Cheers to your new adoption! These humbuckers are (at least in aesthetic design) like the Guild bass humbuckers introduced in 1972 - also reissued in the 90s or maybe they were even still using NOS stock with the 90s/2000s basses, I'm not sure. In any case, I had no idea they were bringing back those bass humbuckers in a new line of these Newark Street reissues, but I also haven't been keeping a close eye on things, so not surprised I missed the news. It's an interesting choice on Guild's part though, since their vintage basses tend to be more coveted and fetch much higher prices if they have original Bisonic single coils, as opposed to the more common humbucker versions. The humbuckers were used in JS, M85, and Starfire basses in the 70s, then just in Starfires for the US 90s reissues and again in the 2010s for the very limited USA "GSR" series.
Since I have no experience with these new reissues, I'll keep my input to their vintage counterparts and I suppose time will tell how similar these new ones are to those originals. I personally think the 70s ones have their place and they're not as muddy sounding as other big chrome humbuckers of the time (like the Gibson sidewinder/mudbucker). The examples I've heard of these pickups being used in combination with a pick had a satisfying thwap and powerful fundamental to them. Fingerstyle they seem to be a bit more woofy and lose a bit of definition, but that can sometimes be the desired tone. If these reissues also have a tendency to be a little heavy on the boomy bass and low mids, I'd encourage playing around with the EQ on your amp and trying some new settings that might not be the usual way you dial in your other basses. My suspicion is that some players might struggle to make those big 70s humbuckers work because they may be stuck in a box of "my go-to EQ settings" or at least dialing in EQ that looks like it falls into a "normal" range, avoiding the extremes. Most amps though are probably tuned by the manufacturer with something like a Fender P bass in mind, so when vastly different pickup design and positioning is introduced, it's all good to roll way off the Bass knob on the amp or crank the high mids... whatever leaves you with a nice tone that sits well in the mix!
All that said, the Newark Street basses with the reissue Bisonic pickups, also have their own sound, not sounding quite like a 60s Starfire with Bisonics. The pickups aimed to nail the look, but they took some liberties with the design (whether to try something new or to keep costs down) so I wouldn't be surprised if these reissue chrome humbuckers have their own unique flavor as well, in comparison to the originals from the 70s. If you have the ability to record some demo clips, I know we'd all be interested in hearing some of the tones!
On a sidenote, I'd be willing to bet that the introduction of these new reissue humbuckers is part of the reason we've been seeing deep discounts on some of the Bisonic-equipped Starfire basses - I think currently sweetwater has the natural finished ones marked way down to $799. Maybe the complex Bisonic design is going away in favor of the humbuckers again, just like in the early 70s?
www.sweetwater.com
