MusicMan Pickup on a P Bass

[chbecker]

I have been thinking of putting a MusicMan Style Pickup on My '74 Ash body P bass in the bridge possition. Has Anyone out there tried this combination of a P and a MM pickup?

I have a similar setup on my other P bass but both the pickups are Bartolini's and so they don't sound as a P and MM pickup would normally sound. Bartolini's really have there own charactor.

On this particular project I was considering getting the MusicMan style pickup from Carvin.

Any advice would be a great help.

[rickbass]

My usual words of caution when mixing different brands of pickups ---

> there aren't any standards for pickup phasing and polarity. If it is installed out of phase, (your ear will definitely let you know), you can switch wires around. But there aren't any standards for how they're color coded, either.

> The impedance may not match that of the existing pup. If you add an active to a passive, you've got a real headache. The active loads down the passive and shorts it.

The tech section at the Carvin board could take your questions or you could e-mail their Dr. Sound and see if they think there could be any problems.

[Nino Valenti]

If your P bass is in good to mint condition & wouldn't add another p/u to it because it'll destroy any value to the bass. If it's beat down alittle I'd do it.

Another option to the Carvin p/u is the Seymour Duncan MM p/u. I have one in a MM copy bass & it sounds really good passive.

Good Luck.

[chbecker]

Okay, I emailed Carvin's Dr. Sound and am waiting for a reply.

The bass is in excellent condition and it will be a shame to route a big chunk out of the body for this pickup. Unfortunately, I will not play it very much if I can't get the tones I am looking for. It is a bummer and I will probably have a tear in my eye while they are routing it out, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

My plan is to have independent volume and tone pots for each pickup and run them passive. I will get the volume and tone pots and a capacitor from Carvin as well.

Any advice?

[craigb]

I don't think you'll be able to get the MM pickup in the exact same position as on a Stingray. Ed Friedland had a P pickup added to a Stingray and there was some overlap between the pickup positions. Since he was adding to a Stingray (MM pickup already there) he reversed the P pickup by leaving the EA coil in place and flopping the DG coil up towards the neck.

However that doesn't help you as you are adding the MM pickup to the P. You might want to consider getting a replacement body routed out with the pickups laid out exactly how you want - that way if you want the MM in the "sweetspot" you get it (and you have the original body for future resale if it doesn't do what you want).

As far as MM style pickups go I haven't read great things about the Carvin doing the real "MM" thing. You might want to check out Seymour Duncan. According to Lakland they are more aggressive than Bartolini (see http://www.lakland.com/html_pages/pi...omparison.html ).

Good luck and report back on your experiment

[Nino Valenti]

Craig's idea is great!!!! That is if you have the extra money for another body. It'd be a shame to dig into a nice P-bass!!!!!!

[chbecker]

yeah, that sounds like a gem of an idea. Any advice on where to buy a replacement body for a Lefty '74 P-Bass in Ash?

[rickbass]

Originally posted by craigb
...As far as MM style pickups go I haven't read great things about the Carvin doing the real "MM" thing....

Oh, God, craig!!! I neglected to note the mention of the Carvin HB in the MM style! I own one, for the time being, (until it gets replaced).

The only "real thing" it does, when soloed, is mimic a 90 year old with emphysema. The only thing it is good for to me is adding mids to another pickup or sounding like an overdriven g*****r. It's a rip unless they pay you to take it.

Tell Dr. Sound to do a mercy killing on that thing!

[chbecker]

I can't seem to find the Seymour Duncan Music Man pickup available without the MusicMan replacement kit. Does anyone know where I can get just the pickup? Will this one work passive?

The Carvin pickup might do the job on my P bass because I am not planning on soloing it and just blend it in to add some mid range definition for slapping. I love the vintage sound of my p Bass, but it is not a slapper and I need that to sound better to cover the gambit of music my band plays. My other P-Bass has this setup, but with bartolini's, and it sounds pretty good for slapping. The bartolini's sound too modern though.

[KB]

I think you can get the SD Basslines by itself from Warmoth.

-KB

[craigb]

Originally posted by chbecker
yeah, that sounds like a gem of an idea. Any advice on where to buy a replacement body for a Lefty '74 P-Bass in Ash?

Warmoth (http://www.warmoth.com) can probably do anything you want in a body. I've never ordered from them myself but have read lots of good reports on their quality (although I guess you pay for it). As KB said I think they have the SD MM pickup listed without the preamp as well.

[dancehallclasher]

Originally posted by chbecker
yeah, that sounds like a gem of an idea. Any advice on where to buy a replacement body for a Lefty '74 P-Bass in Ash?

a lefty 74 P in good condition? you'd be nuts to carve that puppy up.

[Nomadic Herder]

Will a Seymour Duncan MM pickup work passive? If so, how would it sound?

[chbecker]

Dr. Sound still hasn't gotten back to me yet. Maybe he is on vacation or something.

[rickbass]

Originally posted by chbecker
Dr. Sound still hasn't gotten back to me yet. Maybe he is on vacation or something.

That typical, ch. Some people have better luck posting in the technical question forum of the Carvin board and giving the thread a title something like, "Moderator please help."

[air_leech]

hmm...why not sell the Bartolini pickups on your other P and put SDs in it?

that way you are not "mutilating" your 70's P.
you could also put the Bart P in the vintage Precision and sell or swap the batolini MM for the sd one.

btw, if you want a slap bass, why not sell your modern P and get a stingray?
don't do anything you are going to regret because fashion and your friends demand so.

[chbecker]

I like the feel of the P Bass way better then a Stingray. Besides, I am not looking for the Stingray sound. I am looking to get a hybrid vintage/slap sound.

Thank you to all. I have decided not to carve any wood out of my '74 p bass. It will remain as is. The instrument is just to nice to turn into a hotrod.

I have returned to using my '62 RI Jazz as my main bass now. I can get the sounds I am looking for with it plus some flexibility. The feel is good to because it has a 50th anniversary Fender P Bass neck.

Thanks again for the advice.

[Nino Valenti]

Originally posted by chbecker
yeah, that sounds like a gem of an idea. Any advice on where to buy a replacement body for a Lefty '74 P-Bass in Ash?

http://www.warmoth.com
They sell Fender replacement parts & the can route the holes for the P & MM p/u & finish the bass. They also sell Seymour duncan pickups with or with out the active tone curcit.

[bassmangreg]

I've had installed a MM pick-up in a 78 precision and it was not put in
the sweet spot which is the original musicman positions which caused
it to never give me that satisfied feeling. I finally sold it a couple of
months ago. It was a good idea but it did not do anything special.

[notduane]

I stumbled across Moscato basses (made in
France) while searchin' fer somethin' else.

Their "Legend" and "Funk" models appear to use
P & M/M types (Barts). The Legend (left) 5-string
lists for ~$2116 USD. The four-string Funker lists
at ~$1850 USD.

Oh pointy bass, oh pointy pointy ...