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Music Man sound and pickups

#321
bunkaroo said:
Hey guys,

I've read through the thread and I just wanted to get clarification on something.

I have a 2001 SR5 H with a ceramic pickup. I recently had to sell off a 2011 SR5 HH which had the alnico pickups. I liked the sound of that a lot but the SR5 H stays for sentimental reasons. So I'd like to get an alnico pickup in the SR5 H. I'll be keeping the MM preamp.

In looking at the BBG website, it seems the MM5.3 is the one I want in order to take advantage of the phantom coil switch usage, correct? The selector on my SR5 H is a three way which should work with that I think. Just wanted to see if anyone can confirm this.
Click to expand...

Following up on my own post - I got the Nordstrand MM5.3 and had a shop drop it in - easy job they had it done quick.

Perfect fit and the switch works as expected. As far as sounds, it is definitely a lot close to how my 2011 SR5 HH sounded with its alnico pickup with only the bridge pickup on. Warms up the bass pretty nice since the ceramic is not so warm. Overall a worthwhile change for me.
 
#322
Where is the MM sweetspot? I've searched the web and TB, and I can't find a measurement from the nut to the pup. I would've thought this thread had it called out, but it isn't in the 17 pages. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

34" scale.

Thanks
 
#324
echoSE7EN said:
Where is the MM sweetspot? I've searched the web and TB, and I can't find a measurement from the nut to the pup. I would've thought this thread had it called out, but it isn't in the 17 pages. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...

Can I ask what the purpose is? Are you trying to have an authentic looking bass? Or are you actually looking for the "sweet" spot?

If you're going for authenticity, I can't help you, because I don't know that distance. But if it's just the sound you're concerned with, then don't worry about the "sweet spot" -- it doesn't exist. Well, it exists as a marketing concept, just not as real phenomenon.

Assume for a moment that the pickup location really does represent a particularly sweet spot in the string vibration for open strings. How often are you going to be playing open strings? As soon as you press string to fret, the string vibration relative to the pickup location changes.

There is no way to nail down one specific location as being sweeter than any other location. Even if one could theoretically pinpoint one specific spot on a vibration curve as the optimum point for a pickup, the length of the vibration curve changes every time you play at a different fret. The only way to maintain the relative position would be if the pickup physically moves to correspond with your fretting hand.

That's not going to happen any time soon.

If you are trying to capture the exact tone of a MM bass, then wait for the measurement. But don't worry that you might be missing a "sweet spot" if you move the pickup closer to the neck or bridge.
 
#326
Down_Low said:
He asked for the Music Man sweet spot, not some magical sweet spot that's better than any other. To me that would mean the location of the pickup in a Stingray.

My 'rays in the shop at the moment, but if no one answers sooner I'll measure it up when I get it back tomorrow.
Click to expand...

Yes, I agree that's what he was interested in.
I'm interested in that as well.
 
#328
BlueTalon said:
Can I ask what the purpose is? Are you trying to have an authentic looking bass? Or are you actually looking for the "sweet" spot?

If you are trying to capture the exact tone of a MM bass, then wait for the measurement. But don't worry that you might be missing a "sweet spot" if you move the pickup closer to the neck or bridge.
Click to expand...

I'm having a 34" custom built and I wanted a bridge HB that would be as close as possible to the placement/tone/bite/growl of my old Stingray(s). There will be a second HB for the neck, but the builder and I will be discussing the best relative placement of the neck pup in relation to the bridge. For example, a Warwick $$ has dual HBs. The bridge isn't quite in the MM "sweet spot", and the neck pup is crammed right next to it. Cool bass. Cool tones. But, I'm not trying to re-create a Warwick. I'm not trying to re-create a MM HH either. A lot of the "fun" associated with custom builds (IMHO) is the experimentation with new ideas, and trying to create something unique.

I'm looking at Quad Coils for pups; wired single/series/single. Looking at a picture (comparing pup locations of various basses...sorry don't remember which TBer made the mock-up), one can see that there is some overlap and general proximity similarities that can go into the placement process for the custom build. I know that I want a Stingray-ish tone out of the HB in the bridge, but its placement (available space, comfort, logistics) will play a large part into the possibilities of the neck pup's location; north coil close to a J?...South coil close to a Lakland?... There are so many possibilities, I was simply hoping to have one constant amongst the variables.

