to be extremely versatile. Think of it as the best P bass EVER and there you go. Fits in any musical scenario I can think of. Just so punchy and supportive with just enough cut and poke. Engineers and sound men love them.

 

[Port Moody Bass]

I love the sound of my original neck pickup.

I get the impression Kent is the one winding them. When I placed my order I called him and we chatted a bit. A ridiculously nice guy! He went into detail about what makes the original pickups go bad and how his won’t do that. He certainly knows what he’s doing.

I find the single pickup Aria SB to be extremely versatile. Think of it as the best P bass EVER and there you go. Fits in any musical scenario I can think of. Just so punchy and supportive with just enough cut and poke. Engineers and sound men love them.