'78 Fender Musicmaster

dewi · #1 03-11-2009, 01:16 PM

I am looking to change out the pickup from my musicmaster. What does everyone suggest? I was thinking about a blade pickup of some sort due to the possible string spacing MAYBE being tighter. I think, also, i will move the pickup closer towards the bridge. Any ideas and information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys!

markdavid · #2 03-11-2009, 05:02 PM

The best thing you can do with these basses (and a little cheaper than a new pickup as well) is to replace the pots on these (or just wire the pickup straight to the output jack) as the pickup itself is ok , it is the crappy pots on these basses the kill the tone , you can change the pickup but it wont make much difference until you've swapped out the pots so start there first

dewi · #3 03-11-2009, 08:19 PM

so if i were to just hardwire the pickup to the jack then my sans-amp would handle the tone and volume?

Jefenator · #4 03-11-2009, 08:53 PM

The stocker is a guitar pickup, shoehorned in to a bass.

I've read reports that a straight-to-jack bypass can really wake it up.

Aero makes a single-coil replacement pickup that has four poles, kind of like the original P-bass pickups. Think that runs about $125. I'm tempted to try that.

I've also seen mention of Seymour Duncan Hot Rail pickups being good. (There's a bridge and a neck model - my hunch is the neck is the one we'd want.)

rllefebv · #5 03-11-2009, 11:11 PM

Ahhh... The beloved Musicmaster! MarkDavid speaks the truth... The original controls are tone-sucking vibe killers... Straight to the jack the pickup is a barky lil' guy with plenty of gusto and take charge attitude...

Right now, I'm running a HotRails in mine, and believe it or not, it may be too hot for my tastes... I haven't gigged mine for a while, and I just ordered a slew of pots and capacitors, so it's going to get a re-wire soon. I've got a single-set gig this weekend, but have a four-setter coming up in a few weeks. Maybe the re-wire will happen sooner rather than later!

I'm in love with the '78... Totally under-rated IMO

-robert

dewi · #6 03-12-2009, 08:42 AM

sweet man, yeah i love it. it was a flea market find and i saw it, played it, thought about it everyday for a week and went and bought it the following week. i tried talking the guy down, but he got me. he said, "i cant go any lower, plus if you didnt really want it you would not have come back." i am a pretty savy negoitaor (crappy speller though) and he just kinda shut me up.

Which pots would i use for this bass? 250k/500k/1,000,000k

Would it be 250k for the tone and 250k for the volume?

I am very excited to get this thing up and running. Plus i will be exchanging out pickups in the majority of my instruments.

rythmicillusion · #7 04-02-2009, 09:46 AM

I got a Musicmaster as well and am thinking about totally replacing the electronics. As this is not my main instrument and I have no electronics experience, this will also serve as my first "project".

Thinking of a getting a new pick guard and starting from scratch. To keep it simple, my intention is to wire the pickup to a 250k volume and then to the output jack (no tone control).

I am having trouble finding a pickup that is suitable for the size of the instrument, however. In terms of the spacing, my measurement is 17mm center to center. I was thinking about installing a Nordstrand Big Single, but the spacing is 19mm and the case might be too big. Anybody have suggestions?

Also, I am thinking about replacing the bridge (the intonation ability of the current bridge is terrible....2 strings share one adjuster). Any thoughts there?

markdavid · #8 04-02-2009, 12:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rythmicillusion

I got a Musicmaster as well and am thinking about totally replacing the electronics. As this is not my main instrument and I have no electronics experience, this will also serve as my first "project".

Thinking of a getting a new pick guard and starting from scratch. To keep it simple, my intention is to wire the pickup to a 250k volume and then to the output jack (no tone control).

I am having trouble finding a pickup that is suitable for the size of the instrument, however. In terms of the spacing, my measurement is 17mm center to center. I was thinking about installing a Nordstrand Big Single, but the spacing is 19mm and the case might be too big. Anybody have suggestions?

Also, I am thinking about replacing the bridge (the intonation ability of the current bridge is terrible....2 strings share one adjuster). Any thoughts there?

I wouldn't worry about changing the pickup , the pickup in this bass is perfectly good , it is the tone and volume pots that need swapping out , swap these out for better pots or wire the pickup straight to the jack and you will immediately notice a marked improvement