Thanks!

Down_Low said:
He asked for the Music Man sweet spot, not some magical sweet spot that's better than any other. To me that would mean the location of the pickup in a Stingray.

My 'rays in the shop at the moment, but if no one answers sooner I'll measure it up when I get it back tomorrow.
Click to expand...

Yes, the Music Man "sweet spot" as noted on the first page of this thread as being one of the major aspects of Stingray tone. Thanks!

Darkstrike said:
Here's a thread I started when I was trying to find out the same.

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f8/stingray-pickup-placement-i-know-search-660646/

Long story short, from the inside of the nut to the fretboad side edge of the pickup is 29.5 inches.
Click to expand...

Thanks! I don't know how I missed this one. Much appreciated.
 
#330
Down_Low said:
He asked for the Music Man sweet spot, not some magical sweet spot that's better than any other. To me that would mean the location of the pickup in a Stingray.
Click to expand...

Granted, his question wasn't phrased that way, but to me, the intent of the question was unclear.

There seems to be a bit of condescension in your use of "some magical sweet spot." If you have never met a bass player who thinks such a sweet spot exists, then I suppose it is warranted.
 
#331
Well i guess that the Stingray sounds like as stingray mostly because of that pup position...

Also, i have recently swapped the crappy MM stock EQ with a John East...
Now i can finally play some music with it.
U don't need to change the stock pickup...it's good enough.
I don't know about other preamps for the stingray but this one is definitely producing the sound i was after.
As i have said in another thread, i don't know why EBMM puts these 3 eqs band in their instruments which sound nothing but clanky (in other words crappy,sorry for who still has it in his bass). I was unable to use this beautiful instrument for several years by now and i was a step away from selling it....then the mod thingy saved everything.

It's a very fine instrument,
no need to change much, just invest in a decent preamp like the JE 4knobs and this piece of equipment will give all the life that your beloved MM deserves.
MM pickup is powerful and fine, construction of the bass is heavy solid...

Leave the position of the pickup like the original design if you wanna get that stingray sound...
Oh, and with the JE preamp you will still recognize the sound of a stingray from 5 miles away!
 
#335
MaGrass said:
Man i'm gonna put that John East into my jazz bass too....i became addicted to it!!!
Click to expand...

I had the JE in my fretless J, paired with a set of Bartolini 9CBJD (the bright ones), the thing just sang. I'm a big fun of the JE stuff. My new build will be featuring the ACG EQ-01-5k, which was designed and made in partnership with JE. The filter/pre will be paired with a set of Bartolini MV52CBJD(3) Quad Coils; each pup wired north coil/series HB/south coil, via its own switch. Pretty pumped about this new bass.
 
#336
echoSE7EN said:
I had the JE in my fretless J, paired with a set of Bartolini 9CBJD (the bright ones), the thing just sang. I'm a big fun of the JE stuff. My new build will be featuring the ACG EQ-01-5k, which was designed and made in partnership with JE. The filter/pre will be paired with a set of Bartolini MV52CBJD(3) Quad Coils; each pup wired north coil/series HB/south coil, via its own switch. Pretty pumped about this new bass.
Click to expand...

u got taste mate!! ;)
 
#339
mcnach said:
You use your existing switch.

The preamp has two connectors, + and -.
The pickups are wired to your switch, and the output of the switch, a + and a -, is what you wire to the preamp.
Click to expand...

Oh, I see you are talking about another bass, I thought you were talking about the Stingray HH.

Although... I'm confused now. My J Retro is 3 band and has a pickup switch. What are we talking about here?
 
#340
mcnach said:
Oh, I see you are talking about another bass, I thought you were talking about the Stingray HH.

Although... I'm confused now. My J Retro is 3 band and has a pickup switch. What are we talking about here?
Click to expand...



they're different...
in any case I have seen a video of a guy on youtube that is actually playing the HH with the JE onboard...
He mentioned that connecting the switch was the only pain in the arse he had because JE probably designed it for the classic stingray...

In any case it still works, it's just some extra routing which obviously i can't tell you how...

but hey, how does the J retro sound?
I am very interested in getting it..
 

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