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P + MM pickup combo?

autodidact

autodidact

Mar 13, 2011
2,054
101
#1
I was thinking about getting my Squier P/J routed to get rid of the jazz pup and accomidate a MusicMan style pup.

Anyone have any experience with this? Or anyone that could give me insight into how it might sound versus a traditional P/J. Probably wired up V/V/T.
 
#4
Depends on the placement. With the normal P pickup position, there isnt room for the MM in its "sweet spot", so you would probably lose some low end with it being further towards the bridge, unless you moved the P pickup further towards the neck, and it would get pretty close, but without a preamp, not all the way there.
 
#6
I have a Carvin with an MM style pup basically in the same position you're looking to put it in. It sounds wonderful there.

As for your other question, no clue. A big part of the bigness of the sound comes from the aperture of the pup (i.e. how wide it is along the plane of the strings). So I'm not sure that you'll find a bridge pup that sounds big enough for you. Best I can do is to recommend EMG-X pups. They are very nice, and the bridge has a meatier sound than most single coils I have heard have.
 
#8
kb9wyz said:
I have a Carvin with an MM style pup basically in the same position you're looking to put it in. It sounds wonderful there.

As for your other question, no clue. A big part of the bigness of the sound comes from the aperture of the pup (i.e. how wide it is along the plane of the strings). So I'm not sure that you'll find a bridge pup that sounds big enough for you. Best I can do is to recommend EMG-X pups. They are very nice, and the bridge has a meatier sound than most single coils I have heard have.
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My only worry is that its going to sound too much like a normal jazz pup. I'm not a jazz fan, I've only played literally 1 or 2 that I liked in about 7 years. I want something different! I'm tired of a jazz pup + _______ combo. I want P + ____________ super combo! :D
 
#9
you could try one of these?

mc4hy.jpg


But the closest you will probably get to a MM sound from a J is a stacked J pickup.
 
#10
I've built a few P/MM basses (my favorite combo) and there's really no significant sound difference attributed to the P or the MM not being in their exact sweet spots. That issue is way over hyped from my experience. Dropping a MM pickup in a bass near the MM position (give or take 1/2inch) and flipping the P bass pickup to a reverse P position works very well. In fact I find the reverse P to be an ever so slightly more defined sound on the bass side and better balanced with the treble side. The MM pickup is actually relatively forgiving on location but in general the closer you get to the bridge with the pickup the thinner and more treble it will sound. A MM pickup installed all the way up in the P location or neck location will be thunderous.
Take note, don't expect your MM pickup to sound exactly like a Stingray even if you place it in the exact location of a Stingray pup - the Stingray preamp has a lot to do with how that bass sounds. So I say go for it, or go out and buy one that's already made (Sandberg California PM bass).

PS - I built my P/MM basses because I got tired of dragging two basses to every gig. Now it just one and I can blend the P with the MM or solo either pickup. I did end up using a modified MM preamp for the MM pickup and it got me very very close to a vintage pre-ernie ball 2 band Stingray tone.
 
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#11
could i do one of these that was straight passive? i.e. no preamp? and how would a combo of a bart 8s and a bart MMk sound with no preamp? how would it compare to a nordstrand NP4 and a nordstrand 4.2 or a 4.4? I want to get a vintage almost motown sound from the p and a little more modern sound from the MM
 
#14
mmbongo said:
Why bother? Sell your Squier and upgrade to this for $269 shipped (use the $10 coupon)

Invalid Link Removed

Those are real EMG's there, not knockoff's. MM at the bridge, coil splittable, and P at the neck.
Click to expand...

1.) My Squier isn't worth any money
2.) I like that its passive
3.) I dont care for EMGS
4.) I like the look of my Squier better
5.) I bought it specifically to mess around with and do experiments like this with.

Thanks for the suggestion tho :D
 
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#15
That sounds like an interesting combo. If you do the mod....please let us know how you like the outcome. On a side note....good going with your responce to mmbongo. This guy seems to think he has all the answers by recomending everything other than a Fender, or Squier Bass.....I don't understand his dislike for the brand ?
 
#17
You mean like this
IMAG0023.jpg


The problem you will run into is that your bass already has the Jazz routed in the bridge position. The jazz pickup is a bit to long to get a clean rout for the MM pickup.
IMAG0021.jpg


What you could do is get a 5 string MM pickup with rails instead of individual pole pieces so the rout will be big enough to get rid of the jazz rout. If aesthetics aren't a concern you could just rout a rectangular cavity and not worry about the mounting ears.
 
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