Brainstorming on bridge pickup for modern player

[fatpat]

Hi folks, I’m in the process of planning a parts bass and I’m a bit stuck on what to do for the bridge pick up. I’ve got a DP 145 that I was planning to use on the neck (looking for some dubby-muddy thump). The routing for the other pickup is pretty close to the bridge, and below the normal spacing for an MM type, however I was thinking about getting an Aguilar AG4M, possible with an obp-1. I’m a bit worried that the spacing might be too close to the bridge to get the full beauty of this pick up though. Additionally, the body is alder, which isn’t the traditional home for this pickup. Half of me doesn’t care and says slap it in there to see what happens.

…but I’ve also considered an L-2000 type MFD. Generally, I’m looking for something to provide some clarity when blending the output, however I don’t have much experience with anything except P basses. I’d love to hear some suggestions on what to use for the bridge pickup. I’m coming to terms with the fact that I should probably consider adding a preamp, though originally I was hoping to keep it passive. So suggestions on a preamp are welcome as well.
Thanks in advance!

 

[dwizum]

Do you plan on solo'ing the bridge pickup or just using it to color the tone by blending it in?

That's REALLY close to the bridge. My natural inclination, if i wanted to solo the pickup, would be to use a very high output pickup with a fairly dark tone, and probably wire it in series, all in order to combat the position.

If you're looking for blended color, ignore all that, and get a more typical MM pickup (maybe one with ceramic magnets) and leave it parallel.

 

[fatpat]

Do you plan on solo'ing the bridge pickup or just using it to color the tone by blending it in?

That's REALLY close to the bridge. My natural inclination, if i wanted to solo the pickup, would be to use a very high output pickup with a fairly dark tone, and probably wire it in series, all in order to combat the position.

If you're looking for blended color, ignore all that, and get a more typical MM pickup (maybe one with ceramic magnets) and leave it parallel.

Thank you for that. It’s helpful. I am looking for something that will help me bring some clarity to the expected mud. Honestly I don’t expect to solo the bridge because I can’t imagine the pickup position will lend it to a favorable sound. I mean, same with the neck really… I guess this is more an experiment since the sidewinders Fender uses in the modern player telecasters are too expensive and I can’t figure out what else to do with this body!