Pickup mounting rant

[Coolhandjjl]

After suffering through extremely tedious pup and pot swaps on assorted Rics, working on my Hamers (J style basses) seemed like a breeze. Stop your whining!




Otherwise get a college kid in engineering who will do it for beer money.

 

[ZolkoW]

well, that's why I'm using these screw terminals on blend pots, and on all of my preamps if possible

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(my daughter's sock in the background for scale only :-D)

 

[anonymous122511]

well, that's why I'm using these screw terminals on blend pots, and on all of my preamps if possible

Screw terminals are a solderless solution that work well.

 

[NKBassman]

Anyone try these yet? They look like they might be a little bit too sized large for some of the smaller control cavities, but I'm intrigued.

Liberator - change your guitar pickups using only a screwdriver

 

[Stealth]

That's exactly it, a pot with a multi-screw clamp connector. Those usually work very well. Not sure why it's that big, though.

 

[Firesalt]

Not sure why it's that big, though.

Active preamps.

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[Oreomeister365]

My biggest grievance of bass vs guitar is that while there are generally 2 main sizes of guitar pickups, there are about 50 variations of bass pickups. Severely limits your choices if you do decide you want to swap.

Luckily I got the pickups I wanted in the right size...

 

[anonymous122511]

My biggest grievance of bass vs guitar is that while there are generally 2 main sizes of guitar pickups, there are about 50 variations of bass pickups. Severely limits your choices if you do decide you want to swap.

For years I've been threatening to route a bass from bridge to neck so I could play with different pickups and just as important the position of the pickup. Once the sweet spot was found cut a pick guard to cover the hole. I might even use a screw terminal bus.

 

[SGD Lutherie]

My biggest grievance of bass vs guitar is that while there are generally 2 main sizes of guitar pickups, there are about 50 variations of bass pickups. Severely limits your choices if you do decide you want to swap.

Which are you feeling is limited? Bass or guitar? Bass players have more choices, and that's good. If all we had were P and J shapes, you wouldn't have too many different sounding pickups.

The reason for guitar pickups being that way is that guitars and guitarists are often stuck in the past. Everythng has to be the way it was 50 years ago. Bass players are more open minded when it comes to something different. So a lot of the innovations come on bass, while guitars are still stuck with just Fender or Gibson style pickups, even if they aren't Fenders or Gibsons. I found a lot of irony when Fender started using humbuckers on some guitars, and Gibson even had a few with single coils. That would be like Ford using GM parts and vice versa.

A few guitar makers are using proprietary shapes, like PRS. I think thats a good thing. They can make them work better, and fit the stye of the guitar better. It's very limiting to try and do something original with pickups, and you are stuck with a few common shapes on guitar. And then the mounting method for Gibson style humbuckers is archaic and doesn't work well. The long leg humbuckers wobble and won't angle properly to match the strings. A few companies like Carvin and Schaller, use three or four screws, and that should be the standard. You can set the angle of the pickup that way.

But now even bass players are starting to get in the vintage fad and everything has to be a Jazz bass with single coils. Things were not better back then... bass amps were under powered, and the choices in strings was limited. We have moved forward where bass is now up front in the music and taken seriously as a instrument. There's no need to stay in the past. It might seem cool looking back on it, but it wasn't.

[end of rant]

 

[Muaguana]

The reason for guitar pickups being that way is that guitars and guitarists are often stuck in the past. Everythng has to be the way it was 50 years ago. Bass players are more open minded when it comes to something different. So a lot of the innovations come on bass, while guitars are still stuck with just Fender or Gibson style pickups, even if they aren't Fenders or Gibsons. I found a lot of irony when Fender started using humbuckers on some guitars, and Gibson even had a few with single coils. That would be like Ford using GM parts and vice versa.

A few guitar makers are using proprietary shapes, like PRS. I think thats a good thing. They can make them work better, and fit the stye of the guitar better. It's very limiting to try and do something original with pickups, and you are stuck with a few common shapes on guitar. And then the mounting method for Gibson style humbuckers is archaic and doesn't work well. The long leg humbuckers wobble and won't angle properly to match the strings. A few companies like Carvin and Schaller, use three or four screws, and that should be the standard. You can set the angle of the pickup that way.

But now even bass players are starting to get in the vintage fad and everything has to be a Jazz bass with single coils. Things were not better back then... bass amps were under powered, and the choices in strings was limited. We have moved forward where bass is now up front in the music and taken seriously as a instrument. There's no need to stay in the past. It might seem cool looking back on it, but it wasn't.

