Grangur Posted April 2, 2016 Share Posted April 2, 2016 (edited) Hi there Good Peoples of BCland, I've been buying and selling basses and things and got in a bit of a situation. First I saw this thread by Discreet: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/281077-harley-benton-pb-50-modded-audio/page__fromsearch__1"]http://basschat.co.u...__fromsearch__1[/url] I thought, "I'll have some of that!" And went the the Thomann site and found a nice B-stock version of the same. Then, thinking I'll get a better pup I ordered a similar hand-wound pup on Ebay. Bass arrived, played it a bit. It was ok-ish, but somehow I didn't take to the feel, so I sent it back. (Good old Thomann - many thanks to them). Yesterday the hand wound pup arrived. I was all ready to send it back as it's not longer wanted. But I opened the parcel and found this The letter reads: [i]"Thanks for buying my handmade pickups.[/i] [i]My Pickups are manufactured with the finest materials and has been made with the same methods that were used in the golden age. I have manufactured each pickup with the purpose to change the sound of your instrument. and finally get the character that you always wanted. In the search to improve my pickups I will be pleased to read your opinions and feelings about the change that your instrument will experience with this pickup. Feel free to contact me for any doubt about the installation or if you need any help with your project.[/i] [i]Thank you for keeping my dream[/i] [i]www.jlguitars.com"[/i] The maker is Jess Loureiro in Spain. Not only is the packaging quaint, but the wire is like the old-fashioned waxed string How can I send the pup back when you read that? OK, I know, I'm soft. So I HAVE to use this pup!! But, how? Well, I do so happen to have another bass that just arrived. It's one I bought on Ebay. It's a brand new Rockburn: graded stock that was pointed out by our own Kiogon. When I clicked on that I didn't really know why as I don't need another bass, but for £50 including postage.... well, you have to don't you? It'd be rude not to. Before sending the HB back I measure the position of the pup, as you do. It was 70cm from the nut. So if I were to add this to the Rockburn, it would place it in the position of the bridge position of the split-coil. Yet I'm thinking of placing the 51 Classic pup in this position: The other option could be to move the E-A split-coil behind the D-G ; reversing it and then put the Classic pup in the position it "should" be in. Has anyone here done this? I'd be looking for a bass, thump sort of sound, rather than a clank. So my guess is I'm better sticking with "Plan-A". Would it be even better nearer the neck? Or would I get it too muddy? What do you folks think? Thanks for looking. Sorry if its boring. BTW, I'm not impressed with the Rockburn pup, so I'm tempted to fit a SDP-3 or get a hand wound one from Jess Loureiro. Edited April 2, 2016 by Grangur Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahpook Posted April 2, 2016 Share Posted April 2, 2016 You have a pickup that doesn't fit any of you basses ? Buy a new bass. Next ! Seriously tho, the packaging and the whole presentation is very nice, but it's a pitch so I'd not feel too bad about returning it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiOgon Posted April 2, 2016 Share Posted April 2, 2016 Ha! Glad you got the £50 Rockburn was that the last one? Personally I would leave the Rockburn alone - if it plays OK - & yes you need another bass to go with the pick up. BTW IIRC I did a kit for someone the other day who is using one of those Loureiros & he's rather delighted with it, proper old school Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grangur Posted April 2, 2016 Author Share Posted April 2, 2016 [quote name='ahpook' timestamp='1459600128' post='3017966'] You have a pickup that doesn't fit any of you basses ? Buy a new bass. Next ! Seriously tho, the packaging and the whole presentation is very nice, but it's a pitch so I'd not feel too bad about returning it. [/quote] You are right, of course. I've just taken the split-coil out of the Rockburn and put the 51 in there in the same hole (on a slant, but it fits just about. It sounds great. I guess the question here is can I put 2 pups in there close together without any problems? My guess is its what they do in guitars, so why not a bass? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grangur Posted April 2, 2016 Author Share Posted April 2, 2016 [quote name='KiOgon' timestamp='1459600931' post='3017972'] Ha! Glad you got the £50 Rockburn was that the last one? Personally I would leave the Rockburn alone - if it plays OK - & yes you need another bass to go with the pick up. BTW IIRC I did a kit for someone the other day who is using one of those Loureiros & he's rather delighted with it, proper old school [/quote] I think it might have been the last. I wouldn't have chosen red, but... it was so tempting. Thanks, John! The Rockburn was sold as graded. It had a strange rattle on the E string below the 7th fret. I couldn't find the problem, so I changed the E-string for an old one I had hanging about - problem solved! The electrics in the Rockburn is cheap, as you'd expect - small pots and very light-weight coils in the pups. So I'm very tempted to get one of [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Loureiros' split P pups too and fit that. After all, at £50 I've not got much to lose, and if I leave the original PG intact and don't rout outside the original line of the PG, I can restore it to original and sell it moving the pups on to a better bass. [/font][/color][color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]OR maybe I should go buy a better bass and do it to that one.[/font][/color] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted April 2, 2016 Share Posted April 2, 2016 (edited) [quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1459597802' post='3017935'] Bass arrived, played it a bit. It was ok-ish, but somehow I didn't take to the feel, so I sent it back. [/quote] Did you fit flatwounds? Even though the stock strings are D'Addario, they're pretty terrible in my opinion and the one thing the PB-50 really needs is to be fitted with decent flats. This difference is like night and day, and improves the playability enormously. I think the D'Addarios fitted to cheap basses as stock is a marketing ploy. These strings just don't seem to be as good as the D'Addarios you buy yourself... my opinion, of course. I'll have that hand-wound pickup from you if you want to sell it! Edited April 2, 2016 by discreet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted April 2, 2016 Share Posted April 2, 2016 (edited) Or you could buy my modded PB-50 which plays very nicely and sounds great! Then fit your new pup into it! http://basschat.co.uk/topic/282176-price-drop-hb-pb-50-54-p-bass-ri-l120-posted-audio/ Edited April 2, 2016 by discreet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahpook Posted April 2, 2016 Share Posted April 2, 2016 (edited) [quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1459601087' post='3017977'] I guess the question here is can I put 2 pups in there close together without any problems? My guess is its what they do in guitars, so why not a bass? [/quote] As the fields of the two pairs of the split coil will be in an opposite sense to each other you will theoretically get a slight reinforcement or cancellation of the field where the split coil and the single coil sit closest to each other.... Will it be enough to notice ? I doubt it, but I think I'd be twisting rather then soldering the first time I wired it up Edited April 2, 2016 by ahpook Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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