I need the BIGGEST pickup EVER.

[getbent]

The Guitar Garage handled something like this, where a customer brought in a rather modded and distressed Thunderbird, including a giant pickup route that had to be filled in.

The Guitar Garage: Updated! 1966 Gibson Thunderbird: Gluing back together the bits and pieces!!

 

[garp]

With some patience, you might be able to find a pair of Ibanez Super J6 pickups from the '83-84 Roadstar II line. The cover measures about 3-13/16" x 2-13/16".

 

[xnewyorka]

I bought a really nice bass (83 Ibanez Musician) that was unfortunately owned by a demented madman.
The original pickups had been removed and a hack job happened to fit other things poorly.

my overall area I need to cover is 4" by 2 1/8"
The biggest pickups I can remember are the Ibanez ATK (too small)
Ibanez P4 (too small, that is what was there originally)
Dizmarzio DP120 (too small)
Thunderbird with ring (too close for comfort as the ring would fall within the hole, and it's not quite 4" long, but perhaps my top option now.
Peavey T40 with rings maybe??? I'm just not a t40 fan, I tried.

Any other ideas aside from adding a pickguard? That would look real dopey on a Musician.
Pickups with bezels / rings are welcome
It is a 4 string bass

Get one like this!

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

I'm also afraid I could never get a good color match with a separate new piece of Ash. Japanese Ash is quite different.
On this other project I intended to match new Ash with old. I gave up after the original attempt to match the new control cover with the bass looked SO BAD, the control cover just wouldn't take the stain, but the T40 body just ate it up, so I made the cover black instead. It's also all Ash
View attachment 3219837
Here is that thread if anyone cares. I guess I should finish this one before I dig into the musician. Yeah, going full frankenstein on CHEAP broken early 80s basses is my thing, so spending hundreds on a custom boutique pickup build is not fitting my theme.
the T-40 / ATK Frankenbuild... excitement building

You made an ATK out of a T-40? That's so cool dude

 

[Tommygun_ted]

What about one of those replacement mudbucker pickups for an sg bass?

 

[Kukulkan61]

I'm sure you can find some Big Ones in the Red light District in your nearest City..

 

[scuzzy]

What is that? it looks expensive.

Ovation Magnum 3. it was a bit tongue-in-cheek...they are probably going to be near impossible to find just that pickup alone, but you did ask for the biggest pickup, and it is what came to mind....

 

[Ross W. Lovell]

I bought a really nice bass (83 Ibanez Musician) that was unfortunately owned by a demented madman.
The original pickups had been removed and a hack job happened to fit other things poorly.

my overall area I need to cover is 4" by 2 1/8"
The biggest pickups I can remember are the Ibanez ATK (too small)
Ibanez P4 (too small, that is what was there originally)
Dizmarzio DP120 (too small)
Thunderbird with ring (too close for comfort as the ring would fall within the hole, and it's not quite 4" long, but perhaps my top option now.
Peavey T40 with rings maybe??? I'm just not a t40 fan, I tried.

Any other ideas aside from adding a pickguard? That would look real dopey on a Musician.
Pickups with bezels / rings are welcome
It is a 4 string bass

How about 4 stacked single coil humbuckers or lace sensors from a Strat?

 

[soundsupport1]

how about some sims quad coils? they're pretty massive...
Invalid Link Removed

 

[steubig]

Big BladeMan 4

The Bigman 4

 

[DanAdams]

With some patience, you might be able to find a pair of Ibanez Super J6 pickups from the '83-84 Roadstar II line. The cover measures about 3-13/16" x 2-13/16".

A lack of proper big ass Roadstar pickups is not my problem. Even these don't fill the extra route that was made. Maybe I'm being a brat, but I want this tight.

What about one of those replacement mudbucker pickups for an sg bass?

Does a 'Mudbucker' sound like it's name? because I like clear as a bell, bright and punchy from my neck pickups.

how about some sims quad coils? they're pretty massive...
Invalid Link Removed

only 92mm long
Super Quad= 15 pickups in one ! "yowsa"

 

[BobKos]

The Bigman 4

 

[soundsupport1]

A lack of proper big ass Roadstar pickups is not my problem. Even these don't fill the extra route that was made. Maybe I'm being a brat, but I want this tight.
View attachment 3220152


Does a 'Mudbucker' sound like it's name? because I like clear as a bell, bright and punchy from my neck pickups.

It's strange that Sims doesn't even have the dimensions for this giant pickup on their website.
Super Quad= 15 pickups in one ! "yowsa"

new website:
Super-Quad Pickups: Installation

dimensions are at the bottom, but the 4 string is 96mm x 56.5mm (3 5/8" x 2 7/32")

 

[BobKos]

Another thought is to put two Big Singles S X S into the hole and treat it like a huge ass humbucker.

 

[Chickenwheels]

Still looking for more ideas, but YES. WOW the prices do seem pretty great.
Pickup Rings
View attachment 3219459
I do really like MM pickups, but I'm a 'thumb rest on the pickup guy' I don't like them for that. but I suppose I'm just being a brat now.

To make a MM pickup better for a thumb rest, rotate 180 degrees and mount. Louis Johnson did this on one of his custom basses.

 

[Stranger Danger]

I bought a really nice bass (83 Ibanez Musician) that was unfortunately owned by a demented madman.
The original pickups had been removed and a hack job happened to fit other things poorly.

my overall area I need to cover is 4" by 2 1/8"
The biggest pickups I can remember are the Ibanez ATK (too small)
Ibanez P4 (too small, that is what was there originally)
Dizmarzio DP120 (too small)
Thunderbird with ring (too close for comfort as the ring would fall within the hole, and it's not quite 4" long, but perhaps my top option now.
Peavey T40 with rings maybe??? I'm just not a t40 fan, I tried.

Any other ideas aside from adding a pickguard? That would look real dopey on a Musician.
Pickups with bezels / rings are welcome
It is a 4 string bass

Widen the 2 1/8” to 3” and slap two Bartolini soap bar pickups in there. Huge sounds

 

[DanAdams]

Another thought is to put two Big Singles S X S into the hole and treat it like a huge ass humbucker.

That's a cool idea, especially as two shaped like the bridge pickup would add a consistency to the look.
I'm not an electronics expert, so I imagine single coil and hum buckers are not wound exactly the same way, and that either are wound to be beneficial as what they were designed to be. Would I get a great sound out of two single coils when running them as a humbucker? I've never found a single coil that I loved

To make a MM pickup better for a thumb rest, rotate 180 degrees and mount. Louis Johnson did this on one of his custom basses.

I was also thinking that I could maybe grind down MM nubs so they would not protrude beyond the body (or ring) If the nub is hollow, then I could fill it with epoxy maybe.

I am still digging the idea of an MM pickup with that metal ring. or maybe two. I've got the Duncan 'baselines' MM in an Ibanez ATK and I think it's fantastic, but the location will be different. However I had a MM Sabre back in the day, and I love my sound in the recordings I made with it.

 

[higain617]

8

Some are bigger than others...

View attachment 3219658

I'd imagine those pickups are very hard to find. Magnums do sound killer, though.

Has the DiMarzio Model B been mentioned?

edit: Model One DP120

 

[Gaolee]

What about one of those replacement mudbucker pickups for an sg bass?

I'm surprised it took until the fourth page for somebody to mention a mudbucker or mudbucker replacement. My favorite pickup is a Dimarzio One. It's physically enormous.

 

[DirtyDuke]

Darkstar?