Bartolini soaps wired series/single/parallel?

[4StringTheorist]

What's my next testing step here?

Cut the red wire and check the two terminals its connected to to be absolutely sure of how you'll wire this up in the future.

Let me ask: Is one of your desired scenarios setting both pickups to single and still getting hum cancelling a la a Fender J bass?

 

[fourstringbliss]

Cut the red wire and check the two terminals its connected to to be absolutely sure of how you'll wire this up in the future.

Let me ask: Is one of your desired scenarios setting both pickups to single and still getting hum cancelling a la a Fender J bass?

Yup. I want to have either inner coils or outer coils so that they hum cancel. Am I right in thinking that the coils are so close together that there wouldn't be much of a difference in tone between inner coils together and outer coils together?

 

[4StringTheorist]

Yup. I want to have either inner coils or outer coils so that they hum cancel.

Then technically we're going to want to split that blue wire and figure out which end of it is attached to a coil and which end it attached to the pickup's internal shielding.

I'm 90% sure that ex-tension has correctly identified it all in this post. We want to be certain though.

You're going to end up with five conductors now. 4 coil wires and a shielding wire.

Am I right in thinking that the coils are so close together that there wouldn't be much of a difference in tone between inner coils together and outer coils together?

The closer together the pickups are to each other, the bigger a difference there ought to be between the outer pair and the inner pair. If the pickups are in more-or-less Fender J territory, I don't think the difference will be massive.

 

[fourstringbliss]

Bartolini comes through!

 

[fourstringbliss]

Then technically we're going to want to split that blue wire and figure out which end of it is attached to a coil and which end it attached to the pickup's internal shielding.

I'm 90% sure that ex-tension has correctly identified it all in this post. We want to be certain though.

You're going to end up with five conductors now. 4 coil wires and a shielding wire.



The closer together the pickups are to each other, the bigger a difference there ought to be between the outer pair and the inner pair. If the pickups are in more-or-less Fender J territory, I don't think the difference will be massive.

Here's a pic of the bass minus pups:

 

[4StringTheorist]

Here's a quick and dirty visualization:

Outer pair gives you a very J kinda thing... you'd have to measure it, but the bridge pickup might be heading away from 60s J placing toward 70s J placement?

Inner pair is slouching toward a MusicMan kinda thing? Not really close of course, but leaning that way.

 

[fourstringbliss]

Would I wire both pickups this way?

View attachment 3470337

 

[ex-tension]

Bartolini comes through!
View attachment 3470337

That looks like the first photo I attached (the M55 pickup)

Would I wire both pickups this way?

Yes, both pickups that way. But your switch wiring will be different for each pickup (as you can see in the Bartolini document.) Because you'll split different halves on the bridge and neck pickup.

 

[fourstringbliss]

I need white, black, green, gray and red wire for this project. Do you think dollar store earbud wire would work? $5 and I'd have the wire colors I would need.

 

[4StringTheorist]

I need white, black, green, gray and red wire for this project. Do you think dollar store earbud wire would work? $5 and I'd have the wire colors I would need.

This stuff is pretty cool, and all 5 conductors you need!

Also, note that the grey wire in that email from Bartolini is the shield, so can be bare metal.

 

[ex-tension]

I need white, black, green, gray and red wire for this project. Do you think dollar store earbud wire would work? $5 and I'd have the wire colors I would need.

Sorry, I don't know that earbud wire. Long time ago I've bought the 4-conductor wire from Link Removed. That was good.
Looks like this one is also good: Mogami W2948 | Redco Audio
Also: [This invalid link has been removed]

 

[fourstringbliss]

Sorry, I don't know that earbud wire. Long time ago I've bought the 4-conductor wire from Link Removed. That was good.
Looks like this one is also good: Mogami W2948 | Redco Audio
Also: [This invalid link has been removed]

18 gauge wire would work?

 

[ex-tension]

Yeah, a little bit thick but would work. Actually you should check out the cable channels between the pickup holes and the control cavity. If they are narrow you would have problem fitting thick cables.

 

[fourstringbliss]

Yeah, a little bit thick but would work. Actually you should check out the cable channels between the pickup holes and the control cavity. If they are narrow you would have problem fitting thick cables.

The channels are wide, but I'm going with thinner wire anyway. Thanks for the help!

 

[fourstringbliss]

So here's how the pickup wiring looks now:

Honestly freaky to unsolder the original wires to find these tiny pins that I needed to solder to, but it worked out. I used some white jacketed wire I already had and labeled the colors on the ends in the appropriate color of Sharpie. The wires are way too long but I'd rather have too much...

 

[fourstringbliss]

Done!

 

[fourstringbliss]

From the diagram I am assuming that red/green is north coil and white/black is south coil. I tested the resistance on both pickups and:

Neck RG 4.1k BW 4.1k

Bridge RG 5.9k. BW 5.9k

Do those numbers sound about right?

 

[preci]

I'm late to the party, but I was wondering if you ever completed this project and how it sounded? I've got a bass with Bartolini pickups that I'm interested in modding this way myself