P Neck pickup with MM Bridge Pickup?

[getBAK]

I'm curious if anyone has a reason we don't see basses with a P-Bass Stepped pickup in the neck position and a Music-man style pickup on the bridge?
To my knowledge the only bass made in this config is the Cort GB74Gig. While it's adored in Europe, the GB74 Gig isn't sold in the US (I'm told it's a licensing thing) and isn't available in 5-string anyways.
I know the Fender Invalid Link Removed has a soapbar in the bridge... maybe that's equivalent?

Is there an inherent reason we don't see the P/MM configuration? I suspect it's because the sweet spots for the pickups interfere with each other physically, but don't know. Rather than take opinions from the unwashed masses, I figured I'd ask the folks who do.

 

[Barticus]

Huh? there are many… one of the best sounding basses I’ve ever owned had this config, very versatile. I plan to build one soon.

 

[Flamingo21]

I just went to the Thomann website. FYI, they ship to the US. They have 23 four string basses with this particular pickup configuration listed right now.

 

[Barticus]

I just went to the Thomann website. FYI, they ship to the US. They have 23 four string basses with this particular pickup configuration listed right now.
View attachment 4849329

Yeah, there’s bunch… I forgot, the only P bass I’ve ever liked was this one that I owned for about 15yrs with that same config too. I’m not a P bass guy, but that was a cool P bass

 

[Riff Ranger]

They’re out there, but not in nearly the numbers of other configurations, and not readily available at reasonable prices in most or even many markets. If you want one without the MM pushed toward the bridge from the Stingray sweet spot—which seems to me like the way to go—they become very rare indeed. The question wasn’t whether they exist; it was why don’t we see more of them? I’ve wondered the same thing myself on here more than once. The knock on P/Js is that the bridge pickup often can’t compete with the neck pickup (doesn’t bother me, I play them all time, but it’s usually the case); some sort of humbucker in the bridge position seems like a logical solution to that “problem,” but you won’t find nearly as many of those as P/Js. Again: why not?

 

[Riff Ranger]

Is there an inherent reason we don't see the P/MM configuration? I suspect it's because the sweet spots for the pickups interfere with each other physically

The sweet spots do overlap. It seems to me that a split coil can move a bit toward the neck without totally losing the typical Precision sounds, but that a Stingray-style humbucker will start sounding quite different if it moves toward the bridge (and not in a good way, to my ears—I had a Westone Spectrum GT like this, and while the bridge pickup had hefty output, I didn’t like the sound of it on its own). Yet that’s nearly always the placement with this configuration. I hear the Sandbergs do something like the Ray thing even with the pickup nudged toward the bridge, but haven’t played one myself.

 

[Riff Ranger]

Is there an inherent reason we don't see the P/MM configuration? I suspect it's because the sweet spots for the pickups interfere with each other physically

Anyway, I suspect that like so many things with electric guitars and basses, it comes down to staid traditionalism.

Note that the sweet example @Barticus supplied breaks with tradition in several ways.

 

[Flamingo21]

I totally agree that it is a logical answer to the J pup in many PJs being too weak.

Also that traditionalism plays a big role here.

In other words: Leo didn't do it.

 

[Marc DLarosa]

There's one of these in the classifieds (not mine).
Invalid Link Removed

 

[Riff Ranger]

I totally agree that it is a logical answer to the J pup in many PJs being too weak.

Also that traditionalism plays a big role here.

In other words: Leo didn't do it.

I almost said that

 

[Marc DLarosa]

This?
For Sale - CORT GB74 Gig 4 string

Also not mine.

 

[Deleted member 365158]

I just went to the Thomann website. FYI, they ship to the US. They have 23 four string basses with this particular pickup configuration listed right now.
View attachment 4849329

In my opinion all those mm pickups are way too close to the bridge… they seem to blend better (for me) centered about 3 1/2” from the g saddle of the bridge.
I had a Harley enhanced and the mm location was meh.
This is a music man knock off kit bass that i added the split coil to.
Fat, deep, bright, punchy……
Yup!!

