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Pickup spacing

Discussion in 'Basses [BG]' started by Joebuscus217, Apr 13, 2018.

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  1. Apr 13, 2018 #1
    Joebuscus217

    Joebuscus217

    Feb 12, 2018
    I have aquired an old markhoppus bass from a friend which I'm so excited about, but the reason he was so willing to give it to me is because the body is totally trashed. I just bought a new pickguard, but man the body is good for nothing. There is truly no hope for it. I figured I could get a warmoth body. When I emailed them to see if I could do it they said they needed the custom pickup spacing of the 2011 reverse split pickups on it. I figured well what the hell if I'm gonna get custom spacing I might as well put something stupid like a music Man pickup in there, but I don't want to cut into the pickguard. Now I don't actually know if the traditional spacing of one even reaches the pickguard, but if it does I would like to know a spacing that would provide a very similar tone, without having to modify the pickguard. So if you guys know the measurements fron the neck pocket, that would be lovely.
     
  2. Apr 13, 2018 #2
    lug

    lug Supporting Member

    Feb 11, 2005
    League City, Tx
    pics would be most helpful. BTW, that's a Seymour Duncan quarter pounder in there, one of my favorite pups.
     
    Zoobiedood likes this.
  3. Apr 13, 2018 #3
    Malak the Mad

    Malak the Mad Over the River and through the Looking Glass Supporting Member

    Oct 20, 2012
    The Archduchy of DuPont
    The classic, single-MM placement would cut into the pickguard. My Warmoth solution was to go rear-routed/pickguard-less. ;)
     
  4. Apr 13, 2018 #4
    Joebuscus217

    Joebuscus217

    Feb 12, 2018
    Is there a way to have it shifted back juuuuust enough to avoid the pickguard?
     
  5. Apr 13, 2018 #5
    Joebuscus217

    Joebuscus217

    Feb 12, 2018
    I unfortunately already tossed the body
     
  6. Apr 13, 2018 #6
    Malak the Mad

    Malak the Mad Over the River and through the Looking Glass Supporting Member

    Oct 20, 2012
    The Archduchy of DuPont
    You probably could, but I suspect two things will happen…

    1. Extra cost. When I had Warmoth cut me a Jazz body with a single Music Man humbucker in the classic position, I also asked them if they could route out a spot for a Strat jack. They checked with their shop guys and came back with an additional fee of $65. I'm willing to bet a repositioning would cost you extra.​

    JnzrUa8.jpg

    2. Different sound. From what I've read across the forum, a classic Stingray sounds the way it does by a delicate combination of the preamp, the positioning and the alnico humbucker. Change one aspect and you end up with a slightly different "character" to your sound. I've witnessed this firsthand when I turned a Jazz into a P/J, then later repositioned the Precision pickup. By shifting it towards the bridge almost an inch, the sound went from "more aggressive" to "more thump".​

    tjNwa3C.jpg
     
  7. Apr 13, 2018 #7
    Joebuscus217

    Joebuscus217

    Feb 12, 2018
    To be completely honest, I would like the thumpier mm pickup to contrast with the more agressive split p, if your measurements avoiding a PG (idk if you can hold one up to the body and check or something) then I'd be interested in the measurements so I can see pricing (if you could get back to me that would be lovely, and btw the measurements are from the neck pocket). If it doesn't avoid it, I was wondering how I could check to see how far back I would place it so I could have them route it.
     
  8. Apr 13, 2018 #8
    Malak the Mad

    Malak the Mad Over the River and through the Looking Glass Supporting Member

    Oct 20, 2012
    The Archduchy of DuPont
    You'll have to ask the Warmoth people to see what's possible and what's not.

    For what it's worth, when I was exploring the idea of modding a standard, front-routed Jazz to have one or two humbuckers, I took some measurements of an H and an HH model. All these figures were taken from the 12th fret to the front/neck-ward edge of the pickup routes…
    • Single-Humbucker: 12-9/16th inches
    • Dual-Humbucker: 9-14/16th and 13-9/16th inches respectively