I've got a Squire Musicmaster and want to make it sound awesome. Anyone know what the best sounding pick ups would be to put in? The strings are slightly closer together than regular scale so does this limit my options?
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Best Pick Ups For Short Scale Basses?
- Thread starter theweirdoid
- Start date
Darkstars are awesome, and they make a pickup for short scale basses. This is my old ibanez short scale. When I got it, someone had put a J pup in it at an angle to the strings by routing a big hole in the body.
Please note that I bought the wrong size Darkstar- that's why the pole pieces are off, but it sounds so good I don't want to change!
Please note that I bought the wrong size Darkstar- that's why the pole pieces are off, but it sounds so good I don't want to change!
- Apr 18, 2008
- 16,011
- 1
- 31,718
- Disclosures
- I'm highly opinionated and extremely self-assured
Um, pickups don't care what scale your bass is.
Polepiece spacing is relevant, but don't sweat it too much if it doesn't line up exactly right - it'll probably work just fine.
So get whatever sounds good to you!
Polepiece spacing is relevant, but don't sweat it too much if it doesn't line up exactly right - it'll probably work just fine.
So get whatever sounds good to you!
bongomania
Commercial User
You can get pups with blades instead of per-string poles, totally eliminating any doubts about spacing.
Darkstars are extremely expensive, in fact can you still get them? I heard they were hard to get.
I really like the sound of the Seymour Duncan SRB-1N - humbucker pickup for Rickenbacker bass (neck position) rail type -that I got on my short scale Warmoth bass.
Aero offers a Musicmaster pickup. It's not cheap but it sure did make my '76 roar like a lion!
I don't know if the Squiers have significantly different physical spec's.
I don't know if the Squiers have significantly different physical spec's.
Re the Darkstar:
My understanding is that it's based on the Hagstrom bi-sonics that were by both Hagstrom and Guild.
Curtis Novak is now making one - Invalid Link Removed
My understanding is that it's based on the Hagstrom bi-sonics that were by both Hagstrom and Guild.
Curtis Novak is now making one - Invalid Link Removed
Reviving this thread to update it.
- SD Strat Hot Rails or Cool Rails. The rails have a width of 58mm which should cover the needs of a short scale. My Gretsch Junior Jet G2220 has a string spacing of 50mm at the 24th fret and 55mm at the bridge PU. Hot or cool - no idea for a bass?
- SD Rickenbacker may be a good idea for a neck PU.
In general terms, the advice of Christoph at Bassculture is not to use too strong magnets on a short scale bass. Just a brief email - we didn't discuss ceramic or Alnico. Listening to pickup shootouts on YT I prefer the sound of the vintage SD J PUs to the Quarter Pounder or the J Hot. Actually I like the Apollo J best. So for a cleaner more jazz style with emphasis on the neck PU it looks like medium output. Neck PU placement is a whole other question, and I'd tentatively think of something at or around the 24th fret. If it were a J type PU I guess you'd have to slant it like in the Scott Whitley SWB-1 models now made by Chowny.
In terms of PU makers, I like what I've heard on YT of Bassculture, Domanski (no idea how to contact) in the Maruszczyk models like the Cazpar. Being in Europe this is closer to home. But also Lindy Fralin, for instance. Maybe SD or EMG.
Options very open ATM for a whole new build or mod. My stock Gretsch G2220 remains a good working bass.
- SD Strat Hot Rails or Cool Rails. The rails have a width of 58mm which should cover the needs of a short scale. My Gretsch Junior Jet G2220 has a string spacing of 50mm at the 24th fret and 55mm at the bridge PU. Hot or cool - no idea for a bass?
- SD Rickenbacker may be a good idea for a neck PU.
In general terms, the advice of Christoph at Bassculture is not to use too strong magnets on a short scale bass. Just a brief email - we didn't discuss ceramic or Alnico. Listening to pickup shootouts on YT I prefer the sound of the vintage SD J PUs to the Quarter Pounder or the J Hot. Actually I like the Apollo J best. So for a cleaner more jazz style with emphasis on the neck PU it looks like medium output. Neck PU placement is a whole other question, and I'd tentatively think of something at or around the 24th fret. If it were a J type PU I guess you'd have to slant it like in the Scott Whitley SWB-1 models now made by Chowny.
In terms of PU makers, I like what I've heard on YT of Bassculture, Domanski (no idea how to contact) in the Maruszczyk models like the Cazpar. Being in Europe this is closer to home. But also Lindy Fralin, for instance. Maybe SD or EMG.
Options very open ATM for a whole new build or mod. My stock Gretsch G2220 remains a good working bass.
Actually, since the original MM pickup was essentially a MusicMaster, Duo-Sonic or Mustang guitar pickup (same pickup: a Strat pickup with a little less wire and flat magnets to go under a solid cover), any dual-rail medium output Strat pickup will work well. I say dual rail in order to get a slightly curved rail rather than flat polepieces on the original in order to match volume string-to-string over the crown radius, and to be humbucking, as we all know a standard Strat or Strat-style pickup is as noisy as anything, especially when playing where grounding may be an issue and sources of electrostatic noise, like neon bar signs, abound.
The other reason: does the OP's MM have the original factory wiring? The original circuit on a MM bass has an extra guitar tone capacitor bridging the circuit, so even with the tone dimed it is essentially at "8/10." So if the bass has the original factory circuit, then a brighter pickup to keep definition is in order. If it does not have the original circuit, and only has a "conventional" V-T setup with the standard .047 tone capacitor, then just about anything will work.
The other reason: does the OP's MM have the original factory wiring? The original circuit on a MM bass has an extra guitar tone capacitor bridging the circuit, so even with the tone dimed it is essentially at "8/10." So if the bass has the original factory circuit, then a brighter pickup to keep definition is in order. If it does not have the original circuit, and only has a "conventional" V-T setup with the standard .047 tone capacitor, then just about anything will work.
