Good to know. Yeah, if he can get by without having to buy another pickup, I believe that’s what he will do. Again, thank you for the response. It is much appreciated!
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Good to know. Yeah, if he can get by without having to buy another pickup, I believe that’s what he will do. Again, thank you for the response. It is much appreciated!
Have fun!
I have a bit of experience converting a Stingray (clone) to passive operation, so here are a few observations.
First, try it with the existing pickup before looking at aftermarket stuff.
A stock Stingray pickup is likely hardwired in parallel. If you find it too bright (the resonant frequency is too high), try this trick from the G&L playbook: put a small capacitor (.001uF) in parallel with the pickup (best spot for it is between the volume pot's hot lug, where the pickup attaches, and ground). This has the effect of lowering the pickup's resonant frequency.
I'd advocate for 250K Ohm pots for volume and tone. I believe that's what the old passive SUBs used, and the Joe Dart bass has a 100K volume pot (in other words, close to the impedance of two 250K pots); higher values may be be too bright/harsh-sounding.
Most aftermarket MM pickups have four exposed wires, which opens up other possibilities, like a series/parallel or series/parallel/single coil switch.
The Joe Dart signature bass has a ceramic pickup wired in parallel. Series wiring beefs up the output and gives the low mids a bump. Some of the old USA-made Music Man SUBs were passive with the (alnico?) pickup wired in series.
There's also G&L's OMG wiring, which puts a .1uF capacitor in parallel with one of the humbucker's coils and further fattens up the tone. The downside is that the pickup isn't properly humbucking in OMG mode, so some single-coil hum is possible.
First, try it with the existing pickup before looking at aftermarket stuff.
A stock Stingray pickup is likely hardwired in parallel. If you find it too bright (the resonant frequency is too high), try this trick from the G&L playbook: put a small capacitor (.001uF) in parallel with the pickup (best spot for it is between the volume pot's hot lug, where the pickup attaches, and ground). This has the effect of lowering the pickup's resonant frequency.
I'd advocate for 250K Ohm pots for volume and tone. I believe that's what the old passive SUBs used, and the Joe Dart bass has a 100K volume pot (in other words, close to the impedance of two 250K pots); higher values may be be too bright/harsh-sounding.
Most aftermarket MM pickups have four exposed wires, which opens up other possibilities, like a series/parallel or series/parallel/single coil switch.
The Joe Dart signature bass has a ceramic pickup wired in parallel. Series wiring beefs up the output and gives the low mids a bump. Some of the old USA-made Music Man SUBs were passive with the (alnico?) pickup wired in series.
There's also G&L's OMG wiring, which puts a .1uF capacitor in parallel with one of the humbucker's coils and further fattens up the tone. The downside is that the pickup isn't properly humbucking in OMG mode, so some single-coil hum is possible.
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Great advice. The reason I started this thread a while ago is because I have a Sterling Ray34 (active) based on the 3knob stingray. I tend to leave the EQ flat for almost everything I play, so it got me curious how a passive MM pickup would sound. I assume they would be similar since I don't use the EQ on the preamp. I plan to bypass the preamp and play around with the stock MM pickup in a passive setup.
I built a bass recently with an MFD in the bridge position wired series/parallel/single coil. Not sure why, but I'm not a big fan of the sound. I think it needs a bit more treble and a tamer mids surprisingly. The passive MM style pickup might take its place if I end up liking it better. It sounds wrong to replace a MFD with a MM pickup, but I guess that's why tone is subjective!
Yes, my 2003 USA SUB was like that. Well, it was active, but the pickup was alnico and wired in series. It complimented the 2EQ preamp really nicely. I liked it so much that I keep meaning to convert my 2002 Stingray to series/parallel, however the stock pickups have only two wires. It is possible to carefully cut and rewire the pickup wires, but it makes me nervous so I left it as it is
I replaced the original 2EQ preamp with a John East 3-band, which is much like the standard 2-band plus a semiparametric mids module and you can use that to bump the low mids a bit if you want, which sort of takes you where the series position would (not 100% exactly, but close enough in practice).With a passive Stingray, having the series option (or directly hardwired in series) seems like a very good option. That and a standard passive tone, I'd be happy with that. Or a Stellar Tonestyler passive tone control, those are really cool but I've never used them on a Stingray.
old thread update for clarity: usa-made passive sub basses used the stingray alnico pickup wired in series. pots were 500k, and there was both a LPF treble cut & an HPF bass cut tone pot. a wiring diagram is attached.
Can I ask a question to the group on this diagram? Is that a resistor in between the treble and bass pots? I am thinking it is, but just wanted some outside verification. Thanks!
I don't have any specific info on passive wiring for your friend's MM pickup with the blown pre-amp. I'm sure the info can be found with a Google search.
One thing for sure is the original MM pickup can be wired passive. It would be wired pretty much like a P Bass with volume & tone.
The MM pickup has 3 or 4 wires for the combined 2 individual coils and your friend has the choice of wiring the pickup series or parallel. A stock Stingray is wired in parallel but it's little brother the MM Sterling is wired in series.
With advanced passive wiring, your friend could add a switch that would allow both series or parallel.
Check Seymour Duncan's website for the wiring of the MM style pickup. It should have all of the different wiring options.
I've always wanted to hear a Stingray in passive and also with the series option.
Good luck.
