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Pickup Suggestion for a Weird Bass

mortvest

mortvest

Mar 11, 2016
17
25
Copenhagen, Denmark
#1
Hello Everyone!

I've been an active TalkBass reader for many years now, but never had posted anything before. So here comes my first thread.. :D

I have been a proud owner of a Sandberg Forty Eight 4 bass for more than a year now. It's a weird "fenderbird" type of bass with a pair of pickups, each with its own huge chrome cover. It is a wonderful instrument with a low action and plays great, but with time I found myself dissatisfied with the standard pickups that the instrument comes with. I'm looking for a more "passive growl" type of sound (similar to 70ies gibson basses or something alike). The Forty Eight pickups are of not standard form factor and are not replaceable without a lot of work, so I've ordered a pair of empty replacement pickup covers directly from Sandberg (great customer support btw). Now I only need to find a pair of pickups to put (glue) inside the pickup covers. The covers are pretty big, so about any pickup would fit with a little bit of work put into it.

Do you have any suggestions?

Sorry for the suboptimal English, I am not a native speaker :)
 
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#2
That's a rare bird. What are the dimensions of those pickups? I read one of them is a split singe coil and one is a humbucker??

The only thing I can think of that might fit would be something like the Fender Wide-Range Humbucker or third-party version of same.
 
#3
JohnMalay said:
That's a rare bird. What are the dimensions of those pickups? I read one of them is a split singe coil and one is a humbucker??

The only thing I can think of that might fit would be something like the Fender Wide-Range Humbucker or third-party version of same.
Click to expand...

I think you are right, it's a split + mm-like humbucker. The pickups are about 100x50 mm.
Hmm, that's an interesting suggestion, I'll look into it. Are you familiar with the sound characteristics of those?
 
#4
Since you have spare covers, you could likely fit almost anything. I’d love to see a photo of the shape and size of the cavities under them. I’d be tempted to put something like a pair of Nordstrand Big Splits (without their covers) underneath.
 
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#5
ctmullins said:
Since you have spare covers, you could likely fit almost anything. I’d love to see a photo of the shape and size of the cavities under them. I’d be tempted to put something like a pair of Nordstrand Big Splits (without their covers) underneath.
Click to expand...

I'll post a photo when I get home, but it is just a plain rectangular cutout with four schrews going into the body.

These Nordstrands do indeed look promising. I think they'll fit just fine without their covers. Thanks.
 
#7
mortvest said:
Hello Everyone!

I've been an active TalkBass reader for many years now, but never had posted anything before. So here comes my first thread.. :D

I have been a proud owner of a Sandberg Forty Eight 4 bass for more than a year now. It's a weird "fenderbird" type of bass with a pair of pickups, each with its own huge chrome cover. It is a wonderful instrument with a low action and plays great, but with time I found myself dissatisfied with the standard pickups that the instrument comes with. I'm looking for a more "passive growl" type of sound (similar to 70ies gibson basses or something alike). The Forty Eight pickups are of not standard form factor and are not replaceable without a lot of work, so I've ordered a pair of empty replacement pickup covers directly from Sandberg (great customer support btw). Now I only need to find a pair of pickups to put (glue) inside the pickup covers. The covers are pretty big, so about any pickup would fit with a little bit of work put into it.

Do you have any suggestions?

Sorry for the suboptimal English, I am not a native speaker :)
Click to expand...
Your English is better than some native speakers. I didn't know it isn't your primary language until you announced it at the end. No need for an apology.
 
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#8
Since you have the covers, you can try a bunch of different pickups in it, so don’t glue the first set of pickups in ;) If you want a Gibson sound, try to get Gibson pickups (or replacements)? I’m not familiar with them, but I think Lollar thunderbird pickups are quite popular...

For a direct fit, maybe MEC Star Bass pickups would fit? I loved them on a Warwick I tried once...
WARWICK Pickups -> E - Bass -> Other Shapes -> Warwick Star Bass
 
#9
sikamikanico said:
Since you have the covers, you can try a bunch of different pickups in it, so don’t glue the first set of pickups in ;) If you want a Gibson sound, try to get Gibson pickups (or replacements)? I’m not familiar with them, but I think Lollar thunderbird pickups are quite popular...

For a direct fit, maybe MEC Star Bass pickups would fit? I loved them on a Warwick I tried once...
WARWICK Pickups -> E - Bass -> Other Shapes -> Warwick Star Bass
Click to expand...

I've looked into both of these options. The MEC Star Bass pickups do indeed have similar dimensions, but I'm afraid that the screws won't align with the existing holes. Furthermore, they are epoxy sealed, so I can't use the original covers. But it is still worth a try.
 
#11
Hmm. The chrome covers with the four corner screws look a lot like Gibson Mudbuckers (as in the original EB series basses of the 1960's). I would measure the outer dimensions of both your pickups and compare the dimensions, including screw placement, to a Gibson pickup. If they are the same, there are several drop-in replacements that come to mind, starting with Gibson, DiMarzio, Artec, Novak, Allparts, Gotoh, etc.
 
#14
I have a Proto Guitars MM+J in my weird bass.
Sounds HUGE! They even offer custom spacing & a J+MM option if that’s more your jam.
6207E572-2114-49A2-9C2D-64BAFB0A72CC.jpeg

820257F0-C5D4-4FC9-B532-CADB09D72629.jpeg
 
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#17
iiipopes said:
Hmm. The chrome covers with the four corner screws look a lot like Gibson Mudbuckers (as in the original EB series basses of the 1960's). I would measure the outer dimensions of both your pickups and compare the dimensions, including screw placement, to a Gibson pickup. If they are the same, there are several drop-in replacements that come to mind, starting with Gibson, DiMarzio, Artec, Novak, Allparts, Gotoh, etc.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the suggestion, but the pickup covers on Forty Eight is wider than a mudbucker, so none of these would actually be a drop-in replacement.
 
#19
ctmullins said:
Since you have spare covers, you could likely fit almost anything. I’d love to see a photo of the shape and size of the cavities under them. I’d be tempted to put something like a pair of Nordstrand Big Splits (without their covers) underneath.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Since they're not split pickups, Nordstrand Big Blades, or the coil tapped pickups Gibson used in the 2013-2014 EB (and in later Thunderbirds) might be worth a try too.
 

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