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pickups for mustang?
- Thread starter Plaxy
- Start date
ill bet that if you baught a regular p bass pickups and used the oval covers they would fit. i have taken the covers off a p bass pickups and they are oval w/ rectangle covers.
Eh, no. More like someone took a P pickup and shrunk it.
I have never heard of replacement pickups for a mustang bass. I have one myself and I am tempted to DarkStar it...
I have never heard of replacement pickups for a mustang bass. I have one myself and I am tempted to DarkStar it...
Rout a small bathtub under the pickguard and try other pickups. The SD Cool rails, DM Fast track1, Chopper and Protrack and the EMG FT guitar pickups all work beautifully in short scale basses. They're rail polepiece and single coil (Strat) size, so minimum routing needed. The SD and DM are humbuckers. All are very nice in this application, just depends what you like. Cheap secondhand too.
It appears to be the same pickup as in the Bullet Bass, at least it's the same size. I'm about to install a P-Bass pickup into it for the same reasons you mentioned.
Without ordering a custom made pickup you will have to modify something to get into a different pickup.
Without ordering a custom made pickup you will have to modify something to get into a different pickup.
I had a Mustang for a while and found that I wasn't happy with the pickups, so I had them rewound by a pickup winder here in Seattle, Wolfe at Wolfetone.
He rewound them with the original wire type and gauge (it's black/purpleish!) and they sounded way fatter and more filled out tone-wise when he was done with them.
I think he overwound them because I did lose some top end, but imo they sounded better than when they started.
He rewound them with the original wire type and gauge (it's black/purpleish!) and they sounded way fatter and more filled out tone-wise when he was done with them.
I think he overwound them because I did lose some top end, but imo they sounded better than when they started.
I'm reviving this old thread to find out if anything better has come along in 8 years. I've got an old '73 Mustang that I de-fretted long ago. This month the jazz band is playing a couple pieces that would really benefit from electric bass, and for some reason or other, the Mustang just feels better than my 34" scale Ibanez.
But... the pickup output level is extremely weak, and kinda thin sounding. So I wonder if there are any contemporary solutions. It wouldn't kill me to mod the pickguard and even rout the body if necessary. I would prefer a "fat" sound (wouldn't we all), and don't really need a lot of high frequency stuff, as it's always going to be a fretless strung with flats anyway, and I will always play through tweeterless speakers.
But... the pickup output level is extremely weak, and kinda thin sounding. So I wonder if there are any contemporary solutions. It wouldn't kill me to mod the pickguard and even rout the body if necessary. I would prefer a "fat" sound (wouldn't we all), and don't really need a lot of high frequency stuff, as it's always going to be a fretless strung with flats anyway, and I will always play through tweeterless speakers.
I know of three aftermarket pickups.
Seymour Duncan Custom Shop
Nordstrand
Aero
SD seems to try to match vintage. Nordstrand has their offset magnet design and Aero has quarter inch magnets. Either would be great for increasing output and punch but I have only tried Aero and I love it.
Seymour Duncan Custom Shop
Nordstrand
Aero
SD seems to try to match vintage. Nordstrand has their offset magnet design and Aero has quarter inch magnets. Either would be great for increasing output and punch but I have only tried Aero and I love it.
I ordered the Nordstrand from Bass Club Chicago. It came promptly and nicely packaged.
I was prepared for a fit issue from web discussions and comments from Nordstrand. There is no one-size-fits-all Mustang pickup, because the Mustang design evolved over the years. Sure enough, the new pickup wouldn't fit in my old pickup covers. I decided to just shave a bit off the top plate of the pickup. Don't try this at home -- the wires are extremely delicate, and one slip of the dremel would be disaster. I also tapped the holes in the bottom plate of the pickup to accept #4-40 screws rather than the original #6-32. And the mounting holes are further apart than on my original pickups.
No slam against Nordstrand here. They are open about this issue and I went in with eyes open thanks to info that they provided, but was willing to do a but of my own pickup luthierie to make this bass gig-worthy. Also, this bass is already heavily modded, so there is no collector value to worry about. This process was a whole lot easier and less invasive than installing a full size pickup.
The new pickup has a lot more output, and sounds great. The workmanship is meticulous. I think it really transforms the bass. Oddly enough I think that 30 years of playing upright has made it harder for me to play electric, and it sounds counter intuitive, but the smaller scale is just more comfortable for me now. I also no longer like the skinny thin neck of the Ibanez, and might consider an electric with an overall fatter neck next time.
I was prepared for a fit issue from web discussions and comments from Nordstrand. There is no one-size-fits-all Mustang pickup, because the Mustang design evolved over the years. Sure enough, the new pickup wouldn't fit in my old pickup covers. I decided to just shave a bit off the top plate of the pickup. Don't try this at home -- the wires are extremely delicate, and one slip of the dremel would be disaster. I also tapped the holes in the bottom plate of the pickup to accept #4-40 screws rather than the original #6-32. And the mounting holes are further apart than on my original pickups.
No slam against Nordstrand here. They are open about this issue and I went in with eyes open thanks to info that they provided, but was willing to do a but of my own pickup luthierie to make this bass gig-worthy. Also, this bass is already heavily modded, so there is no collector value to worry about. This process was a whole lot easier and less invasive than installing a full size pickup.
The new pickup has a lot more output, and sounds great. The workmanship is meticulous. I think it really transforms the bass. Oddly enough I think that 30 years of playing upright has made it harder for me to play electric, and it sounds counter intuitive, but the smaller scale is just more comfortable for me now. I also no longer like the skinny thin neck of the Ibanez, and might consider an electric with an overall fatter neck next time.
