Thinking of adding a MM type pup to a passive P bass?

[dave_bass5]

Im thinking about adding something like a Nordy MM 4.2 to my Duck Dunn bass, but keeping it passive.

I know its not going to get a SR tone and thats not what im looking for. Its more that i like the idea of a PJ but having a MM instead of the J might be more useful to me.
Plus, as per my other thread, im looking for a bit more growl and i think i might be able to get it this way.

I know Sandberg (amongst others) do MM + P basses but these are active.

Any thoughts, comments etc are welcome.

Edited January 29, 2010 by dave_bass5

[stevie]

I've been toying with the same idea myself. I've got a Jazz pickup behind the P-bass pickup, but it requires extreme tweaking of the eq to get a good sound because its position close to the bridge makes it very middy. If I didn't have 3-band eq on my bass it wouldn't be very usable at all.

In theory, fitting a MM with a coil tap switch should give you a Jazz and a MM sound. Unfortunately, the existence of the P-Bass pickup means that you can't fit the MM in the same position as a Stingray. Not sure how much difference that will make.

By the way, I had the Nordy pickup and didn't like it at all on my Vintage MM copy. The original Wilkinson pickup (which looks and measures the same as the later OLP pickups) sounded loads better.

[dave_bass5]

Cheers Steve.

Yes, a PJ would be the easiest option. Im not after a particular tone, just something to add a bit more to the P tone when needed and having something a bit meatier in the bridge position might be nice.
I have been looking in to it and your right, the MM cant go in the sweet spot. Saying that, im not really sure that would be a negative point.
Im also thinking maybe something like a Nordy big single. That might work.

Thanks for the heads up about the Nordy. I really only mentioned this as i had a look at one earlier, im sure there are better and to be honest im not too keen on the price.

All this is just an idea at the moment. Its got nothing to do with me not liking what i have, more just an enhancement. Ill probably end up going PJ.

Edited January 29, 2010 by dave_bass5

[Old Horse Murphy]

[quote name='dave_bass5' post='728918' date='Jan 29 2010, 04:47 PM']Cheers Steve.

Yes, a PJ would be the easiest option. Im not after a particular tone, just something to add a bit more to the P tone when needed and having something a bit meatier in the bridge position might be nice.
I have been looking in to it and your right, the MM cant go in the sweet spot. Saying that, im not really sure that would be a negative point.
Im also thinking maybe something like a Nordy big single. That might work.

All this is just an idea at the moment. Its got nothing to do with me not liking what i have, more just an enhancement. Ill probably end up going PJ.[/quote]

Hi Dave

Dave (OBBM) has done the PJ configuration on his DD and it sounds amazing. I think he had a Fralin fitted and it really adds a bit of bite and growl to the P sound. Well worth considering

[dave_bass5]

[quote name='Old Horse Murphy' post='728925' date='Jan 29 2010, 04:51 PM']Hi Dave

Dave (OBBM) has done the PJ configuration on his DD and it sounds amazing. I think he had a Fralin fitted and it really adds a bit of bite and growl to the P sound. Well worth considering[/quote]

Cheers Nick.

I think i will probably end up with a PJ, but i would like to see what other options are out there.
I must admit i got hooked on the two pups when i had the DJ5. While i doubt i would solo the back pup it certainly did add to the P tone.

I just hope i dont end up with my DD sounding like my DJ5 lol.

[BassHertz]

I did this recently to an old cheapie bass. I liked the feel and playability of the bass but the pickups were really poor - loww output and no depth. So I got a routing jig made at a local enigneering firm (but you can buy them online from Stewmac) and routed out the holes. I also added some switches for series/parallel/split coil modes. It is still passive with a volume and a tone control for each pickup. You can get about 3.7 million different tones out of this thing.

I only used inexpensive (£11 each from ebay) pickups in this bass as it was more of a trial to see if it would work but I might invest in some better quality pups now I know what it can do.

Before
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After
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