Fender Precision with Musicman Pickup Modification

[Davy]

I was chatting to the Bassdoc this morning as he was seting up a bass for me and I asked him if he'd ever built a precision bodied bass with a musicman pickup.

He said he done a modification to an existing Fender Precision with a 2 band eq but he didn't have any photos.

Does anyone out there have any photos of a Fender Precision with a musicman pickup fitted so I can see what it might look like if I get this done?

Cheers

Davy

[BassBus]

I remember seeing one on Talkbass years ago. It looked like what it is. Bet it sounded a lot better than a P bass though.

[risingson]

Not a Fender, but Sandberg do their PM4's and 5's and they're really quite good. They look like this:

[url="http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg209/scaled.php?server=209&filename=sandb2.jpg&res=landing"]scaled.php[/url]

Edited April 12, 2012 by risingson

[TRBboy]

Have you seen Ou7shined's Pingray before? If not, give him a shout (if you're thinking of modding a P).

I had one of the Sandberg California PMs last year, and it was killer (beat any Fender hands down)!

Edited April 12, 2012 by TRBboy

[Davy]

Cheers guys, thanks for your replies

[pburrows]

Can't stop telling people about this but I picked up my new bass today and it it fecking stunning. Sandberg PM 4. Got the Musicman pick up

http://www.bassdirect.co.uk/bass_guitar_specialists/Sandberg_PM4.html

[disssa]

What about the Fender American DLX Precisions?

[chrismuzz]

[quote name='TraceAmp' timestamp='1334297538' post='1613896']
What about the Fender American DLX Precisions?


[/quote]

Awesome basses, you can make the bridge into a single coil too if i'm not mistaken!

[Prime_BASS]

[quote name='TraceAmp' timestamp='1334297538' post='1613896']
What about the Fender American DLX Precisions?


[/quote]

A fender bucker is not replacement for a Mussicman man(or good replacement) in the right position....
Even Wariwick's MEC in the postions they come in don't come close.

[Guest MoJo]

Neil Murray has done it

[Lfalex v1.1]

And he's using a Fat Finger, too....

[Ghost_Bass]

Just mentioned this bass in another post, its a Classic 50's P bass that i modded with a deluxe humbucker and stacked vol/tone for each pickup:
[attachment=104974:Fender P-Bass Classic 50's 1.jpg]
[attachment=104975:Fender P-Bass Classic 50's 2.jpg]
[attachment=104976:Fender P-Bass Classic 50's 3.jpg]

Cheers

[Green Alsatian]

I added a Seymour Duncan SMB-4A to a bass I put together with Mighty Mite parts. I I kept it passive (Volume, Volume, tone) but added a split/series/parallel switch for the humbucker. The sound quality of the demo's not very good, but it'll give you an idea of the sound.

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6ic5Aq0qXc"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6ic5Aq0qXc[/url]

[gafbass02]

Sue Ryder i wish I'd kept.

[IMG]http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d115/gafbass02/59a96345.jpg[/IMG]

[deaver]

My contribution to low quality luthiery featured the same spec

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/uploads/monthly_06_2010/post-3752-1277043976.jpg"]http://basschat.co.uk/uploads/monthly_06_2010/post-3752-1277043976.jpg[/url]

[Delberthot]

I briefly had one that had been done before I bought it. Didn't really give me what I wanted at the time

[IMG]http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad111/Delberthot/Precisions/DSC04760Medium.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad111/Delberthot/Precisions/DSC04756Medium.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad111/Delberthot/Precisions/DSC04749Medium.jpg[/IMG]

[Davy]

Thanks for all of the photos.

I was thinking more about replacing the precision pickup with a musician pickup but I can see the flexibility of keeping the original pickup and adding the second.

[Ou7shined]

[quote name='TRBboy' timestamp='1334265937' post='1613669']
Have you seen Ou7shined's Pingray before? If not, give him a shout (if you're thinking of modding a P).
[/quote]

Cheers for the heads-up.

[quote name='Delberthot' timestamp='1334358252' post='1615298']
I briefly had one that had been done before I bought it. Didn't really give me what I wanted at the time....
[/quote]

Yep quite often the mistake is made of placing the MM pup where it looks best without too much additional work (ie. directly in between the p/g and the bridge) and it ultimately sounds a bit disappointing there - thin and nasal. The best spot is the "MM sweet spot" which Leo took a lot of time in R&D discovering. Unfortunately this spot shares some of the footprint of the P pup. The logical thing therefore is to reverse the P pup (keeping the E/A side of the pup in the original position) thusly...

...the afore mentioned Pingray


Best of both worlds and the compromise with the reversed P doesn't seem like a compromise anymore.... it just makes sense.


Completely replacing the split P pup with full 'bucker in the authentic P position yields fantastic results too. You end up with a very versatile P bass with a few different switching options ranging from single coil to phat series 'bucker tone. Of course Leo did all this years ago with the [url="http://imageshack.us/f/206/l1000sp0.jpg/"]G&L L-1000[/url] and his MFD pups are still imho the best for the job. My L-1000 can sound like a genuine old school split P or an even older school single at the mere flick of a switch.... then you've got the "P on steroids" mode bringing up the rear

Here's a prototype (with many many switching options - all passive) I built for myself using all G&L hardware and a knackered '78 P body....

[TRBboy]

Awesome stuff Ou7shined!

I agree with what you're saying about the position of the'bucker. Right near the bridge it won't give "that" stingray sound, but it does work if you kind of think of it more like a p/j setup. The 'bucker gives more output than a j would (much fuller, doesn't sound as thin) but you still get a lovely, burpy, bridge tone when soloed. I found with the Sandberg I had with this config, that you could actually get pretty close to a Stingray tone with the 'bucker and p blended.