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Maybe found a decent Gibson mudbucker replacement?

#182
I ordered a Gotoh to replace the Artec on my P bass. Upon inspection it only has one magnet on each side rather than the usual two per side. The pickup works, but the output is lower than what I would expect from a mudbucker. There is a place where two additional magnets would fit and seems to be some residue suggesting maybe they were once there.

Does anyone know whether that is a manufacturing defect or if it was designed that way??

The string spacing on the pole pieces is slightly closer than on the Artec but hopefully will not impact the sound much.
 
#183
After full install the Gotoh sounds good. Must be designed with one magnet per side.

IMG_5963.gif
 
#185
WaskoDS said:
That looks so rad, any sound clips?
Click to expand...

Thanks dude. Just finished it a bit ago today. Maybe I can get my son the techno genius to do some clips.

Each pickup sounds as you would expect and they blend better than I expected.

Its a bit of a hack job - my first try with a router - but I really like how it looks and sounds.

It's my favorite cheap bass.
 
#188
for those trying to order the Artec Sidewinder on ebay, the ebay supplier is currently out of stock and will be up and running again in 2 weeks. I just bought an epi EB-0 (and replacement pots, wiring and caps) and all I need is the Artec! I am getting rather impatient, heh.
 
#190
David keeps saying that the tone is more from the construction than the positioning of the pickup. I was a skeptic but get it now after adding a third pickup to my M2500. The far neck is a little deeper sounding than the middle pickup, but nothing close to sounding like a mudbucker. Same was true on an Allen Woody bass that I owned for a couple months before trading it for a Mustang.

IMG_6824_zpscb59ff37.jpg
 
#191
Just bumping this up to date. I ordered a pair of Artec sidewinders last week. They came from Hong Kong. The seller is Edenguitarparts on Ebay if you wish to take a gander.

Both pickups came with the magnets incorrectly configured. Both pickups had one pair of magnets facing North - North and one pair facing South-South (pointing in the way on one side, pointing out the way on the other side). At least they were consistent with their goofing, and spraying one side of the magnet with white paint helped a lot.

I'm not sure about the internal wiring but Artec (credit where it is grudgingly due) put a lot of wire between each pickup bobbin, so you can split the cables and rewire if necessary. I might wire in coil taps at some point as these pickups will be going in a Jazz bass and I would quite like to get *some* of the original tone some of the time.

However, these pickups cost me £36 if you include shipping and took just over a week to ship. When I asked Eden guitars as to when I might receive my pickups, they offered me the tracking number without asking for the additional $2 they usually charge for such information. Anything to keep feedback positive I wager, as they are flooding the place with cheap guitar parts that no doubt need some (in)expert work to get them to function fully.
 
#192
Meddle said:
Just bumping this up to date. I ordered a pair of Artec sidewinders last week. They came from Hong Kong. The seller is Edenguitarparts on Ebay if you wish to take a gander.

Both pickups came with the magnets incorrectly configured. Both pickups had one pair of magnets facing North - North and one pair facing South-South (pointing in the way on one side, pointing out the way on the other side). At least they were consistent with their goofing, and spraying one side of the magnet with white paint helped a lot.

I'm not sure about the internal wiring but Artec (credit where it is grudgingly due) put a lot of wire between each pickup bobbin, so you can split the cables and rewire if necessary. I might wire in coil taps at some point as these pickups will be going in a Jazz bass and I would quite like to get *some* of the original tone some of the time.

However, these pickups cost me £36 if you include shipping and took just over a week to ship. When I asked Eden guitars as to when I might receive my pickups, they offered me the tracking number without asking for the additional $2 they usually charge for such information. Anything to keep feedback positive I wager, as they are flooding the place with cheap guitar parts that no doubt need some (in)expert work to get them to function fully.
Click to expand...

I should probably order a few while they are still available since I know how to fix them now. The Gotoh is ok, but is not made in a way that permits you to rewire it. The Artec, as you say, is possible to convert to 4 conductor wiring.
 
#198
Meddle said:
Great to see this thread trundling along, and great to see some input from people with success stories.

Here is my bass;

20130527_1905071_zps339c726c.gif


20130527_1905251_zpsc7d8fe13.gif


Awaiting a 21 fret maple neck. Then I can be like an evil Geddy Lee.
Click to expand...

That's a very cool setup. I almost did that once but did not have the cahoonas to do a route without pickguard coverage. Now I think I could do it and may give it a whirl.

Are you wiring it so that both pickups will tap opposite coils so it will hum cancel like a J bass?

Since those pickups are fairly cheap it would be cool to put a third one up at the neck in the traditional mudbucker position. Or you can leave that project for me to do. :)
 
#199
Doner Designs said:
Since those pickups are fairly cheap it would be cool to put a third one up at the neck in the traditional mudbucker position. Or you can leave that project for me to do. :)
Click to expand...


That idea has come to me once or twice. I guess that the string spacing might not be ideal round about the 24th fret spot. Maybe add an Artec toaster instead for unexpected Rickenboogies? Not sure where to add extra pots to make that work unless you go down the Berry Oakley route.

I didn't use as much brain power as necessary to determine which coil is involved in the coil split. The bass is fully wired and when I try it through an amp it is dead quiet at least unless I solo the neck mudbucker and split the coil. Nothing outlandish in the hum department though.


One thing to note is that the Artec mudbuckers didn't fully cover either the bridge or neck J-pickup route. In the case of the bridge pickup I cut the last 1/2 centimeter of both ends of the pickup cover and glued these back into the ends of the J-pickup route. In the case of the neck pickup I widened the route in the pickguard slightly make the stairstep around the end of the original pickup route less obvious. I guess Mel Schacher had the same problem!
 
#200
Meddle said:
That idea has come to me once or twice. I guess that the string spacing might not be ideal round about the 24th fret spot. Maybe add an Artec toaster instead for unexpected Rickenboogies? Not sure where to add extra pots to make that work unless you go down the Berry Oakley route.
Click to expand...

I think those are made to go at the neck. In my experience they sound fine even if the poles do not line up perfectly.

For controls, I often use a 3 way mini toggle to switch between the neck and middle pickup (treating them as one at the pots).
 

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