I am waiting on a Warman MM4 pickup to arrive from the UK, thanks to a poster's suggestion earlier in the thread. Then, I am going to use the USA SUB passive wiring diagram shared a few posts up from this one to wire it up. It is an OLP passive Stingray copy that I am using as the foundation. The wiring diagram above calls for series passive wiring, and that is what I intend. I can't promise any sound samples though - I am not good at the whole recording deal. Just never really learned how to do it, and don't really have the hardware (well, I do have an iRig 2 that might work, but never used it).
That's how I read the diagram Dan , it's also the route I'll be taking.
Roll on the weekend and some free time
That's how I read the diagram Dan , it's also the route I'll be taking.
Roll on the weekend and some free time
I am not sure when my Warman will be here, hopefully soon. Shipping says between Jan 19 and Feb 16. So hopefully far sooner than that. Hope it goes well for you!
I put a Kent Armstrong MM4 in a kit MM bass and it turned out nice.The pup however is noticably louder on the D string.I realize this will seem impossible to some as the pickup uses rail type magnets.If it were the usual pole magnets it'd be more likely.The only remedy I could think of was to lower the pup on that side,to no avail.Acousticly the strings sounds even so I don't think it's the bridge or nut.Anybody have ideas as to what's going on?
That Aguilar DCB-M Pickup just sounds Phenomenal. It has everything: top, bottom, slap & growl. It does Change the Classic Stingray look though.
I have 2 OLP Stingray copies that have incredibly good necks and sound great. I have an 83' SR for reference.
I just installed a Nordstrand MM4.2 and am not all that impressed. It sounds slightly more scooped and I like the tone of the stock Chinese PUP better (at least in passive mode).
Thanks for the wired in series idea; I'll try that this weekend.
I just installed a Nordstrand MM4.2 and am not all that impressed. It sounds slightly more scooped and I like the tone of the stock Chinese PUP better (at least in passive mode).
Thanks for the wired in series idea; I'll try that this weekend.
I use a Sterling Stingray SS-4 (with) a Fender Rumble 100 Amp. I EQ the low-mid's to 9 o'clock and bump-up the high-mid's
and treble to 3 0'clock and I get a Killer Bass Tone ( just using the stock pickup ).
I would be interested to know how you got on with it as well. I recently bought an unused one off eBay. I put it in a Squier Jaguar H to get the option for parallel/single coil/series wiring. I just finished the wiring job, which was a bit like keyhole surgery because the control cavity route is so small: no room for full size CTS pots and squeezing the DPDT switch in between the pots was a real challenge.
I’ve only played it for 15 minutes so far but I found the bass response from the E string a bit disappointing. It sounded a bit flabby but then the string and pole piece alignment is not dead centre: not sure if that could affect the response. There also doesn’t seem to be a significant volume difference between parallel and series modes, which is not my previous experience with MM style pickups. I used Alpha 250K mini pots and a 0.47 cap. Perhaps I should have used a 500K volume and 100K tone. In common with other exposed pole piece MM pickups, it buzzes (in serial mode) if you accidentally touch a pole piece. In that respect I think I prefer the covered type.
I would be interested to hear if my experience is common.
Sorry I missed the questions regarding the Warman MM pickup. Still going strong for me - I really like it in my OLP. It is a pretty high output pickup - so it may be expectations as to what you expect vs what you hear. But I have always felt the E to “roared” to my own ears. But here’s the thing: my preference is for high gain, hot output stuff that I use with flats or more vintage voiced nickel plated steel rounds. They wouldn’t seem like a good match but turn out to be a fairly versatile combo for my playing style and musical tastes. Sorry I hope that is more help…you might try a different string first and see if that changes anything. I found the pickup to work best (for me) with Labella deep talking flats or DR Sunbeams. I have also tried with EB Slinkies and Daddario XLs and I could make them work but they were not exactly the tone I was going for.
Did I mention I did not end up with the wiring I attached above? I used 500k CTS and just went volume-tone and that’s it. In the third hole of the plate I just put a switch that’s not attached to anything. I used standard P bass wiring. I didn’t feel the diagram above really did anything useful - so I simplified. I admit I am weird.
Did I mention I did not end up with the wiring I attached above? I used 500k CTS and just went volume-tone and that’s it. In the third hole of the plate I just put a switch that’s not attached to anything. I used standard P bass wiring. I didn’t feel the diagram above really did anything useful - so I simplified. I admit I am weird.
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No worries and thank you for your response. After doing a bit more tinkering and trying the bass through a better rig, I am more impressed with the Warman. The bass response from the E is a bit better now I have lowered the pickup a bit and is more balanced in comparison with the A and D, which were dominant previously. There is also more of a distinct difference between the parallel/single coil/series modes. The series is distinctly louder and darker than parallel now, which is more what I was expecting. Parallel sounds much more ‘Ray like, although given the central position of the pickup on the Jag, it is never going to be totally authentic. The big revelation is the single coil position (neck coil) which reminds me of a ‘51 Precision pickup (SD 1/4 pounder) I have in another bass. This wiring and the Warman certainly gives the Jag a few more tonal options. For around £25 (this side of the pond) you get a lot for your money.
I am sure you are right about trying different strings. I still have the OEM strings that came on the Squier (whatever they are). They are not bad but I am sure I can do better with a more recognised brand, although the options are somewhat limited, as the Jag is medium scale.
