5 string Mudbucker

[bassnyc1]

Hi all,
Does any pickup company make a mudbucker style pickup for 5 string?

 

[crazycloud]

A sidewinder? Try the Nord Zen.

 

[sikamikanico]

For a sidewinder design, yeah, Zen Blade. But it looks nothing like the Mudbucker.

For looks, MEC is a close approximation, but it's a single coil: Bass Pickups

 

[bassnyc1]

I just hope that it sounds like a mudbucker, being near the neck. Looks like one would be a bonus.

 

[Basvarken]

A Mudbucker has bar magnets. The screws in the middle don't have a real function. So -in theory- it should be suitable for any number of strings.
it depends on the string spacing of the 5-string if the Mudbucker will pick up all strings properly.
It is well known fact that it already has difficulty picking op the E and G on some basses because the magnetic field is too narrow.
This can be solved by mounting an allen key or bent nail to the magnets on the side, in order to widen the magnetic flux a bit.

 

[RedGrange]

Ask Turner Pickups he makes a 5 String Gordo Duo... it's a monster.

 

[Steve Dallman]

Artec did years ago, but it's been gone for a while. It was internally a modded 4 string with 5 poles and cover to match. but the magnets and coils were the same as their 4 string.

 

[micguy]

A Zen Blade 5 from Nordstrand, even though it looks a bit different, has a similar magnetic structure. What it does not have is the insanely high impedance that a Mudbucker has. However, the sonic result of that higher impedance can be replicated by capacitively loading a Zen Blade - you can fine tune the sound to whatever sound you want in Mudbucker territory with the right capacitor value. It won't be as loud as a Mudbucker, but it'll still be plenty loud.

 

[micguy]

A Mudbucker has bar magnets. The screws in the middle don't have a real function.

Ummmmmm - those screws are pole pieces. They are an integral part of making the thing work well. Take them out, and the level will drop precipitously.

 

[Basvarken]

As far as I know they are just screws. Not magnetic.
The actual magnets that do the heavy lifting are glued to the sides.

 

[micguy]

As far as I know they are just screws. Not magnetic.
The actual magnets that do the heavy lifting are glued to the sides.

Put a screwdriver next to one. You'l find out pretty quickly that they are magnetic. If they wanted non magnetic screws, they'd have used brass screws. Those ain't brass. Those screws fit (with clearance) though the holes in the shield that's over them- they don't hold it in place. They are there to be pole pieces.

In this video, the guy touches the pole pieces several times, and they pull part of the magnetic structure out of the pickup with them. Magnetic screws = pole pieces.

 

[Basvarken]

I actually took one screw out. To see if it's magnetic. There was hardly any magnetic pull.

The logic about them not being brass eludes me. They are chromed. For cosmetics sake.

 

[Matt Liebenau]

I actually took one screw out. To see if it's magnetic. There was hardly any magnetic pull.

The logic about them not being brass eludes me. They are chromed. For cosmetics sake.

The screw itself doesn't have to be magnetic when it's removed from the pickup. If the screw is attracted by a magnet, and I'd bet it is, it's interacting with and helping to direct the magnetic field generated by the magnets in the pickup. I know it's more complicated then that but for the sake of this discussion…

 

[iiipopes]

I just hope that it sounds like a mudbucker, being near the neck. Looks like one would be a bonus.

Drop the treble; crank the low mids; center the eq boost in the upper bass.

 

[Basvarken]

The screw itself doesn't have to be magnetic when it's removed from the pickup. If the screw is attracted by a magnet, and I'd bet it is, it's interacting with and helping to direct the magnetic field generated by the magnets in the pickup. I know it's more complicated then that but for the sake of this discussion…

Exactly. Therefor it is not a true polepiece. There is no north or south on the screws themselves. They merely function as an extension of the magnetic flux. They are screwed into the metal plate that connects the magnets on either side of the bobbins.

 

[sikamikanico]

Exactly. Therefor it is not a true polepiece. There is no north or south on the screws themselves. They merely function as an extension of the magnetic flux. They are screwed into the metal plate that connects the magnets on either side of the bobbins.

I believe you got it backwards - pole pieces are more commonly not magnetic, but attached to the pole of a magnet to direct the magnetic field (hence the name), no?

While I would want to use 5 pole pieces/screws for a 5 string mudbucker, I'm not sure how critical it would for string-to-string sound consistency - it may be a matter of degree and perception.

 

[vibroverbus]

Exactly. Therefor it is not a true polepiece. There is no north or south on the screws themselves.

You are so wrong about this.

The screws in the middle don't have a real function.

You keep equating pole pieces not being magnetic with "not having real function". But then you say...

They merely function as an extension of the magnetic flux.

Yes correct and therefore they VERY MUCH HAVE A LARGE IMPACT ON THE FUNCTION.

My dude, EVERY SINGLE PAF HUMBUCKER or pickup derived from it put in a guitar since the beginning of time has non-mag screw as well as non-mag slug polepieces that completely work to adjust the mag field and strength of the per-string signal despite being non-magnetic and having a separate bar magnet in the assembly.

Therefor it is not a true polepiece. There is no north or south on the screws themselves.

Absolutely nobody in guitarland uses this criteria. All the non-mag (slug or screw) elements in a PAF or similar construction are always called "pole pieces" and the screws virtually always (excepting maybe some crazy mega-magnet probably-not-very-good designs) have a significant and provable impact on the output and balance of the pickup. Its the default for pickup designs, with Leo Fender style magnetic polepieces while also being common, are less so.