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Fitting a 2nd pickup: any advice?


ColinH
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I have a Squier tele bass, which is long on excellent thud, but short on tone. I'd like to get a 2nd pickup fitted, between its humbucker and the bridge.
Has anyone done this, or similar with another bass? Any thoughts/advice welcome.

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I have a 51 reissue bass with two Seymour Duncan pickups. It's a decent mod and gives a wider variety of sounds. It will be fine on a Squier but, in the case of my Fender, it's possibly devalued it. I think it would be less so on a Squier as the value is much less than a 51 RI Fender.

However, the cost of having it done could be more than the Squier is worth, which is okay if you're planning to keep it.

Frank.

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I had a Jazz rear pickup and active electrics fitted into a [u]brand new[/u] Squier Precision in 1982. It was one of the very first Squiers made, when they were produced with a large Fender logo on the head.
35 years later, I still have that bass, now as my sole instrument,
Whoever would have thought that one day these first issue basses would be highly sought after - but whilst this mod has certainly devalued it, I have had the pleasure of 35 years of the most playable, tonally versatile and sweet sounding four string I ever owned.

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[quote name='pfretrock' timestamp='1500668688' post='3339573']
Do you know if the humbucker is series wired? A parallel wired mod might help, costs little if you can solder and is reversible.
[/quote]

This would be my first plan.

2nd plan would be to replace the humbucker with a good vintage 51 style single coil or even a split P bass pickup.

I wouldn't start chopping the bass about until I'd discounted either of those mods. In fact if I was unhappy at any point (including right now) I'd look to replace the bass with one I preferred.

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My thanks to all the above.
Machinehead, I'm not too bothered about cost or affecting the value, as I won't be parting with this beauty! An SD does seem like a good option.
Pfretrock, don't know about the wiring mode, but point noted; ta.
Musicbassman, I have an '86 Squier Jazz, now with American Standard Fender pickups, and it's pretty damn good. For the Tele, all I need is a bit more
top, and a Jazz p/u could well provide that.
Chris b, I don't want to replace the humbucker, as the sound is so huge. Also most other (smaller) pickups would leave a gap...! I actually nearly traded
this bass for a Bass Centre Profile, last week, but drew back, and realise now that [sigh] I could never let it go.

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I've had this done on several P style basses - stuck a J pickup between it and the bridge - but I've always had it done professionally and had it wired Volume, Blend, Tone with new pots etc. which added to the cost but was worth it in my opinion. I'd go for it.

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I hear what you say about getting a professional on the job; couldn't agree more. Thus far, I've contacted 2 reputable techs in my area
(Southampton). One says he's semi-retired and booked-up for 3 months; the other hasn't bothered to respond.

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