Alternative pickup for P bass?

[Rich]

Ok, this project has taken something of a left turn... having a rummage in the ol' spares box, I came up with the old pickup from my OLP 'Ray. Hmmm... watch this space

(Yes I know the MM needs to be about 1/2" further away from the bridge to be in the proper sweet-spot, but I really don't want to butcher that lovely pickguard if I can get away with it.)

[JohnDaBass]

That's the way to do it 😎

[prowla]

1 hour ago, Rich said:

Ok, this project has taken something of a left turn... having a rummage in the ol' spares box, I came up with the old pickup from my OLP 'Ray. Hmmm... watch this space

(Yes I know the MM needs to be about 1/2" further away from the bridge to be in the proper sweet-spot, but I really don't want to butcher that lovely pickguard if I can get away with it.)

Get another pickguard!

[shoulderpet]

2 hours ago, Rich said:

Ok, this project has taken something of a left turn... having a rummage in the ol' spares box, I came up with the old pickup from my OLP 'Ray. Hmmm... watch this space

(Yes I know the MM needs to be about 1/2" further away from the bridge to be in the proper sweet-spot, but I really don't want to butcher that lovely pickguard if I can get away with it.)

You could raise the actiona bit to give enough string clearance and solder 2 wires to the volume pot and connect the pickup to the 2 wires with electrical tape and move it around to see if it makes enough of a difference to warrant butchering the pickguard

[Rich]

True, true... although there are two factors:

1. I've had a look around on t'internet, specifically at things like the Sandberg PM4 which has an identical pickup configuration... their MM pickup is even closer to the bridge than mine, and I figure if it's good enough for them...   and;

2. I've already been busy with the chisels, so it's kinda a done deal  it's only dropped in the rough hole for the moment, I haven't cleaned any edges or tidied it or anything yet. 
 

[Al Krow]

On 09/05/2020 at 00:02, dave_bass5 said:

Get a Q/strip pedal and have loads of options 😉

A great idea to put on a mini board 😉

[dave_bass5]

34 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

A great idea to put on a mini board 😉

Ah, but no need if you have a Helix, and would need a bigger mini board to put it on 😏

Edited June 4, 2020 by dave_bass5

[shoulderpet]

11 hours ago, Rich said:

True, true... although there are two factors:

1. I've had a look around on t'internet, specifically at things like the Sandberg PM4 which has an identical pickup configuration... their MM pickup is even closer to the bridge than mine, and I figure if it's good enough for them...   and;

2. I've already been busy with the chisels, so it's kinda a done deal  it's only dropped in the rough hole for the moment, I haven't cleaned any edges or tidied it or anything yet. 
 

Im in envy of your skills, I cant even solder, I am sure it will sound killer, 1/2" really isnt a large amount, besides those MM style pickups are much meatier sounding than most other pickup types, imagine how weedy a Jazz bass would sound if the neck pickup was moved to MM position

[Rich]

It's done  very pleased with the result, quite surprised at how un-Raylike the sound is with the MM pickup solo'd but pleasantly surprised as it's a good usable sound -- very distinctively different to anything else in my wee collection, which was the entire point of the exercise to begin with, so it's mission accomplished  the series/single/parallel switch makes for maximum flexibility too. It's passive V/V/T at the moment and I'll probably leave it like that.

Edited June 5, 2020 by Rich

[dave_bass5]

On 05/06/2020 at 19:17, Rich said:

It's done  very pleased with the result, quite surprised at how un-Raylike the sound is with the MM pickup solo'd but pleasantly surprised as it's a good usable sound -- very distinctively different to anything else in my wee collection, which was the entire point of the exercise to begin with, so it's mission accomplished  the series/single/parallel switch makes for maximum flexibility too. It's passive V/V/T at the moment and I'll probably leave it like that.

 

Thats looks really cool. Job well done 👏👏👏

Edited June 9, 2020 by Rich
Quoted pic removed

[shoulderpet]

32 minutes ago, Rich said:

It's done  very pleased with the result, quite surprised at how un-Raylike the sound is with the MM pickup solo'd but pleasantly surprised as it's a good usable sound -- very distinctively different to anything else in my wee collection, which was the entire point of the exercise to begin with, so it's mission accomplished  the series/single/parallel switch makes for maximum flexibility too. It's passive V/V/T at the moment and I'll probably leave it like that.

 

Looks good, of course Stingrays have a hefty preamp amp that I suspect heavily colours the tone so there is that difference that may account for the tonal difference

[Chienmortbb]

1 hour ago, shoulderpet said:

Looks good, of course Stingrays have a hefty preamp amp that I suspect heavily colours the tone so there is that difference that may account for the tonal difference

This is of course true.

 

[kodiakblair]

On 11/05/2020 at 12:40, Rich said:

Jeeves, bring my chisels.  

 

Was this a mock up ?

[Rich]

6 minutes ago, kodiakblair said:

Was this a mock up ?

Yes, very much so good old MS Paint

[Deedee]

On 05/06/2020 at 19:17, Rich said:

It's done  very pleased with the result, quite surprised at how un-Raylike the sound is with the MM pickup solo'd but pleasantly surprised as it's a good usable sound -- very distinctively different to anything else in my wee collection, which was the entire point of the exercise to begin with, so it's mission accomplished  the series/single/parallel switch makes for maximum flexibility too. It's passive V/V/T at the moment and I'll probably leave it like that.

 

Nice work 👍

Edited June 9, 2020 by Rich
Quoted pic removed

[Rich]

I made the pickup cavity using a drill and (very very sharp) chisels. No router involved. Don't let a lack of luthier tools put you off having a go!

[shoulderpet]

On 05/06/2020 at 19:17, Rich said:

It's done  very pleased with the result, quite surprised at how un-Raylike the sound is with the MM pickup solo'd but pleasantly surprised as it's a good usable sound -- very distinctively different to anything else in my wee collection, which was the entire point of the exercise to begin with, so it's mission accomplished  the series/single/parallel switch makes for maximum flexibility too. It's passive V/V/T at the moment and I'll probably leave it like that.

 

I was listening to some music on Youtube and I was listening to this live track and I instantly thought about what you said about your bass sounding un-Raylike , if I were not watchign the video I would never think this was a Stingray

[youtube]

 

 

Edited June 9, 2020 by Rich
Quoted pic removed

[Rich]

Update -- another tweak to the circuitry sees the addition of a series/parallel switch allowing me to run both pickups together in series. Mahoosive sound.