SamIAm Posted May 22, 2022 Share Posted May 22, 2022 (edited) Oh wise folk of BassChat. I'm in the process of drawing up a design/conversion for a 5 string. I note that some pickups are available in either 4 or 5 string variants, others not (of course the ones I really like are not!) ... so my question is ... can 4 string pickups be used with a 5 string bass? If the measurement of 5 strings 'width-wise' (from B to G) is no greater than that of the 4 strings, will it work? For example ... Does the PUP construction (Separate poles vs bar) make any difference (other than cosmetic ... strings don't line up)? Are there other factors I'm missing? S'manth x Edited May 22, 2022 by Smanth Correction to slight error in diagram Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itu Posted May 22, 2022 Share Posted May 22, 2022 The magnetic field dictates, what is functional. If the strings are close enough, you'll be fine. If you find bigger issues with levels, you may need to change the pickup, or tune the string spacing. The poles may affect levels somewhat, if the distances to strings vary a lot. This requires testing. Here you see a picture of an EMG 40DC (4.0" double coil). The viewing film is also from EMG. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamIAm Posted May 22, 2022 Author Share Posted May 22, 2022 10 minutes ago, itu said: Here you see a picture of an EMG 40DC (4.0" double coil). INTERESTING! The field seems to be fairly uniform across the areas where the strings run. Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted May 22, 2022 Share Posted May 22, 2022 Pretty sure those (and most) EMGs use blades instead of individual pole pieces which may explain the uniformity of the pattern. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamIAm Posted May 22, 2022 Author Share Posted May 22, 2022 13 minutes ago, neepheid said: Pretty sure those (and most) EMGs use blades instead of individual pole pieces which may explain the uniformity of the pattern. That was the conclusion I arrived at also. I've recently put EMG GZR-P pups on my current bass and simply love the sound. I was considering a GZR-PJ setup, but they only do it in 4 string and I'm worried that the 5th string being somewhere between the two P pups is going to cut its signal, not such a problem with the J pup (Tho this is pure speculation on my part). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted May 23, 2022 Share Posted May 23, 2022 My guess is that putting the two halves of the split humbucker further apart than usual would probably be enough to do the job. In fact, if I was doing this I'd be very tempted to put the two halves side by side instead of overlapping. I never really saw the logic in having them offset in classic Leo stylee, and some of the nicest sounding basses I've played have actually had reverse-P configurations. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorris Posted May 24, 2022 Share Posted May 24, 2022 I'm just giving this thread a thumbs up for the title wordplay...and for being from the Brighton 🙂 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted May 24, 2022 Share Posted May 24, 2022 On 23/05/2022 at 08:51, Happy Jack said: I never really saw the logic in having them offset in classic Leo stylee, and some of the nicest sounding basses I've played have actually had reverse-P configurations. The logic is that the coils couldn't be placed close enough to be under the poles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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