Barolini P Bass installation

[ShandyBass60]

Hi,

This is my first post so forgive me if this has been asked before (or is a stupid question).

I've got a bass project going and I'm fitting a set of Bartolini pickups to my p bass. I'm not finding Bartolini's enclosed instructions that useful.

i) Does it matter which pickup is placed towards the neck and which towards the bridge? (I'm assuming they are both the same but one is marked 8CBP-S and the other 8CBP-N)

ii) With regards to the wires. The original Fender pick up had a black wire and a white wire. The Bart has a sheilded copper wire and a thick bare silver wire. Which is which as per the Fender pickup so I know where to solder them.

Any other tips or pics would be very helpful.

Thanks

[SGD Lutherie]

It doesn't matter which coil goes where. They marked them North and South, probably so they don't mix them up and give you two of the same.

The shield goes the ground, and the wire inside the insulator goes to hot.

Just see where the original Fender wires were... I think black was ground and white was hot. But check in your bass. One is soldered to the back of the pot, that's ground. The other wire solders to the lug on the pot.

[ShandyBass60]

Hi,

Thanks for the quick response - just need a little more clarification please.

You are right that on the Fender the black wire was the ground and the white was the hot. Which is the hot on the Bart? - the copper wire (with the transparent PVC covering or the bare silver wire?

Thanks

[SGD Lutherie]

The copper wire with the clear insulation is the hot. The bare wire is the ground.

Don't overheat the wires when you solder them, or you might melt the insulation.

[ShandyBass60]

Thanks for the advice guys, but... I've put this question on two different forums and got conflicting advice as to which wire is hot and which wire is ground. Now I'm a bit stuck...

[GBassNorth]

Interesting on the N S markings. I just completed a 5 string P bass with Barts and one had a B and the other a T engraved on the back. Kind of confusing since it could stand for bottom and top or bass and treble. I assumed it meant bass and treble, installed them that way and they worked great. Had a luthier route a pickguard for me and I guess he assumed it meant bottom and top so he installed them that way (which was reverse of the way I installed them) and they didn't work. Maybe because of the 5 string set up which means one pickup is reading 3 strings and the other is only reading 2 strings - when installed reversed the bottom pickup did not react at all to the B string since it had no magnet in that area.
The reason I bring this up is you didn't note if your bass is 4 string. If it is then I suspect the N S markings are North and South or Neck and Bridge since both pickups would have the same size magnets it may not matter which one is where. If its not a 4 string bass you may want to check with Bartolini for guidance.

[SGD Lutherie]

Originally Posted by ShandyBass60

Thanks for the advice guys, but... I've put this question on two different forums and got conflicting advice as to which wire is hot and which wire is ground. Now I'm a bit stuck...

The copper wire inside the clear insulator is the hot.

This is a coaxial shielded cable, so the center conductor is the hot. The bare silver wire is the ground.

You got conflicting information because you didn't use standard terms when describing the wire. There should also be a foil shield around the clear insulator that the bare drain wire touches.

Here's some pictures to help:






.
That should dispel any doubts! The center wire is the hot.

[SGD Lutherie]

Originally Posted by GBassNorth

Interesting on the N S markings. I just completed a 5 string P bass with Barts and one had a B and the other a T engraved on the back. Kind of confusing since it could stand for bottom and top or bass and treble.

It stands for Bass (neck) and Treble (bridge).

How can you have a top and bottom pickup? He should write neck and bridge though, but some people install them in reverse, like Ibanez.

The reason I bring this up is you didn't note if your bass is 4 string. If it is then I suspect the N S markings are North and South or Neck and Bridge since both pickups would have the same size magnets it may not matter which one is where. If its not a 4 string bass you may want to check with Bartolini for guidance.

A P bass pickup has two halves, but it's one pickup. So one half has a north magnetic pole, and the other has a south. That's because it's a humbucking pickup.

If you were installing a P with another split pickup, you might need to know which is which so that they are in phase.

[ShandyBass60]

Thanks David. That puts paid to the wiring doubts. Haven't connected them yet because I'm waiting for a new harness to arrive.

It's a bog standard four string.

With regard to positioning north and south. I've put some pick up foam on them and sat them in the cavity. They sit best with north above south - so to speak. So... if you look at the guitar on a stand - south is above north and the name Bartolini is the right way up on both pups. If I put them in the cavity any other way it's a mess, so I'll fit them like this.