Question about pickup mounting, jazz and P.

[jmm55]

I have done lots of electric guitar work, but I have only ever disassembled the one electric bass I own, a mutt, with a Godin neck, and a somewhat precision copy body. It has one P and one J pickup. It's been years since I worked on it, but I did put in a Bartolini precision pickup and a Dimarzio jazz that I bought from a closing store.

In any event, I used foam to act as a spring of sorts, to allow resistance to the mounting screws when adjusting height, and I am wondering, is this the normal way bass pickups are typically mounted in Fender style bass guitars? If so, is there one type of foam that is better than the next?

 

[Batmensch]

Foam is indeed the usual method on Fender and Fender type basses/pickups. I've found a reltively stiff foam to work well. I had to replace the pickup mounting foam on a '78 P-bass I once had because the old foam had lost it's elasticity and was compressed and wouldn't hold the pickup at the proper height anymore. I used a foam rubber mouse pad that was maybe between 1/4" to 3/16" thick, cut two pieces to size, glued cloth side to cloth side, making a piece about 1/2" plus. It appeared to me to be the same density as the foam that was on there originally, and it worked quite well.

 

[jmm55]

That's great info, and a good tip for a foam source. Thanks for the reply.

 

[Batmensch]

Yer welcome.