Pickup width limiting number of strings???

[Psycho]

Quick question, and I honestly didn't know where else to go.

I'm saving up for a custom 5 string P-bass. My main reason for getting a P-bass is to get that Steve Harris tone, with the SPB-3 Quarter Pounder pickups.

Now my question is, would a 5 string configuration be too wide for the pickups? Is there another set made for 5 strings I should choose or know about?

[SGD Lutherie]

A four string set wont work because the D string will fall between the two coils.

So for a 5 string bass, you need a 5 string P pickup, where one coil covers 3 strings, and the other covers 2, or a soapbar pickup.

[rhino333]

I've got a Fender P that someone put a 5 string Fender Jazz neck on. It came with a standard P pickup and always worked fine. I replaced the pickup with a Fender Vintage Reissue PUP and it still sounds fine. Seems to cover all the strings for me.

Your mileage may vary.

[SGD Lutherie]

Nordstrand makes a 5 string P pickup:

[bassbenj]

Originally Posted by SGD Lutherie

Nordstrand makes a 5 string P pickup:

Back when Fender decided that 5 string P basses were too cool for them to sell and they discontinued all the cheaper versions I managed to score a 5 string Fender P-bass pickup surplus. The plan was to add it to one of my Jazz 5 string basses someday.

Just in case you find one out there on Ebay or something, They are very similar to the Norstrands only the pole pieces are the standard Fender two pole per string side by side thing (not angled like the Nordy) There are two pickups one for three strings and one for two strings. (I'm not sure how they hum-balance two different size pickups but I imagine they did)

The long one is 2.825" long x 1.09" wide by .55" deep (not counting mounting ears). The small one is 2.22" long and other dimensions the same (not counting ears). Pole (string) spacing on the Fender P-pickup is 17mm. I imagine it is the same for the Nordy. But the Nordy looks like it uses two of the same size coils where one has 6 pole pieces and the other only 4. This may mean the routing will be different for the Nordy and the Fender if that is important.

[Thunder Pulse]

Steve doesn't use the SPB-3. Fender put them in one version of his signature bass, but I've never seen a picture or video of him holding a bass with an SPB-3 in it. He uses the SPB-1. That doesn't help with your 5-string dilemma, but I thought I'd clear up the pickup confusion.

[SGD Lutherie]

Originally Posted by Thunder Pulse

Steve doesn't use the SPB-3. Fender put them in one version of his signature bass, but I've never seen a picture or video of him holding a bass with an SPB-3 in it. He uses the SPB-1. That doesn't help with your 5-string dilemma, but I thought I'd clear up the pickup confusion.

Good point! I read he uses a custom version of the SPB-1 that's a bit hotter, but not the Quarter Pounder.

I will take this opportunity to say that my neo neck pickups sound like a P bass, and come in EMG-40 size five string soapbars. So that's another option.

[Thunder Pulse]

Originally Posted by SGD Lutherie

I read he uses a custom version of the SPB-1 that's a bit hotter

Hmm, I never heard that before. Seeing as there's also an SPB-2, I guess we'll have to refer to the pickup he uses as the SPB-1.x

[topcat2069]

If ya wanna route:

Bass Parts Resource: Genuine Fender P Bass Pickups

P5 standard


Otherwise Barts and Nordys would be my choice... they are both standard Fender P Bass pickup size.

http://www.bestbassgear.com/bartolin...-5-pickups.htm

http://www.bestbassgear.com/nordstra...tm#nordstrandp (scroll down)

[SGD Lutherie]

Originally Posted by Thunder Pulse

Hmm, I never heard that before. Seeing as there's also an SPB-2, I guess we'll have to refer to the pickup he uses as the SPB-1.x

Steve Harris (musician) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In 2009, Fender issued a new version of the Steve Harris Precision Bass. This new model more faithfully recreates the actual bass Steve has used throughout his career with Iron Maiden. This is as the bass appeared on (among others) the World Slavery Tour. It has an alder body in royal blue (darker than the lake placid blue of the 2001 signature), gloss-finished maple fretboard, a chrome mirror pickguard, Badass II Bridge, and the Seymour Duncan SPB-1 pickup (Harris actually uses a custom-wound Seymour Duncan pickup which is very similar to SPB-1); whereas the 2001 signature model featured an SPB-3 (also known as the Quarter Pounder).

Steve Harris Pickups Giveaway at Bass Player Live! | Seymour Duncan Blog

Making Pickups for Iron Maiden’s Steve Harris

By Seymour W. Duncan, as told to Bill Leigh

I’ve been working with Iron Maiden bassist Steve Harris since the mid ’80s, through his tech, Michael Kenny, who’s also a bassist. We have made many pickups for Steve over the years and we still do to this day.

For Steve, I first made pickups with different specs for basses with different weights. Steve wanted his pickups to sound the same in the amp so he didn’t have to change the amp controls when changing basses. I had a formula I would use to determine what kind of winding would keep the same tone depending on the weight and particular wood. The heavier the bass, the brighter it was, so I’d make the pickups sound darker. The lighter the bass, the darker the sound, so I’d make the pickups brighter.

Steve Harris

EA: It sounds like your using an active system on your bass…

SH: No, they’re Seymour Duncan pickups. In fact I got Seymour to make them pretty much the same as the Fender ones actually. I don’t use active electronics or anything like that. I don’t really use them because I find that the very simple. basic sound is better for me.

[tubby.twins]

Originally Posted by bassbenj

The long one is 2.825" long x 1.09" wide by .55" deep (not counting mounting ears). The small one is 2.22" long and other dimensions the same (not counting ears). Pole (string) spacing on the Fender P-pickup is 17mm. I imagine it is the same for the Nordy.

I've got one of those Nordstrand pickups here, and I just measured it: the string spacing is also 17mm between each pair of angled polepieces. For a P pickup installed at the standard location, this is going to mean 18.5mm to 19mm string spacing at the bridge saddles. I think the Fender 5-string P basses have 18mm string spacing at the bridge saddles.

Originally Posted by bassbenj

But the Nordy looks like it uses two of the same size coils where one has 6 pole pieces and the other only 4. This may mean the routing will be different for the Nordy and the Fender if that is important.

The Nordstrand actually has 6 of the angled polepieces in each pickup shell. The difference is that two of them are non-magnetized and installed lower in the bobbins so they do not poke through the shell, but they are visible from the bottom. From what I can tell, the coils are the same size. This means that there isn't any double-sensing of the center ("A") string.

Delano uses a similar design with their "PMVC 5 FE" pickups. (I used to have one that I disassembled for fun.) I can't speak for Delano's other 5-string pickups or those made by Bartolini (since I haven't disassembled any yet!) but it's plausible that they use a similar approach to their design as well.

For what it's worth, Nordstrand also makes drop-in replacement armatures for the Fender-style 5-string P pickups. They don't provide the shells, so you have to use your existing ones.

I'm not sure which layout is "better" (Fender asymmetric vs. Bartolini/Delano symmetric) but I can definitely see how it would be difficult to build half of a traditional P-style pickup in the 2.22" shell that senses three strings with 17mm spacing. It doesn't leave a lot of wiggle room. However, Bartolini and Delano (and now Nordstrand) appear to be doing something right - all the symmetric 5-string P pickups I've tried have sounded great, with no apparent drops in volume on the outer or center strings.

[Psycho]

Thanks a ton guys, guess i'll just start checking actual sizes along with the routes that Warmoth puts in their bodies. I guess i'll just have to go the the EQ and flats for that Steve Harris sound.