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J/MM/J PU's SETUP !?!?!

J

j3b3r

Aug 19, 2000
209
3
#1
Hello everyone,

What do you guys thing about Setting a custom bass with J/MM/J configuration ?? :ninja:

Rite now, I'm using a 97 MIA fender jazzbass with bart 9j#1 pu. I'm thinking about making a new jazzbass body, put the MIA neck in and the barts with a duncan MM ceramic pickups. :hyper:

I know it wouldn't sound like a ray OR a jazzbass anymore, Coz you can't make a coyote to quack like a duck :rollno:
"quote this line from previous thread :D " but I juz want to do this experiment.

So, anyone can give me any comments ?? pickups position, wirings ideas, pickup selector, pots, or anything.

info: I'm wiring my bass pasive without any onboard active preamp.

thx :bassist:
 
#3
I just measured the space between the J's, there's about 2.3" space.
MM needs only 2" to fit. so there's about 0.3" left beetwen the pickups. I know that the MM will be closer to the neck than the real stingray :rolleyes:

Waht do you think silky ?
 
#4
j3b3r said:
I just measured the space between the J's, there's about 2.3" space.
MM needs only 2" to fit. so there's about 0.3" left beetwen the pickups. I know that the MM will be closer to the neck than the real stingray :rolleyes:

Waht do you think silky ?
Click to expand...

Well, if the MM only requires 2" to fit that does leave you with 0.3" TOTAL. Remember that you'll need space on both sides, and therefore will have to cut that number in half. That will leave you with 0.15" on each side of the MM pickup.

0.15" is not a lot of material my friend. I'm not convinced that this would be a wise move as the wood could potentially break very easily at that point. You might try and get something custom made similar to a pickup "ramp" that could go in the 0.15" space between the pickups and essentially have one solid surface for your pickups. I would think that something of that nature would be much stronger and be able to safely handle a small thickness of 0.15".

EDIT: Look at the bass in this picture to see an idea of what I'm talking about with the material in between the pickups: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
 
#5
Oh, I thought it was a pickup between the basslines.

So, thats the ramp you're talking about ?? what material it made from ??

I really need to think about this more, I think you're right.
Maybe I'll juz move the bridge J pickup backward so there'll more space. But I guess It will change the sound of the J's :scowl:

Is that "ramp" glued to the sides of the wood ??
 
#6
silky smoove said:
My only concern would be for space constraints. You can obviously fit all of them onto the body of the bass, but how much wood will be left over in the spaces between the pickups? If it gets too thin you might have a "structural" problem with the body of the bass.
Click to expand...
luknfur has a bass with a big 'bathtub' rout so that he could play with lots of pups and combos of them wherever he wanted. I don't beleive he's had any structural problems because of it.
 
#7
Dharmabass said:
luknfur has a bass with a big 'bathtub' rout so that he could play with lots of pups and combos of them wherever he wanted. I don't beleive he's had any structural problems because of it.
Click to expand...

Agreed, and the reason is that with that type of route, the piece that I was concerned with breaking would not be there. I'm talking about the thin piece of wood that would separate the J's from the MM. With the example of the "bathtub" route the wood I was concerned with breaking simply would not exist. Then, to avoid it looking rather "goofy" I would think that some sort of a molded plastic insert like the on in the link I provided would work great, but would be purely aesthetic.
 
#8
well, I just talk to my local luthier. and he said if I want to insert some material between the pickups, I should do that later.
He will try to route the holes first, if there's any breaking in the wood then He will route it more to "bathtub route". :bassist:

How about the pickups selection ?? I already have the barts J's. I can't make a decision for the MM, maybe a ceramic bassline.
I never heard any MM in series wiring, how does it sound ??

Should I use 5 way pcikup selector, or just on/off switch for each pickups ?? :help:
 
#9
^^^Sounds like you've got it figured out. If the wood does break and you go with the bathtub route, I think using some sort of a hard plastic filler would look great. Since you already have Bart J's, what about a Bart MM? They aren't my favorite, but it might be nice to have them all from the same manufacturer...???

My personal favorite MM is the Nordstrand MM4.2 and 4.3. They're alnico, with a very big sound, and a very good level of "crunch" (for lack of a better word). Good luck on the project, please post some pics if you get it done.
 
#10
I want something more bright for the MM.
Some say bart is too warm, and bassline is brighter.

I read lots of good things about Nordstrand, but I can't find this pickup anywhere in Indonesia. So I guess I'll have to order from US.

What is the price for a Nordstrand MM ??
 

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