Putting a MM pickup in a PJ bass

[asparaguspee]

I want to try something a little crazy. I have a Yamaha BB734A and I'd like to swap out the Jazz pickup for a MM one, after modifying the body of course (I have a woodworking friend who can help me with this).

The Bass in question is the middle one here.

I was thinking a Delano MC4 FE or a Seymour Duncan of some sort. Does anyone know if these pickups will drop in easily and work with the preamp and switches on my bass?

 

[asparaguspee]

Anyone?

Bueller...bueller

 

[redstrand]

easily is easy if your friend routs it right. It's just another pickup, you would add it to the preamp just like the Jazz. I'm thinking about doing the same with my Jag if I get bored

 

[BBKINGBASS]

SOLD - Fender MIJ Seafoam Green P bass body Nitro

The musician man will be a little smaller than the jazz. See the pics from my post above. I had to clean up the routing since the jazz extended past the spot between the screw tabs.

 

[Arne Larsen]

Following, as I really want to see how this turns out.
I'm building a bass and want to use a MM at the bridge and a P P/U where it would normally sit. Unsure as to whether or not to go with an active set-up, or go active more along the lines of a MM Caprice, which is passive.

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

I want to try something a little crazy. I have a Yamaha BB734A and I'd like to swap out the Jazz pickup for a MM one, after modifying the body of course (I have a woodworking friend who can help me with this).

The Bass in question is the middle one here.
View attachment 4229308

I was thinking a Delano MC4 FE or a Seymour Duncan of some sort. Does anyone know if these pickups will drop in easily and work with the preamp and switches on my bass?

Get the nordy bigman. It's two big singles. You can wire it any way you want. Either as individual singles, parallel/series/single (with either coil being the single), or a simple parallel or series bucker. The thing rocks.

 

[asparaguspee]

Thanks for the replies folks. I think I'm gonna go ahead and order a pickup and give it a go.

As you stated @BBKINGBASS and @redstrand there will be a bit of a gap as the MM pickup is a little shorter than the J. Hopefully we can make it look good.

 

[grouse789]

Dark horse outside pickup choice?
G&L mfd? Plenty of grunt and grrr

 

[markanini]

there will be a bit of a gap as the MM pickup is a little shorter than the J. Hopefully we can make it look good.

MM pickups shine in their original location so that would be a good call. You could fill in the gap with either wood or epoxy if you decide to go for that. Aguilar and Nordstrand also make good ceramic MM pickups if you're still deciding. Even EMG released a passive model that you could use with your existing pre.

 

[asparaguspee]

I've ordered a Seymour Duncan alnico for the 70s sound.
Good call with the epoxy.
Will be doing this in the next month or so, I'll post up pics after.

 

[Arne Larsen]

EEEEE..... MMMM.... Epoxy 'sounds' easy because you can just drizzle it into the gaps, but I'd be careful, unless you never care about removing the pickup down the road. In your first post you said you have a woodworker friend who can help you with this. With both pickups in hand, this friend should be able to make a template for the MM and a template from the J, and overlay them and create fill-in pieces out of wood, that you could fit and finish so it's hardly noticeable. That's my suggestion, anyways...

 

[asparaguspee]

Alright she's all done. Didn't need any epoxy and it turned out great! Sounds just like a stingray but I'm getting a bit of crackle through my amp in active mode. Will need to investigate further.