Dark Star Bass pickup info?

[ShannonH]

Any one have ideas or specs on this pick up? I have a friend who wants me to make something similar for him. Having only made guitar pickups. I am a bit in the dark. Thanks in advacne

[David Schwab]

There's quite a bit of hardware to make. It has poles that adjust up and down, with separate screws and springs.



It's a copy of an old Hagstron Bi-sonic pickup.

From the Lakland website:

Fred Hammon, of Hammon Engineering, describes his Dark Star pickups as, "modern, updated recreations of the Hagstrom Bi-sonic pickups originally made in Sweden in the 1960s. They are single coil pickups featuring individually adjustable pole pieces and a massive steel core powered by two Alnico V bar magnets."

He continues, "Dark Stars are dynamic, high-output, broad-range pickups that do not tend to accentuate the midrange like most bass pickups but rather deliver a bigger, more evenly distributed sound across the spectrum. This gives the player a larger palette of sounds to work with in terms of manual dynamics. The steel core allows for greater saturation, absorbing and releasing as much energy to the amplifier as you put into the strings."

Other than that I have no idea of their specs.

[Possum]

...

Fred used to be a member here, he makes only one pickup that I know of and does it damn well!

[ShannonH]

The price on the pickup looks worth it to me, given the amount of machining that has to be done. I don't think I'll tackle this one, since someone else does it well. thanks for the info.

[CheshireCat]

There's quite a bit of hardware to make. It has poles that adjust up and down, with separate screws and springs.



It's a copy of an old Hagstrom Bi-sonic pickup.

From the Lakland website:



Other than that I have no idea of their specs.

Not to resurrect an old thread, but I had the same issue the OP had.

In particular, from where would Fred Hammon have gotten the chrome bezels that he uses, and where might one of us get one? I love the look of the pickup (and the sound), but I had a slightly different design in mind. That said, I still wanted to get that same look. Also, it's going on a five string with narrow spacing, so the pickup dimensions would work, but it would need five poles . . . ergo, the slightly different design in the same housing.

Incidentally, I tried contacting Hammon, but to no avail. I heard a rumor that he is now exclusively making DarkStars for Lakland. Does anyone know if this is true? No info on his site either.

Chesh

[Peter Naglitsch]

Although I have no clue about were to get the crome cover I might chip in with an opinion or two.

The basic design of the pickup seems (judging from the pic) to be a cross between a P90 and a Dynasonic, ie two oposing bar magnets beneath the coil and adjustable poles. The keeper bar looks to be copper or bronze or similar and if so it doesn't add to much to the sound apart from maybe changing the impedance of the pickup. I bet you can emulate the sound by making a coil with fixed steel poles in a P90-ish configuration. Get the two bar magnets to but up directly against the steel poles. If you get the tolerances right you might even be able to have the possibility ti push the poles up and down with some gentle force so that they are "semi adjustable". Add a fake heith adjustment screw if the look is important...

Making a "true" adjustment mechanism is a PITA. I have made it for some dynasonic inspired pickups in the past and I have refused to put them into production on behalf of the massive amoungt of machining needed. But for sure it is possible...

[David Schwab]

Fred had all the parts made custom.

[CheshireCat]

I have made it for some dynasonic inspired pickups in the past . . . .

Oh? Do tell! Pics?

Incidentally, part of my idea for a slightly different design - mainly under the hood - would be using the adjustment screws as adjustable pole pieces (without them actually adjusting the steel slugs -tho that might be doable), and have the potential of a dual coil design.

Also, I just can't justify using that much metal, that much machining, that much real estate, on a design that is not humbucking. If you are going to dedicate that much resources to the pickup, can't we squeeze in just a little bit of hum cancellation?

Chesh

[David Schwab]

Oh? Do tell! Pics?

Incidentally, part of my idea for a slightly different design - mainly under the hood - would be using the adjustment screws as adjustable pole pieces (without them actually adjusting the steel slugs -tho that might be doable), and have the potential of a dual coil design.

Also, I just can't justify using that much metal, that much machining, that much real estate, on a design that is not humbucking. If you are going to dedicate that much resources to the pickup, can't we squeeze in just a little bit of hum cancellation?

Chesh

But then it won't sound like a Hagstrom Bi-sonic.

[CheshireCat]

But then it won't sound like a Hagstron Bi-sonic.

What in particular? The humcancelling aspect of it, or the fact that I would be doing a different base design other than the P-90 type set-up? (I'm assuming the latter.) As long as it sounds good, I'm flexible with the sound.

Hammon had all the parts custom made? Bummer. Any idea where I could source a chrome bezel similar to the one he uses? It doesn't have to be an exact match, but something evocative of it would work. (And, whatever it is, it didn't have to start life as a chrome pickup bezel or cover.)

Also, do you know if he still sells his pickups to the public, or is he exclusively OEM?

Chesh

[belwar]

I bought one from him last year. kill looking piece of engineering. Im still trying to figure out how he shaped the magnets

[CheshireCat]

I bought one from him last year. kill looking piece of engineering. Im still trying to figure out how he shaped the magnets

"Shaped the magnets . . ."

How so? I thought they were steel slugs butted up against two bar magnets.



Got a pic of it installed?

Chesh

[belwar]

look at the photos above, the magnets are curved on the backside

[CheshireCat]

look at the photos above, the magnets are curved on the backside

Not sure about that. One magnet looks a bit distorted. It could be the pic, if you are referring to that bar magnet.

Incidentally, I'm not sure if Lakland is even carrying dark stars anymore. They now have "chi-sonics" and dark stars are nowhere to be seen anywhere on their site, or on their basses, for that matter. Not even as a pickup option.

Chesh

[Peter Naglitsch]

Oh? Do tell! Pics?

Incidentally, part of my idea for a slightly different design - mainly under the hood - would be using the adjustment screws as adjustable pole pieces (without them actually adjusting the steel slugs -tho that might be doable), and have the potential of a dual coil design.

Also, I just can't justify using that much metal, that much machining, that much real estate, on a design that is not humbucking. If you are going to dedicate that much resources to the pickup, can't we squeeze in just a little bit of hum cancellation?

Chesh

Main "body" of the bobbin made from scrap hardwood (walnut IIRC) and top made of pick guard material to match the guitar the pickups were made for. Glue together. Aluminium adjustment tabs glued to the bottom of the magnets instead of original press fit brass. Covers form some GFS or other cheepo "fake" Dearmond copy. Wind. Assemble. Test drive. Whoaa, great sound.

If the look is your primary driver, do whatever you want for the pickup design. If the sound is your driver, forget about humbucking and altering the design (the magnet/pole/slug/coil set up etc...)