Pickups on a 2 string

[58kites]

Eighteen is too many and two is not enough. Back on another thread, five basses is too many.

I'm grateful people like this aren't in charge of the innovation, evolution and progression of the bass guitar.

Who exactly is in charge of innovation, evolution and progression of the bass guitar...?

Mark Sandman made great music with two bass strings ..a sax ..and a drum kit.
This was a guy who clearly thought outside the box and wanted his music to be different than the multitudes of people making "standard" music with "standard' instruments.
Similarly to Jack White when he made great music with his guitar and his wife playing a very small drum kit for the White Stripes records/live shows.
If you watch/listen to a White Stripes live show...it's pretty great music coming from just two people.
Now we have the band Royal Blood with just a bass and a drum kit making good music.

A two string bass would force you to make up different bass lines than with a four or five string bass and possibly open up different paths to writing songs.
One of the reasons I never seem to care for what I hear from five string basses, is that the bass lines always seem less interesting than what I hear from four string basses.

 

[Will_White]

So, I'm asking the "stupid " question of the day, maybe the month. Why a 2 string, what's the point?

It makes you think differently, especially when you vary the tuning. EA you can play mostly like a standard bass, DA for all your power "chord" goodness, Ee for your octave jumps and taking up more space, De for the spread "triad" vibe, anything you want really.

 

[39-Bassist]

Here I just made it for you...lol

 

[alex1fly]

I was under the impression that the magnets in guitar pickups are too strong for a bass and that can reduce the amount of vibration in the string and thus affect the amount of sustain, just what I was told..

I wouldn't think so. A low or medium output guitar pickup should be fine. High output pickup, yeah you probably don't want that in your bass.

 

[micguy]

I think if I made a 2 string bass, I'd go for Mustang pickup halves - those would look elegant.

 

[trevcda]

Who is in charge of that?

I think you may have misunderstood my post! I'm all for whatever someone wants to try and do. I was more or less (poorly) paraphrasing to people I quoted in that post.

 

[Will_White]

I wouldn't think so. A low or medium output guitar pickup should be fine. High output pickup, yeah you probably don't want that in your bass.

Even high output guitar pickups are fine, I use guitar pickups on bass all the time the only issue is you really need an 18mm or tighter spaced bridge for most 6 string guitar pickups or use them right up against the neck.

 

[mrperkolator]

I've just finished my first 2 string short scale bass and am pretty cuffed with the result.

Klein Pickups is one I know of. Reproductions of old 2 string pickups. Klein Pickups. Now that I found the url... it seems they don't have some of the ones I saw before. Try emailing them. Small company and they seem to have a good reputation. They have a picture for a 3 string jazz bass pickup

 

[Eric Shepherd]

So, I'm asking the "stupid " question of the day, maybe the month. Why a 2 string, what's the point?

It's not a stupid question rather a very good one.. While I love all genres of music (with a few exceptions) my first love has always been traditional blues and particularly those times of intense poverty in the South that gave rise to what's referred to as found instruments.. Basically when you have zero money you make an instrument from what ever you happened to find just laying about.. Poverty and deprivation was birth place of real blues music..
Back then a guitar had 1 string which was called a Diddley Bo, it's where Bo Diddley took his stage name from.. Later it became a 3 string.. The bass was also a 1 string thing but later became a 2 string instrument..
In building these things I feel I'm paying homage to the past while bringing it up to date and giving it a modern twist..
The second thing is I just can't compete with a music shop.. I'm not a professional, I can't buy the parts for what they can sell a basic 4 string for so I'm trying to carve out a little niche market they're not filling.. I'm just happy if I can sell one to get enough to fund the next.. I'm not a Luthier, just a retired bloke in his workshop having fun..
This is one of my guitars again traditional 3 string but with a modern twist.. However I've now had my fill of guitars and want to go nuts with the bass..

 

[Matt Liebenau]

It's not a stupid question rather a very good one.. While I love all genres of music (with a few exceptions) my first love has always been traditional blues and particularly those times of intense poverty in the South that gave rise to what's referred to as found instruments.. Basically when you have zero money you make an instrument from what ever you happened to find just laying about.. Poverty and deprivation was birth place of real blues music..
Back then a guitar had 1 string which was called a Diddley Bo, it's where Bo Diddley took his stage name from.. Later it became a 3 string.. The bass was also a 1 string thing but later became a 2 string instrument..
In building these things I feel I'm paying homage to the past while bringing it up to date and giving it a modern twist..
The second thing is I just can't compete with a music shop.. I'm not a professional, I can't buy the parts for what they can sell a basic 4 string for so I'm trying to carve out a little niche market they're not filling.. I'm just happy if I can sell one to get enough to fund the next.. I'm not a Luthier, just a retired bloke in his workshop having fun..
This is one of my guitars again traditional 3 string but with a modern twist.. However I've now had my fill of guitars and want to go nuts with the bass.. View attachment 4985923

I like that one. Looks great.

