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Great New Pickup Idea!

P

Precisionb87

Dec 15, 2010
212
85
Philadelphia, PA
#1
I have this idea. Feel free to let me know if its already been done. Here goes:
I have been thinking of ways to modify basses without effecting their integrity in any way. Say you have a favorite vintage precision bass that you wished had a jazz bass pickup in the bridge position, but never had the heart to get the router out...
Why not make a super low-profile version of a j, or even MM bucker pickup that can simply (and temporarily) be placed under the strings. It could be mounted using a couple suction cups, along with a funky y cable hookup, and presto! Instant fully reversible mod. It might be a little silly looking, but it would get the job done! Any thoughts?
 
#2
hmmm. I dont think there would be enough coils in that height to produce a high enough output, maybe with a specialized preamp. I'd also imagine if there were bare poles, the strings may produce a thwack.

Although, using the lace sensor technology, maybe.....
 
#3
a pickup that thin would sound totally different than the real thing. (way weaker, most likely.)

that said, it might still produce "interesting" results.
 
#4
A neat idea, except that changing the geometry of the pickup changes its tone... a lot.

However, a much better idea (IMO) would be to market a detachable (suction cup? 2-sided tape?) pickup cover-esque thing - like a P-bass pickup cover, but much taller - with a sheet of wood on the underside.

You could then mount whatever darn pickup you wanted on it, and stick it whereve you wanted it.

You could also add a volume and ton control to the unit, if you wanted, and even mount a neat cable that had a plug and a jack; you'd plug it into your bass's output jack, and plug your cable into that.

HOWEVER - just because it can be done, does not mean I think it'll fly. TBH, I think it's a laughable idea. (That said, I'd be very happy if you made millions with it!)
 
#5
Looking at my Gibson '75 G-3 p'ups the coils, which are potted into clear covers with resin so you can see the coils through :cool:, are 3/8" thick. Below that are grounded aluminum 1/16" "eddy current" plates that contact the mag. The mags are full width bar. They are awesome, built for Gibson by Bill Lawrence, the real man, not the company bearing his name. They are very hot with cool tone.

So half an inch in thickness would be close to the minimum, 3/8 without the eddy plate. This is quite a bit thinner than J and P coils, so I think it is totally feasible.
I also bet that depth of windings J/P can be replaced with width of windings with similar results, In the case of mine I bet the big old alnico bar magnet in there has alot to do with the juice these put out, but I'm no engineer;)
 
#6
Actually this could be killer, you could have an ultra low-profile pickup, that's massively over wound to compensate, stick to the bridge position using adhesive. Then run a wire into a boxed preamp that you could be put onto a pedal board. That way you have your actual bass pluged into the preamp and have it bypassed just so it only amplifies the temp pickup but keeps all the sound in sync. Place the preamp box powered on your pedal board from a power supply has two 1/4'' inputs (one from your bass, the other from the temp pickup) then one output going to your amp. i dont know, just a thought ;) Id just call it a T.P.U. Temporary pickup.
 
#7
To get a pickup that shallow, you would have to wind a VERY wide coil around the magnets, which would almost certainly sound like crap.

Personally, I don't understand the aversion to adding bridge pickups to Ps. If you don't want to, or can't do the routing yourself, pay a competent luthier to do the work, and the hell with all that vintage-correct snobbery and concerns over resale value. It's your bass, do what you want to make it the instrument you want it to be.
 
#11
Probably not what you had in mind, but I've done it before for test purposes - this is an Orville pickup that wouldn't fit in the test bass rout (too tall), and I needed to get some audio samples:

orv.JPG

Yes, it affected playability and it wasn't lovely.
 
#12
Thin pickup? Kent Armstrong has already been there and done that with an archtop guitar pickup for exactly the same reasons as stated by the OP. Contact him. He might make a thin jazz for you. Short neo magnets, 44 AWG wire; it might work.
 
#13
R. Laevinus said:
However, a much better idea (IMO) would be to market a detachable (suction cup? 2-sided tape?) pickup cover-esque thing - like a P-bass pickup cover, but much taller - with a sheet of wood on the underside.
Click to expand...

I'm trying to picture this, and really don't understand what you're describing. Or how it is different from what the OP proposed. Would it still mount underneath the strings? Would it be low enough to do so - without routing?
 
#14
Bob C said:
I'm trying to picture this, and really don't understand what you're describing. Or how it is different from what the OP proposed. Would it still mount underneath the strings? Would it be low enough to do so - without routing?
Click to expand...

It's basically what Thunderbucker posted a picture of, although I was suggesting making it pretty. :)


As I and Line6man have already said, winding a pickup in such fasion to get it under the strings without routing, would sound very different from J, P, MM, or humbuckers as we know them. That's not to say they'll sound bad; just very different.

However, they'll sound so different that a player looking for a J pickup sound will just need to keep looking; this new pup won't approximate it well enough.

HOWEVER, as others have mentioned, it can be done. I would personally reccomend, if you were looking to go that route yourself, that you simply find or have a pickup guy make you, a P-90 with a blade magnet. Pop that in a traditional dog-ear P-90 case and slap it on your bass with double-sided tape.

...it'll probably sound like poop though, but at least you'll be able to discover that for yourself, as opposed to having to take our word for it. ;)
 
#15
Thunderbucker said:
Probably not what you had in mind, but I've done it before for test purposes - this is an Orville pickup that wouldn't fit in the test bass rout (too tall), and I needed to get some audio samples:

View attachment 218499

Yes, it affected playability and it wasn't lovely.
Click to expand...

Well done. I've done the same thing to give a quick test to a pickup and to see how position affects the tone. Maybe it will start a trend?
 
#16
staindbass said:
my old silvertone guitar has a surface mount pickup thats only about a 1/2 inch tall so it would work.
Click to expand...

I never thought of this.
A lot of the old Dearmond pu's are really thin, Hershey Bar and the Kay Pancakes are under 1/2" and although they do vary, some have real hot outputs.
The concern though would be if they are long enough.
Two of them could be split staggered though.
I have 2 right now that will be going out to be rewound soon and I may have to try this out.
 
#17
line6man said:
To get a pickup that shallow, you would have to wind a VERY wide coil around the magnets, which would almost certainly sound like crap.
Click to expand...

Nah - just use thin wire. I managed to cram 1200 turns on a 5/8" long x 3/8" dia. LVDT coil form. Most Fender type pickups are only 7-8000 turns.

Now - it will sound a different using smaller wire, but I don't think it would be that difficult to achieve.
 
#18
Some of you guys are missing the point here. Of course its not going to sound just like a vintage Jazz Bass bridge pickup. Its going to be completely different! If your such a stickler for fender style pickups, then just buy a jazz bass. This concept is intended for someone who wants something a little different, but does not want to cut up, or pay money to cut up his or her instrument.

And, no I don't plan on making any money at all with this idea. I just want someone else to do it. I'm kind of lazy. :)
 

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