Hello. Recently I got an old Fender Musicmaster bass from a friend of mine. It looks like the pickups in it don't work anymore so I was wondering if anyone knew what kind of replacement pickups would sound killer in it. Thanks~! 
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Old Fender Musicmaster Pickups Question
- Thread starter TsunamiBomb
- Start date
Try a EMG Strat Guitar pickup. I heard they work good. They Fit right in. The original was a strat pickup too. If you take the cover off, there is supposed to be 6 pole pieces under there.
My suggestion would be to go to a rail type Strat pickup so that the string spacing isn't a problem. Also I would try to find something that said fat tone rather than bright.
Are you sure it's the pickups? Broken wire, loose solder joint, busted pots, bad jack...these fail regularly, whereas pickups are just coils of wire that sit there.
To test, unsolder the pickup wires and find an old analog voltmeter (the kind with a dial instead of a numbered display). Hook the meter up to the pickup wires, and tap the pickups with something metallic (better yet, hold a tuning fork over the pickups). The needle should move a little bit (with the range set to millivolts). If so, the pickups are functional.
If you don't have an voltmeter, solder the pickup wires directly to a cable and plug it into your amp. Use a tuning fork over the pickup, you should hear it through the amp. Or tap the pcikups with something metallic, you should hear something.
Those old pickups may actually be somewhat desirable, that's why I'd be reluctant to ditch them unless i was sure they were bad.
To test, unsolder the pickup wires and find an old analog voltmeter (the kind with a dial instead of a numbered display). Hook the meter up to the pickup wires, and tap the pickups with something metallic (better yet, hold a tuning fork over the pickups). The needle should move a little bit (with the range set to millivolts). If so, the pickups are functional.
If you don't have an voltmeter, solder the pickup wires directly to a cable and plug it into your amp. Use a tuning fork over the pickup, you should hear it through the amp. Or tap the pcikups with something metallic, you should hear something.
Those old pickups may actually be somewhat desirable, that's why I'd be reluctant to ditch them unless i was sure they were bad.
knuckle_head
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- Jul 30, 2002
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If you resort to getting a guitar pickup - a very good suggestion and what was in it in the first place - look for a bridge position pup. They are generally voiced lower and have hotter output to counteract placement on a guitar.
nashvillebill said:
Word... I am a fan of the old Musicmaster pickup, (it is actually the same pickup used on the Musicmaster guitars, not strats though they can be pretty interchangeable)... Try wiring it directly to the output jack... if the pickup is working, you may be pleasantly surprised at the tone. Mine was wired in this manner for the better part of a year and served me well...
If the pickup is indeed toast, I have a Lace Sensor pickup that will fit right in and sounds nice... may have to paint it black
... Yours for the asking...-robert