[end of rant]

SG(x) = (Get off my lawn)^-1

 

[SGD Lutherie]

SG(x) = (Get off my lawn)^-1

 

[JSK5String]

Solderless = Tab
Soldering = Reading

Now that's flipping funny!

 

[Coolhandjjl]

......Things were not better back then....

I've read countless articles about such. In the '50's, Leo Fender would show up at live events and see first hand his amps getting turned to dust because the musicians wanted to do things with them that no one could have anticipated. Every time a manufacturer would re-design or re-engineer something, a musician would push the limits and put it to shame. This was a good thing as it brought out lots of innovation.

 

[bassbenj]

But now even bass players are starting to get in the vintage fad and everything has to be a Jazz bass with single coils. Things were not better back then... bass amps were under powered, and the choices in strings was limited. We have moved forward where bass is now up front in the music and taken seriously as a instrument. There's no need to stay in the past. It might seem cool looking back on it, but it wasn't.
[end of rant]

Amen, brother, Amen!

Hey, I guess for nostalgic reasons I still have my original bass rig! A home-built whopping 20 tube watts! (and that was HUGE back then) Plus, I have my original homemade 3 x 12 cab. It was more efficient than modern high wattage speakers but still... I did a LOT of gigs with that massive thing carting it around in my VW bug!

I don't know what that thing is good for. A practice amp maybe? Only it's huge and heavy! I think people are forgetting some of the truly crap gear back then (which was why built my own which was STILL rather minimal).

And hey! Don't let your dog crap on my lawn!

 

[AltGrendel]

Yeah, but electrically, long-term, I'd trust solder over any mechanical connector.

+1

 

[SGD Lutherie]

Amen, brother, Amen!

Hey, I guess for nostalgic reasons I still have my original bass rig! A home-built whopping 20 tube watts! (and that was HUGE back then) Plus, I have my original homemade 3 x 12 cab. It was more efficient than modern high wattage speakers but still... I did a LOT of gigs with that massive thing carting it around in my VW bug!

I don't know what that thing is good for. A practice amp maybe? Only it's huge and heavy! I think people are forgetting some of the truly crap gear back then (which was why built my own which was STILL rather minimal).

And hey! Don't let your dog crap on my lawn!

Yeah, most amps just farted when you turned them up loud! Younger players hear that on old recordings and think it was intentional! Unless you were Jack Bruce, or someone using that type of tone, it wasn't. But I love Jack and that tone, but used a fuzz for that.

My first good amp was an Ampeg B-15N. It sounded nice, but I could hardly hear myself over a drummer. Then I played through a Fender Bandmaster.. a little better, Guild Thunderbass... about the same, Ampeg V4B, woefully underpowered. Then I got a Vox Superbeatle preamp with an Acoustic power amp and Vox 4x12 cab. Now I could hear myself. After that was the first Peavey bass amp with 2x15s. That was even better. The Peavey had a great distortion circuit built in. I used that up until the mid 80s when I got a GK-800RB. Then I got a Mesa 400+, which I still have. But man, that thing is heavy. So I use the cab with a Trace Elliot head.

Also, not to sound like my dad... but I remember going into music stores and seeing like a few basses, two choices of strings, and forget effect pedals!

bassists have it good now.

Oh, I don't have a dog... just a cat.

 

[avvie]

Quick disconnect wire connectors. A pack will cost you about three bucks at Radio Shack. All you need to do is strip the wires and crimp the ends on. Very solid connection, and makes it super easy to switch out whatever you like.

This. Or use butt connectors. Soldering is a more difficult skill that it looks and the excess heat can damage the components. Why bother when you don't have to?

 

[aborgman]

Solderless = Tab
Soldering = Reading

Well, except for the fact that solderless mechanical connections (when done correctly) are more reliable and provide better signal integrity than soldered connections... especially in any areas prone to vibration.

 

[anonymous122511]

Well, except for the fact that solderless mechanical connections (when done correctly) are more reliable and provide better signal integrity than soldered connections... especially in any areas prone to vibration.

If yer bass is vibrating enough for it to be an issue you probably have other things to think about...like holding onto it.

 

[Muaguana]

Soldering is a more difficult skill that it looks and the excess heat can damage the components. Why bother when you don't have to?

But soldering is so much fun...