This one will be even better with the split coil closer to a typical P bass spot

 

[Riff Ranger]

In my opinion all those mm pickups are way too close to the bridge… they seem to blend better (for me) centered about 3 1/2” from the g saddle of the bridge.
I had a Harley enhanced and the mm location was meh.
This is a music man knock off kit bass that i added the split coil to.
Fat, deep, bright, punchy……
Yup!!
View attachment 4849369
This one will be even better with the split coil closer to a typical P bass spot
View attachment 4849370

That red with the reverse-P is THE ANSWER

 

[Kerem Koseoglu]

Sandberg does it. You can also design & custom order one via their online tool. I did once, and was very happy with what I got.
News - Sandberg Guitars

 

[Naigewron]

Like many others have said: Sandberg VM4 or VM5 do this amazingly well. It won't sound exactly like a Ray or a P, but it approaches both of those sounds with a character of its own. Here's my old VM5:

There's also the Schecter P Plus:

MM pickup positioning is going to be an issue with all of these, but I think you get a very usable MM-ish tone from this position too. Both my old VM5 and my current Lakland 55-94 (which doesn't have a P pickup) do very convincing Stingray impressions, even with the bridge pickup being "too close" to the bridge. I guess they compensate for it with the pickup and preamp voicing in many cases, or maybe I'm ust not picky enough about my tone.

 

[roller]

As others have noted, the P/MM is a fantastic and extremely versatile combination. It gets even sweeter and more versatile when you include a blend knob and full switching for the MM pickup (parallel / single-coil / series).

When I had this Valenti built, I put the MM (I used a Nordstrand BigSplitMan) in the correct Stingray position... and yes, because there's a tiny bit of overlap with the two pickups, the P pickup had to be bumped toward the neck by just a smidge. The results are ideal. The BigSplitMan gives me all the nice, fat Stingray tones... and the P sounds like a P to my ears! The magic happens when you run the two pickups simultaneously and start turning the blend knob and flipping the switches -- there are so many great sounds in this bass. I also used Nordstrand's 3b preamp which is nice and natural, especially when copping the Music Man sound using the BigSplitMan. Even with full control over bass, mids and treble, the pickups aren't colored and sound like themselves.

I'd utilize this pickup combo again on a future build without question. It's unbelievably cool. I don't see why more manufacturers don't do it.

Is there an inherent reason we don't see the P/MM configuration? I suspect it's because the sweet spots for the pickups interfere with each other physically, but don't know. Rather than take opinions from the unwashed masses, I figured I'd ask the folks who do.

 

[getBAK]

When I had this Valenti built, I put the MM (I used a Nordstrand BigSplitMan) in the correct Stingray position... and yes, because there's a tiny bit of overlap with the two pickups, the P pickup had to be bumped toward the neck by just a smidge. The results are ideal. The BigSplitMan gives me all the nice, fat Stingray tones... and the P sounds like a P to my ears! The magic happens when you run the two pickups simultaneously and start turning the blend knob and flipping the switches -- there are so many great sounds in this bass. I also used Nordstrand's 3b preamp which is nice and natural, especially when copping the Music Man sound using the BigSplitMan. Even with full control over bass, mids and treble, the pickups aren't colored and sound like themselves.

I'd utilize this pickup combo again on a future build without question. It's unbelievably cool. I don't see why more manufacturers don't do it.

View attachment 4849373

I like that setup

 

[4 Out of 5]

Its a shame we don't we see more with this beautiful setup either, inspired by the Fender Roscoe Beck (not mine unfortunately).

 

[HardNHeavy]

In the process of staining right now...to be fitted with this lefty neck.

 

[smeet]

Nordstrand DL5:

DL-5 with NP5 and Bigman 5

• smeet
• Nov 16, 2018
• bigman dl5 nordstrand nordy p/mm

Nordstrand DL5 (Dan Lutz model).