Music Man HB pickups

[Rolling Thunder]

I'm just going to say it. I have zero experience with MM pickups. What are their pluses & minuses? How do they compare to a Jazz or P in tonality (what are they known for or their specific niche)?

I ask because I might do a refin & upgrades for an Affinity with 1 MM pickup.

Normally I do Partscasters but a Squier Jazz Bass body in USED condition is oftentimes almost the price (if not more) than a stock ready-to-play Affinity bass.

 

[eastcoasteddie]

I really enjoy MM style pickups, especially splitting coils.
They are definitely more aggressive than a standard Jazz pickup, thanks to the huge magnets (pole pieces), but still very nuanced. I think that both coils sound better in Parallel rather than in Series, so I prefer a wiring scheme using Neck Coil/Parallel/Bridge Coil. Nordstrand calls this “Lakland” wiring.

I have a Squier Affinity Jazz V (with VM neck) that I modded to install first the Bridge MM pickup, then a few years later, installed the Neck MM pickup. I love how this bass sounds. I call it my
S[qu]andberg Brooklyn VM2

I’m using Kiesel HB pickups. The 5 Wide in the bridge and the 5 Narrow in the neck.

 

[Caley2000]

Cort Action HH5 bears a passing resemblance, and something I’ve been giving serious thought to as a second bass for metal. The Sterling Stingray 5 costs about 50% more in Australia and I can’t justify the extra spend at my novice skill level.

 

[bigtone23]

MM pickups (in parallel) are much closer to the J tone than the P tone. The MM pickup is just more aggressive on the attack from the big, single poles. They are not high output and work best with a preamp, though they can do the passive thing OK.
The most common niche is a MM pickup in the Stingray sweet spot with a preamp. This is that tone we have heard and loved for 45 years.
The 2nd most common use is as an alternative bridge pickup in a J/MM or P/MM pickup set.
Wire it up in series and drop it in the P sweet spot and it can be an alternative P-type tone, much like the L1000 or T45.

 

[LetItGrowTone]

Compared to pickups with smaller diameter and weaker magnets, my impression is that Stingray pickups are cleaner and compress less. This is especially true of the ones with neo magnets. With these the recommended string to polepiece distance is large, which also reduces distortion.