Multicoil Pickups and Filter Based Pre-amps

Resonant Frequency

Believe it or not, pickups don't "hear" every frequency that you play on your guitar the same.  They are better at hearing some frequencies better than others.  The frequency that they are best at hearing is known as the resonant peak.  This is what gives a pickup its character.  Pickups with a very high resonant peak can sound brittle, while a very low resonant peak may sound muddy.  Finding the sweet spot is the trick, and it's this peak that really defines the "voice" of your bass.

 

Filter Based Preamps

Filter based preamps don't work like typical preamps.  Rather than adjusting lows, mids, or highs, they instead adjust where the resonant peak of your bass is.  They are essentially adjusting the voice of your instrument!  Adjusting the peak in this way allows you to dial in the character of your bass and lets you really define your own unique sound.

Multi-Coil Pickups

Multi-coil pickups are a huge benefit to filter-based preamps because they present a very flat frequency response to the preamp, especially when wired for 1 humbucker per string.  This is a huge benefit because it allows the preamp to shape the sound without already having a built-in peak to deal with.  Preamps made by Lusithand Devices actually have inputs to deal with each string separately, and only multicoil pickups can be wired this way.  This also greatly increases string-to-string separation, while having a strong, driving voice.