J-Bass Chameleon

The Chameleon PJ pickups are wonderful!

They were delivered on May 11 (Thursday), I brought them to Long & McQuade for installation on May 13, and Wally Landreth (father of currently popular The Brothers Landreth) installed them on the morning of May 15. I picked up the Jaguar Bass that afternoon. So, I’ve been playing the Chameleons for two months now.

First thing I noticed was that they are not as hot/loud as the Player series stock pickups. No problem, just turn ’em up. Now they’re cooking.

Next I noticed that the Chameleons sound much fuller, rounder, and richer than the stock pickups. The stock pickups sound — I don’t exactly know how to put it — kind of hollow in comparison, as though their mid-range has been EQ’d away. And the stock pickups just don’t sound as crisp as the Chameleons do.

All of Kinman’s claims on the web site are correct.

Kinman says that the Chameleons clean up the muddiness of the bass E-string. You bet, they sure do. With my old pickups I used to avoid the bottom five notes of the bass E-string— I couldn’t stand the blur. Now the notes are useable — they’re strong, punchy, full, and really distinct. (I imagine that would be even more beneficial for the B-string of a 5-string bass with your 5-string Chameleon J-Bass. I assume that Kinman is working on developing a 5-string Chameleon P-Bass.)

Kinman says that the Chameleons fix the horrible nasal character of the G-string. Check. I just hate that nasal sound. It sounds like a rubber band to my ears. I also used to avoid the G-string whenever possible for that reason. Now with the Chameleons, I’ve got a pleasing sound for my G-string back.

Kinman says that the Chameleons vastly increase dynamic range. Hell yeah, they do. And it’s interesting how they do so. I find I can play much lighter and quieter, and still get beautiful full tone, as I had expected. But I can also play much harder and louder, and get nice punchy but clean tone without any distortion. That was a surprise. I thought that dynamic range would improve for playing lightly — I did not expect that it would improve when playing loudly. There are few things more pleasurable in life that giving a bass string a really hard tug and to hear the resulting massive twang that is loud and clear and not distorted in any way.

And this next comment may seem to contradict my increased dynamic range comment but doesn’t. I find that it is easier to play smoothly with an even volume with the Chameleons than my stock pickups had allowed me to play. I think what happens is that if I played some notes a little too quietly with the old pickups, those notes would seem to kind of disappear and make the volume of the phrase seem uneven. It’s as though the stock pickups exaggerate the lightness of some notes causing them to become inaudible and vanish. I think that the increased sensitivity of the Chameleons when picking lightly saves those notes and keeps them audible. I’m not sure that my explanation is correct but I do know that my playing is definitely smoother and more even in terms of volume with the Chameleons.

Finally, Kinman on its web site says that that combination of the P and J Chameleons on together is even better than just the P. Absolutely true. I’m really a P pickup guy, not a J guy, but the PJ combination is terrific and I am finding it very useful.

I’ve also been playing my Casino, Telecaster, and Sheraton with their Kinman pickups. My only guitar without Kinmans now is my Ibanez AS93. I am planning to get some Twangbuckers for that guitar next. Stay tuned. ...

Thank you again to Team Kinman for getting me my Chameleons in a timely fashion and in perfect condition. Killer pickups, man! I am enjoying playing them greatly.

All the best,

Markus.

Ed:  Thank you for your exceptionally detailed Report Card Markus, we love it when customers tell the whole story instead of just bits n pieces.  It's nice to hear your appreciation of our solving the G-string syndrome thing.  Boss Chris started out playing bass and he too hated that awful, tinny sound of the G string and solving it was high on the agenda during the development of the Chameleon models.  Our Boss is pure genious at winding coils and it's not the first time he found ways to solve annoying problems with different pickups.  Also, do you know adjusting the pickups closer to the strings will cause more output level?  And BTW we will get around to 5 String Bass models soon, right now we have a lot on our plate with 7 string guitar pickups and a few other 6 string projects in the works.  It's the never ending story around here. 

 

just unbelievable, utterly unbelievable how great they sound.  Steven.

Dear Chris and staff.  

I recently installed Kinman Chameleon J-Bass pickups on my 30 year old fretless Warwick Thumb NT which had reliability problems with its active electronics.  Put simply,  I couldn't be happier with their performance.  Below are the main reasons why I'm so satisfied:

1.   First I have to say that their performance even exceeds the claims on your website.
2.   The overall sound is incredibly clear and rounded (and powerful!).  I previously had to use an eq pedal to attain my preferred tones but now only need to adjust the pickup balance and onboard passive tone control (with occasional minor amp tweaking) to achieve superior sounds.  And yes, the Chameleon moniker is apt - everything from a double bass thump to Jaco-like brightness can be readily achieved
3.   I was having tonal and volume problems with the D and G strings which have magically disappeared and now the volume and tonal characteristics of each string are now comparable.  The E and A strings were previously dominated by the higher strings but now have similar presence in a live situation.
4.   The G string used to have a somewhat harsh, nasal quality but now has a very pleasing timbre.
5.   They are truly zero hum, even at full volume through a 500watt amp, whereas previously even moderate volumes were accompanied by highly distracting extraneous noise.

Also, the customer service is second to none.  I had a couple of queries which were answered very quickly and the technical advice was incredibly detailed and clear.  I could go on and on about the wonderful new world your pickups have opened to me.  Overall, I can't recommend Kinman highly enough!

I replaced dimarzio model J pickups. I'm not a lead bassist so I don't want that 'in your face' sound but if u did I know these Kinman's would deliver that too. Bass-ically these pickups will do it all. I'm not technical, I'm not awesome, but these Kinman Jazz bass Rhythm pickups just sound right and already I like em a lot. Why should guitarists get all the good stuff? Can't thank you enough.