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Passive HB-sized pickups

J

Jesús Quintana

Dec 21, 2003
8
0
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#1
Hi,
I have a bass with a passive p-bass style pickup (I believe a seymour duncan) and a disconnected EMG in the 'bridge' position. I prefer the sound of the passive pickup to emgs. I'd be looking to replace the EMG with a passive p/u of the same size. The EMG has a mounting ring and two screws like a typical guitar humbucker. Tonewise, I am not picky as I intend to mostly use the existing p-bass style 'neck' pickup. I like the tone of rics. fwiw, this is a mahogany body with a set-in maple neck.

Any recommendations?
 
#3
http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Electro...Bass,_electric/4/EMG_Select_Bass_Pickups.html

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EMG Select Bass Humbucker
Dual blades with extra power and clarity, and a fat, rich tone. For string spreads of 2-1/4" or less. 8.2K ohms. Screws, springs and shielded 2-conductor wire included. Fits a standard humbucking guitar pickup mounting ring.
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Treena
 
#5
Originally posted by HeavyDuty
Why not get either a Seymour Duncan "Hawkbucker" or a SD Rickenbacker neck replacement pickup? I have one of each that are going to be eventually installed in my Steinie Spirit ZX - they have a rep for sounding like hot PBass pickups.
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So far these are the most appealing suggestions.

I measured the distance between the screws on the EMG and it is 3 1/8". According to Seymour Duncan, the Ric neck pickup has a 3.12" spacing so it looks like it might just fit!

I haven't found any info on the "Hawkbucker" other than the model names SHKB-1b, SHKB-1n and a picture of them on a Japanese site. Looks like they would be a good fit, but they don't appear to be listed on SD's site.

thanks
J.
 
#8
There are two more guitar Humbucker sized passive bass pickups that haven't been mentioned so far, 1) the Schaller BassBucker, which is still made (I think), though sometimes hard to find (they show up on ebay periodically) and, 2) the old Dimarzio bass humbucker that looks just like the Schaller BassBucker. I don't think the Dimarzio is in production any more, but again, they do show up on ebay every now and then. Both of these pickups have four leads plus a ground so they can be wired as straight humbuckers, or with either a series/parallel switch or a coil tap switch, or with all three options if you install a three way mini switch.

Steve
 
#9
Originally posted by SMG
There are two more guitar Humbucker sized passive bass pickups that haven't been mentioned so far, 1) the Schaller BassBucker, which is still made (I think), though sometimes hard to find (they show up on ebay periodically) and, 2) the old Dimarzio bass humbucker that looks just like the Schaller BassBucker. I don't think the Dimarzio is in production any more, but again, they do show up on ebay every now and then. Both of these pickups have four leads plus a ground so they can be wired as straight humbuckers, or with either a series/parallel switch or a coil tap switch, or with all three options if you install a three way mini switch.

Steve
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Both of these are still made, as I've just bought one of each new, and they weren't dusty NOS. The Schaller is the Bassbucker, and the Dimarzio, the Model One, though there is a similar Will Power (neck) on their site too.

Beware though, they both have narrow string spacing of about 16.5 - 17mm.

The Model One sounds great run direct to pre. I haven't installed my new electronics yet as I don't pick up the Schaller till next week.
 
#10
There was a Dimarzio pickup that looked identical to the Schaller BassBucker, not like a Gibson EB pickup. Like the Schaller, it had normal guitar sized surrounds. I pickup a few of these from Victor Litz Music when they had a bunch of NOS Kramer parts on clearance as Kramer used them for a while.

Visually, the only differenc between the Schaller BassBucker and the Dimarzio is that the Dimarzio was creme as opposed to black, the Dimarzio had their Pattened Applied For sticker on the back, and the wires were different colors.

Steve
 
#12
Originally posted by SMG
BTW, the Dimarzio Model One and Will Power are both Gibson EB sized with no surrounds.

Steve
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Hi Steve,

The current Model One has a fixed flange on the top, and is black, identical to the pic on the Dimarzio site.
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I also have an older version that's creme, and surround-less and looks just like the Bassbucker pictured on the Schaller site.
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The BB I ordered is black.

Interesting comment in your earlier post re the cosmetic differences between the two p/u's. It'll be interesting to inspect/measure all 3 when I get them together.

B
 
#13
Hi,

Im also looking for 2 humbucker pickups to replace the ones I have now. The only problem is I need it for a narrow 5 string bass. The bass was made by D'Agostino out of New York and the pickups seem to be the Steinberger EMG Select humbucker pickups. I cant find any info on D'Agostino and EMG tells me that they dont have that type of pickup available and told me to get the soap bar pickups which obviously do not fit. HELP ! :crying:
 
#14
funkychicken said:
Could someone perhaps provide a list of p'ups which would fit the 5-string Spirits?
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EMG standard guitar passive humbuckers such as the H3(A) and the H4(A) models work well.

I bought a set of EMG active HBCS pickups for my XZ-2 and they are fabulous. The XZ-2 and XZ-25s share the same pickup size.

Another possibility is to simply keep the EMG Selects and get a better wiring harness. I've done that to my two XZ-25s and really like the results. One is a HAS Sound custom harness, and the other is an Audere Audio 3ZB.
 
#15
N3LSON said:
Hi,

Im also looking for 2 humbucker pickups to replace the ones I have now. The only problem is I need it for a narrow 5 string bass.
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What size are the pickups?

Depneding on the value, monetarty, collector or sentimental, there may be more logic in routing out to an EMG40 or 45 size hole to get a better selection and widen your options.
 
#16
Its the same size as a guitar pickup. Wouldnt routing crack the finish on the edges ? I was actually considering getting those active guitar pickups someone mentioned. I just havent done it because I have my doubts about putting guitar pickups in a bass. :hmm:
 
#18
Bill Lawrence makes a bass pickup called the EB-50 (I think that's the model), that is the same as his L500 bladed guitar humbucker except that the blades extend farther for the wider bass spacing (they also work for 7 string guitars). There were some guys that used them in the 70s to replace Mudbuckers and such (some big names, but I can't remember off the top of my head...)- I have one that's going in a Bass VI I'm building at the moment. The only problem is that you have to custom order them from him and it takes about a month or so- made to order!

Karl
 
#19
sunbeast said:
Bill Lawrence makes a bass pickup called the EB-50 (I think that's the model), that is the same as his L500 bladed guitar humbucker except that the blades extend farther for the wider bass spacing (they also work for 7 string guitars). There were some guys that used them in the 70s to replace Mudbuckers and such (some big names, but I can't remember off the top of my head...)- I have one that's going in a Bass VI I'm building at the moment. The only problem is that you have to custom order them from him and it takes about a month or so- made to order!

Karl
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I just picked up some of these secondhand, and will install them soon.
 

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