P/ humbucker combo

[John Oreilly]

Hi all,
New to talk bass, iv been thinking about putting a humbucker on a p bass. I have an old squier p I could have a play around with and a great luthier locally (don’t think I could do it myself) I suppose I could buy a sandberg vm4 but don’t have the funds. Anyone successfully done it and can you still get a true ‘p’ sound a music man sound, and a decent blend?
I’m not very technical but like the sound of both so thought I’d see what you all think.
Many thanks

 

[Crater]

Music Man is usually active, and of course Precisions are usually passive. Blending the two smoothly will require an active balance control, like EMG's 'ABC' unit. Or the P-bass side will have to be active too, and then you can use a passive 25 kΩ blend pot and 25 kΩ master volume after the preamps.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

Music-Man might be active, but they use Passive pickups.

 

[bigtone23]

This has been done a lot with various results--the best part is the P and SR are so closely related as platforms that the body/neck/hardware can be chosen for your aesthetic preference.
The issue is the electronics--very few basses that have this P/MM pickup combo can accurately nail both the 'iconic/classic' P and SR tone.
First (major) problem, the sweet spots for both pickups overlap a little.
Second (somewhat major) problem--the active/passive thing. Stingrays really need that preamp and pickup in that precise location to do it's tonal thing. Same thing with P basses, that pickup in that spot makes it happen.
Third (possible) problem, the magnetic interference from putting those two strong pickups right next to each other.

The end result is best informed by choosing which tone you prefer and laying out the bass to lean more towards that tone. Place your favored pickup in it's sweet spot and place the other one as close as it can be.

 

[John Oreilly]

Thanks guys. Very informative, there’s a lot more to it than I originally thought lol

 

[bigtone23]

It's easier to combine most any other pickup with a MM humbucker. J, SCPB, Toasters, Hi Gains, etc... all stay out of the way. It's that bridge-side coil of the split P that gets in the way-they overlap about 1/8-1/4". Plus, for legitimacy, it's best to just commit to your MM type bass to be active.

I tried a couple P/MM experiments in order to try to economize my bass population. In the end, a legit 2EQ Stingray was added to the arsenal for that tone.

 

[P Cheen]

Not entirely sure here, nor am I an electronics expert, but isn’t the MusicMan humbucker wired parallel?
I really miss the Sterling Ray34PB I had...if it wasn’t such a lemon and guitar repair shops were open I would’ve kept it.

Hope your experiment goes as planned.

 

[bigtone23]

Not entirely sure here, nor am I an electronics expert, but isn’t the MusicMan humbucker wired parallel?
I really miss the Sterling Ray34PB I had...if it wasn’t such a lemon and guitar repair shops were open I would’ve kept it.

Hope your experiment goes as planned.

Musicman Stingray humbuckers are parallel. Musicman Sterlings are series. Import Sterlings vary.

 

[P Cheen]

Musicman Stingray humbuckers are parallel. Musicman Sterlings are series. Import Sterlings vary.

Interesting. I REALLY liked the sound of that import Sterling I used to own.
Anyway, to OP: should you find the task too daunting maybe look into Sentell pickups, Jerry can make P and J pickups that have the 9mm MM alnico V pole pieces without the Delano pricetag. Should get you close enough.