 

[Eric Shepherd]

I wouldn't think so. A low or medium output guitar pickup should be fine. High output pickup, yeah you probably don't want that in your bass.

Cheers, this is why I'm asking basic questions.. I'm as happy as a sand boy with a chisel and plane but electrics is something I just don't understand.. We all have our weaknesses and that's mine..

 

[FatherTrucker]

Question, are you putting a truss rod in the neck? Always considered building one of these for myself.

 

[Eric Shepherd]

Question, are you putting a truss rod in the neck? Always considered building one of these for myself.

Yeah I do, that one has a carbon fiber truss rod in it however it's just a beam that runs through the neck.. Being a short scale with lower tension on the strings it seems more than adequate.. More than anything though I'm really careful about aging my wood and getting the moisture content perfect.. My experience is that if you laminate a neck and all the woods have different moisture contents then you're asking for trouble..
I like wood with no more than 8% moisture, I glue it all up as a block and then just walk away and leave it to settle into place.. The carve it out to a rough shape and then again leave it to settle.. After that you can carve and sand it to shape and it's perfectly stable..
I like ferreting about in demolition places, you can find some old well seasoned woods and it's as cheap as chips.. I got given an old bed frame that turned out to be quarter sawn Oak.. It's fun as well, all the wood in that bass I made cost me absolutely nothing, my only costs were the hardware, glue/resin and sandpaper..
You should have a crack at it, if you take your time it's a lot of fun, there's plenty of folk I'm sure will offer you advice..

 

[dkelley]

1 P bass pickup = 2 two string pickups.

but no longer hum cancelling, fwiw.

 

[Eric Shepherd]

but no longer hum cancelling, fwiw.

I copper shield everything and run earths left right and center and even with a single coil I can get it down to zero hum or at worst a very slight hum if the volume is cranked up to the max on my practice amp.. It can be done it's just time consuming, boring and fiddly.. I'm retired, I'm not on an hourly rate and I have the time to keep bashing away at it until I get that result..

 

[Will_White]

but no longer hum cancelling, fwiw.

It's as hum canceling as a jazz bass.

 

[HaphAsSard]

but no longer hum cancelling, fwiw.

I copper shield everything and run earths left right and center and even with a single coil I can get it down to zero hum or at worst a very slight hum if the volume is cranked up to the max on my practice amp.. It can be done it's just time consuming, boring and fiddly.. I'm retired, I'm not on an hourly rate and I have the time to keep bashing away at it until I get that result..

In case you want them hum-free in any environment, consider the DiMarzio DP127 "Split P":

Split P™ | DiMarzio

Each half is, in and of itself, a complete (dual-coil, reverse-wound, reverse mag polarity) humbucker. Wire the two halves in parallel (a number of users report they're a smidgen too muddy in series) and you'd be set.

 

[Will_White]

In case you want them hum-free in any environment, consider the DiMarzio DP127 "Split P":

Split P™ | DiMarzio

Each half is, in and of itself, a complete (dual-coil, reverse-wound, reverse mag polarity) humbucker. Wire the two halves in parallel (a number of users report they're a smidgen too muddy in series) and you'd be set.

They'd probably be ok in series if you wire each half as it's own pickup, the issue is 4 coils in series.

 

[HaphAsSard]

They'd probably be ok in series if you wire each half as it's own pickup, the issue is 4 coils in series.

The whole pickup is 4-conductor, not eight, so internal wiring, whatever it is, is not easily modifiable. The two (practical) options I was talking about are:
- together in series (whether it amounts to two, or four coils in series total)
-together in parallel.
Some users probably do find the former okay, but others do not, is what I was relaying.

 

[alex1fly]

Cheers, this is why I'm asking basic questions.. I'm as happy as a sand boy with a chisel and plane but electrics is something I just don't understand.. We all have our weaknesses and that's mine..

All good. For easy install I'd suggest looking into some prewired kits. EMG, GFS, Dragonfire all have prewired kits so no soldering. You can also buy prewired harnesses and just hook up your pickup of choice, 1 or 2 solder points you'd have to do. I wired up guitars for fun for 15 or so years but anymore I just go with EMG - no soldering, no grounding, just plug and play everything. You can nab a bass pickup from their site for $100 or so and it'll come with all the controls and connectors wires you need. Easy to install for anybody, great sound, no hum/buzz. They have passive options too so no battery needed. But, the other prewired kits are a good route to go too.