MusicMan Pickup on a P Bass

[Hutzbordello]

if im not mistaken emg now makes mm style and p bass style pickups so is this feasable?

thinking about if i could do this on a fender p classic vibes bass


http://www.espguitars.com/basses/ltd-standard-deluxe/surveyor-series.html

like this

 

[lf-p]

well i put an extra mm pickup from gfs on my pbass ´57 replica in addition to the original pickup. the stingray is on the exact MM position. actually this combination is very cool. so i have the choice between an oldschool sound and an very dry and hard sound. i have a blend pot installed that gives me the opportunaty to really get the blend in need. the phae was no problem and even the loudness of the pickups. this might be by luck, but it works.
the combined sound is deep an clear and gives an extra edge to the instrument. i think its a real improvement !!

 

[depalm]

I did this once with great results.
Two Sabre pickups + a P.

But recently decided to restore both 79P and 79 Sabre to their original condition.

 

[Bass4LifeRS]

Holy 10-year old thread ressurrect

 

[Hopkins]

Holy 10-year old thread ressurrect

No kidding, but sense its happened, I may as well share

Its a Fender 62 RI, paired with a Duncan MM, I forget the model.

 

[gttim]

Holy 10-year old thread ressurrect

Really, I was waiting for the "Well, I finally got around to getting the new body..."

 

[Richard G]

hopkins is that your bass??.....how does it sound?....is there a preamp in there??...i just had a musicman route on a precision sunburst special (squier) (in the jazz spot is where the musicman will be).. so im waiting to install the rest soon, im gonna put some precision pick ups from an ibanez sr800 i have and probably be a ken smith mm or a bartolini mm that i have!!...i might put it on a fretless squier neck or and older maple japanese neck with inlayed blocks

 

[337Lee]

I put an MM pickup in a Precision body. I tried to position it in the MM sweet spot. Bartolini p/u with Bartolini preamp.

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[bassclef112]

I built this Warmoth in '05.

It's a Fralin P, Duncan CS MM with an Aguilar OBP-3 @18v.

Just a sidenote - when I ordered this route Warmoth said that both pickups could not be located exactly in their standard position because the body would not survive the route - too little wood between. By default they move the MM 1/2" closer to the bridge. To me this is a non-issue. It sounds excellent.

 

[SanDiegoHarry]

I have been thinking of putting a MusicMan Style Pickup on My '74 Ash body P bass in the bridge possition. Has Anyone out there tried this combination of a P and a MM pickup?

I have a similar setup on my other P bass but both the pickups are Bartolini's and so they don't sound as a P and MM pickup would normally sound. Bartolini's really have there own charactor.

On this particular project I was considering getting the MusicMan style pickup from Carvin.

Any advice would be a great help.

Given the irrational value of those CBS fenders, I would *not* take a router to it. Buy a Warmoth body and stick a MM in it...

by the way, that's what I did - and am selling on ebay now - swamp ash P body, two Duncan MM p'ups. Sounded nice...

 

[SGD Lutherie]

Given the irrational value of those CBS fenders, I would *not* take a router to it. Buy a Warmoth body and stick a MM in it...

by the way, that's what I did - and am selling on ebay now - swamp ash P body, two Duncan MM p'ups. Sounded nice...

I agree. Or get a Squier.

I did a bunch of jazz basses for someone like that. He wanted the MM at the bridge position.

Another Squier

 

[Steve Dallman]

How 'bout this?

 

[Ric5]

 

[Steve Dallman]

How 'bout this? I put this together out of junk box parts for less than $100. I have since straightened the pickup, and made a new, black pickguard. It's my second favorite bass.

 

[MarkA]

Ric 5, can you or any of the "Class of 2011" (the folks who posted about their MM/P basses in twelve year-old thread in 2011) elaborate on your experiences with this configuration? How'd it work in a mix? Any weird midrange cancellation? Can you compare the tones available to a P/J (I am a fan, and this is what I came up on), an MM/J (which is somewhat common now) or even a JJ (though it doesn't have a J pup)?

Any outstanding plusses to this? Any unforseen drawbacks?

Gracias in advance.
-Mark

 

[Ric5]

Ric 5, can you or any of the "Class of 2011" (the folks who posted about their MM/P basses in twelve year-old thread in 2011) elaborate on your experiences with this configuration? How'd it work in a mix? Any weird midrange cancellation? Can you compare the tones available to a P/J (I am a fan, and this is what I came up on), an MM/J (which is somewhat common now) or even a JJ (though it doesn't have a J pup)?

Any outstanding plusses to this? Any unforseen drawbacks?

