How to customize Ur Pup?

[meegosh]

i just opend up my bass today(unscrwed the neck and the pickup). i' a newb and i was really curious about my bass. i saw my pickup is all gluded shut, i was kinda wondering how to customize the pickup. and again i'm a newb

[Rimshot]

I thought this thread was going to be about genetically altering your dog.

[hartke20g]

basically, putting any ferrous material (metal containing iron) near the pole pieces will change your tone (no huge changes, but they're noticeable). for example, the famous tele "bite" i partly due to the giant metal plate under the bridge pickup (warning: doing this to a bass decreases output [by a small %] but you lose some tone and you need to crank your amp's volume more to hear it better). also, if you can manage it, maybe take the pickup covers off and wrap some thin wire around the copper wire already there. experiment a bit.

[meegosh]

hartke20g, when you do that, does the pickup's little circles move up? i have mm pick up and i saw this once in the store, (the real mm bass $5000 customized) and in the pickup, the metal poples(iono) have differnt heights. same goes for guitar pickups. my friend got his pup done for 15 $. i was wondering if i could do it myself. B.tw when u say use ametal type thing to attact the poles, does that really work?

ps: loosing a lil bit or sound is fine, i have pedal which can amplify(patch up) the sound

i'm rather confused now..... soz but i still don't get how u can pull the the poles in the pickup while its glued shut in the back...

[hartke20g]

that's the underside of a telecaster's bridge pickup. other than being a convenient ground location, it interferes with the pickup's magnetic field.
this has nothing to do with the pole pieces being different sizes.

that's an example of pole pieces with differing sizes. the reason behind this is that each string (due to how it's tuned and how it's made) have different outputs. typically, the B string pole is the smallest.

in your case, just unscrew the pickups, and find a piece of metal that's able to be picked up with a magnet (ferrous[iron]), put it under the pickup (let the magnetism of the pickup hold it there), and screw the pickup(s) back on.
i hope i answered all your questions. remember: experiment to find what sounds best for you.

edit: forgot to mention wrapping some wire around the pups. basically, just get some bare wire (preferably thin wire) and start wrapping it around the wire that's already wrapped around it. however, in your case, since the pickup cover is most likely glued to the pickup itself, you might not be able to do this.