Nordstrand Big Blademan 4 Pickups - Comparison with stock LTD Pickups

Little comparison video I put together as I was doing a pickup install on my bass. I couldn't find many video showcasing the Nordstrand Big Blademan 4 pickups so I wanted to throw this out there to help.

Clearly going for some Tool type tones.

RIG:
ESP LTD B4-E Bass
Stock LTD active 3-band preamp with pickup blend at 50%.
Stock LTD strings, I think they are D'Addario 45-105
Fractal Audio AxeFX II Mk II
Gallien-Krueger 700RB Head
Sansamp RBI Preamp

Stock pickups are LTD's EMG-sized bass pickups. One is noted as 'Neck' and one as 'Bridge'

The upgraded pickups are the Nordstrand Big Blademan 4 in and EMG35 housing. These are supposedly designed with / for Justin Chancellor of Tool and his bass tone as reference. They are quad coil pickups, and both (neck and bridge) are the exact same.

Initially I had some fancy ideas for wiring them in but it didn't work in my favor so these are wired just as the stock pickups are - parallel humbuckers.

First thing I noticed was increased output, but also a sort of more clear and defined tone. I like them, though I'm not 100% sure they are worth the $300 price tag for the pair.

No settings are changed on any of the gear between the examples. The only differences are the pickups and my playing.

Played with a pick.

0:00 Stock pickups, through full bass rig in context w/ drums
0:43 Nordstrand BBM4 pickups, through full bass rig in context w/ drums
1:25 Stock pickups, full bass rig isolated
2:09 Nordstrand BBM4 pickups, full bass rig isolated
2:53 Stock pickups, pure DI from bass
3:36 Nordstrand BBM4 pickups, pure DI from bass