Gracias in advance.
-Mark

It is a nice setup ... last time I played it I thought the D and G strings were too thin and trebley and the B E and A strings were too bassy. This is a problem inherent to a p-bass and a stingray. I am thinking of rewiring it passive and adding a neck pickup.

 

[SGD Lutherie]

It is a nice setup ... last time I played it I thought the D and G strings were too thin and trebley and the B E and A strings were too bassy. This is a problem inherent to a p-bass and a stingray. I am thinking of rewiring it passive and adding a neck pickup.

Are you sure the D-G half of the P wasn't out-of-phase with the MM? Just flip the wires around on that coil.

 

[SGD Lutherie]

Ric 5, can you or any of the "Class of 2011" (the folks who posted about their MM/P basses in twelve year-old thread in 2011) elaborate on your experiences with this configuration? How'd it work in a mix? Any weird midrange cancellation? Can you compare the tones available to a P/J (I am a fan, and this is what I came up on), an MM/J (which is somewhat common now) or even a JJ (though it doesn't have a J pup)?

Any outstanding plusses to this? Any unforseen drawbacks?

The one thing is that a MM pickup wired in parallel, is about 2k. A P bass pickup is about 11K. There is going to be a big imbalance between the two. In series the MM would be about 8K, which would work better.

I have not done that particular setup, however, I just added this pickup to a customer's P bass:

Being that I was winding the bridge pickup, I first wound it to about 8K. By itself it sounded great, but was a little thin when compared to the P. The owner wanted it dark sounding also. So I would it to about 12k, and now the two pickups balance very well, and both sound good by themselves.

So it all depends on what you are looking for. If you want the two pickups to mix well, the bridge has to be fairly hot. Otherwise it will be sort of like a P/J, where the J just kinds of adds some sheen.

 

[MarkA]

Thanks, David! Is the bridge pickup in the photo you posted two Js configured as a humbucker?

The J in my P/J does more than add sheen, but they're EMGs -- not sure how typical their behavior is of other pickups -- and I have the bridge pickup set closer to the strings than the P. My bass is set up vol/vol/tone/tone with a 3-way pickup selector switch. I find that I've got five basic sounds available:

• bridge solo (often thin, but sounds nice through my Walkabout and is killer for harmonics)
• neck solo (not bad for a gankier slap and some big, grindy rock stuff or some Jamerson-esque lines with the tone rolled back)
• both up full (the most scooped -- don't use this much)
• neck favored slightly (my favorite for slap and most rock stuff)
• bridge favored slightly (nice for lots of finger-funkier and jazzier stuff)

When I say "favored slightly" I mean that one pickup is all the way up (10) while the other is close (8-9). Almost all the variation in tone comes with the other pup in the 8-10 range, otherwise whichever pup is on "10" almost might as well be soloed. (But then I think my bass might be wired weird -- with the selector in the middle, if I dial one pup all the way down, my sound goes out completely. I can't use the neck pup on 10 and the bridge on 1 or 3 because the sound will be too quiet. P/J is still my favorite overall configuration so far.)

 

[SGD Lutherie]

Thanks, David! Is the bridge pickup in the photo you posted two Js configured as a humbucker?

Yes, and you can switch to either one a s single coil.

The J in my P/J does more than add sheen, but they're EMGs -- not sure how typical their behavior is of other pickups --

Not the same thing at all. The outputs are very closer, and they are both the same impedance, so they mix well. Also the EMG P has the two coils wired in parallel.

You can do the same thing with a passive P, and it will have a similar tone as the EMG P.

and I have the bridge pickup set closer to the strings than the P. My bass is set up vol/vol/tone/tone with a 3-way pickup selector switch. I find that I've got five basic sounds available:

• bridge solo (often thin, but sounds nice through my Walkabout and is killer for harmonics)
• neck solo (not bad for a gankier slap and some big, grindy rock stuff or some Jamerson-esque lines with the tone rolled back)
• both up full (the most scooped -- don't use this much)
• neck favored slightly (my favorite for slap and most rock stuff)
• bridge favored slightly (nice for lots of finger-funkier and jazzier stuff)

When I say "favored slightly" I mean that one pickup is all the way up (10) while the other is close (8-9). Almost all the variation in tone comes with the other pup in the 8-10 range, otherwise whichever pup is on "10" almost might as well be soloed. (But then I think my bass might be wired weird -- with the selector in the middle, if I dial one pup all the way down, my sound goes out completely. I can't use the neck pup on 10 and the bridge on 1 or 3 because the sound will be too quiet. P/J is still my favorite overall configuration so far.)

If you are adding a MM at the bridge, maybe try something like a Kent Armstrong. It's 13.6K, and would work better with the P. You can also switch it from series to parallel if you want it to just add some brightness.

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