Please, help with 1983 Ibanez Musician

[Schniettzel]

My regards, brothers in arms!

I've just got a fantastic 1983 fretless Ibanez MC-824, the one with only Super J6 pickup, and it needs a little tweak. The question is: what can I replace the Super J6 with? I figured out I can put two J-bass singles, but will they sound that good being as close to each other as in a humbucker?

Glad if you can help me.

Cheers.

[Schniettzel]

So here's the closer view of the pup:

[Schniettzel]

Well... I'll post my solution as soon as I thoroughly get down to the problem. Hope it helps someone later on.

[santucci218]

send it to somebody and have a custom one made?

[Schniettzel]

I'll have to send it too far away =)

[razboinikoff]

From my experience with Ibanez basses from the same era they have good pickups and if I see correctly this pickup have Alnico magnets. Try to bypass the electronics first and decide to change the pickup or not after you hear it's own voice.
For replacement look at some dual coil pickup with removable cover like Nordstrand DC's. You (or local luthier) can replace the plastic cover with wood one that will fit the hole on the bass.

Best regards,
Raz

P.S. On my old Ibanez Roadster I replaced the stock bridge with brass one and the improvement in tone was really exciting.

[Lo-E]

In my '83 (stolen, sadly) the stock pickup sounded quite good.

It's possible that your preamp is not quite right. Maybe have a look at rebuilding the preamp or replacing it with a bartolini.

[Schniettzel]

Thanks for help, mates! Sadly, it's pickup that spoils the scenery with a lot of grain at some point and electronics are not to blame. I tried to play with no preamp - the same thing there.

[Lo-E]

That's a bummer!
Is there anyone in your area who can re-wind the pickup for you?
Short of that, I would see if a Stingray-type pickup would fit in the cavity. As Razboinikoff pointed out, you can always fill the extra cavity space if need be.
For that matter, you could just use a nice sounding P-bass type pickup and fill the surrounding space with wood.
Those are really fantastic basses. It's worth finding a solution!

[greenboy]

What's it measure?

[Schniettzel]

Dimensions are 98x48 mm.

[Chowderboots]

Yeah you could maybe take it out and put two J pickups next to each other if they'll fit. Maybe DiMarzios? I know they'd fit in the housings on my Ibanez Roadstar Deluxe. Some basses come with double jazz pickup humbuckers at the bridge--Kramer and Warwick for example. It would be n easy mod and look and sound awesome on an Ibanez.

[Schniettzel]

Yep. I've already thought of Delano double jazz one.