Jean-Luc Pickguard Posted February 14, 2022 Share Posted February 14, 2022 (edited) I'm fixing up a bass with PJ pickups that has a dead J pickup (the bit the windings are connected to is actually snapped off so probably not worth trying to repair). The plan was to drop in a set of EMG-X PJs I have that were recently removed from another bass, but but the EMG J pickup is too long. The original bridge pickup is only 92mm long rather than the standard 95mm and there's not a lot of wiggle room in the pickup route so anything about 94mm or more won't fit. I don't want to take a dremel to the the EMG pickup or try to widen the route as I know it won't look good, so I'm going to look for a passive pickup instead. Does anyone know of a Jazz bass bridge pickup (up to about the cost of a tonerider) that has the same pole spacing and mounting nubs spacing as a standard bridge pickup, but is only as long as a neck pickup. This pic shows the dimensions of the desceased pickup which needs to be replaced. Its the same as a standard bridge pickup except shorter. Edited February 15, 2022 by Jean-Luc Pickguard updated pic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean-Luc Pickguard Posted February 14, 2022 Author Share Posted February 14, 2022 (edited) pic updated Edited February 15, 2022 by Jean-Luc Pickguard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prowla Posted February 15, 2022 Share Posted February 15, 2022 You can try a neck (or is it middle?) pickup for basses with a narrower string spacing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean-Luc Pickguard Posted February 15, 2022 Author Share Posted February 15, 2022 (edited) A neck pickup would the right length. The different spacing between the pole pieces isn't too much of an issue, but the distance between the mounting holes is also different so I'm wondering whether it will fit in the route. Edited February 15, 2022 by Jean-Luc Pickguard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prowla Posted February 16, 2022 Share Posted February 16, 2022 My Cowpoke has a neck Jazz pickup at the bridge position. I think my Mustang has too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fretmeister Posted February 18, 2022 Share Posted February 18, 2022 I think EMG do both length versions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prowla Posted February 18, 2022 Share Posted February 18, 2022 4 hours ago, fretmeister said: I think EMG do both length versions. I think that almost all will, because the ones on a Fender are different sizes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean-Luc Pickguard Posted February 18, 2022 Author Share Posted February 18, 2022 (edited) I managed to resolve this without buying new pickups. The route was only a tiny amount too small for the EMG-JX so I carefully used a very small flat file to remove a fraction of a mm from each end and tidied up the corners with a small round file, and the EMG I originally wanted to use now fits - Woo-hoo! I also have an EMG BTC system eq/preamp which I previously used with these pickups so I have fitted this as well, however the bass has holes for four pots and the BTC has volume, balance and a stacked bass/treble pot so there's an empty hole. I considered fitting a DFA or producer knob here - ie a spare pot not connected to any thing, but instead I have ordered an EMG kill switch as it looks like a lot of fun for £20 I tested the pickups and BTC with the EMG-supplied switchcraft stereo socket wired in but hanging precariously out of the control cavity, so I still have to solder in the original barrel socket to make it neat. I've lost my box of heat shrink tubing so I can't complete the job yet. I'm hoping that I'll find where I put it before the kill switch arrives. Edited February 19, 2022 by Jean-Luc Pickguard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zero9 Posted March 12, 2022 Share Posted March 12, 2022 I’d have a flashing LED in the empty hole - used to be really cool in the 80’s (Status basses springs to mind 😎). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean-Luc Pickguard Posted March 12, 2022 Author Share Posted March 12, 2022 My original 1996 Hohner B2A has a red Led which lights up when the active circuit is engaged. Yes it was cool in the 80s. Not so much in 2022 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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