I got a good deal on a Peavey Foundation and got it home to find out the neck pickup was bad. Here she is, as purchased... yellowed from age
After confirming the neck pickup was bad, I searched for a replacement Super Ferrite. No Luck. I emailed Peavey, and within ten minutes they replied that they did not offer a direct replacement. I tried ebay but not luck there. There was one, but it went for more than I wanted to spend. The closest in size is EMG, but it would require minor routing and since the bass has yellowed over the years, you would have seen a bright white line around the pickup where the SF trim ring was. I though about a Music man style pickup, but I didn't want to spend more on pickups then I did for the bass.
So.... as I was inspecting the bad pickup, hoping one of the leads has broke loose, I noticed that as I squeezed the pickup housing the epoxy pulled away from the side. Then it dawned on me... I could put a pickup inside the original Peavey housing as long as I could find one to fit. After a bit of research I decided a single coil old school p bass pickup might work. I found one on TB from teej. It was a Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounder that he had ground on a little bit for one of his projects, thus it was cheap. I I received it two days after payment. Thanks teej!!!!
I was able to break the magnets on the bottom of the SF pickup and pull the metal "blade" out of the middle of the pickup. Then it was just a matter of breaking the coil wrapping out and then I removed the bobbin.. The key here was to be careful not to damage the pickup housing.
Here it is after I removed everything.
Here is the SD pickup sitting next to the SF housing. I just had to grind about 1/8 of an inch off both sides and it fit in perfectly.
And I just dropped it in...
Its downhill from here... I little high temp hot glue. OK... alot, probably six or seven sticks, but its cheap.
And ten minutes later it is installed and looks completely stock and the actual cost was only about 25 bucks.
So how does it sound? You be the judge.
I played a simple country riff through my Acoustic B20 practice amp and recorded it with a Zoom H2 sitting about 3 feet away. No effects and amp set flat. Low tech, but good for comparison.
First time through is tone turned all the way to treble
Front pickup only (SD QP), then back pickup only (stock super ferrite), then both.
Second time through was with tone tuned all the way to the bass side
Front PU only, then back PU, then both.
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I hope this helps anyone needing to replace a dead super ferrite... let me know what you think.
After confirming the neck pickup was bad, I searched for a replacement Super Ferrite. No Luck. I emailed Peavey, and within ten minutes they replied that they did not offer a direct replacement. I tried ebay but not luck there. There was one, but it went for more than I wanted to spend. The closest in size is EMG, but it would require minor routing and since the bass has yellowed over the years, you would have seen a bright white line around the pickup where the SF trim ring was. I though about a Music man style pickup, but I didn't want to spend more on pickups then I did for the bass.
So.... as I was inspecting the bad pickup, hoping one of the leads has broke loose, I noticed that as I squeezed the pickup housing the epoxy pulled away from the side. Then it dawned on me... I could put a pickup inside the original Peavey housing as long as I could find one to fit. After a bit of research I decided a single coil old school p bass pickup might work. I found one on TB from teej. It was a Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounder that he had ground on a little bit for one of his projects, thus it was cheap. I I received it two days after payment. Thanks teej!!!!
I was able to break the magnets on the bottom of the SF pickup and pull the metal "blade" out of the middle of the pickup. Then it was just a matter of breaking the coil wrapping out and then I removed the bobbin.. The key here was to be careful not to damage the pickup housing.
Here it is after I removed everything.
Here is the SD pickup sitting next to the SF housing. I just had to grind about 1/8 of an inch off both sides and it fit in perfectly.
And I just dropped it in...
Its downhill from here... I little high temp hot glue. OK... alot, probably six or seven sticks, but its cheap.
And ten minutes later it is installed and looks completely stock and the actual cost was only about 25 bucks.
So how does it sound? You be the judge.
I played a simple country riff through my Acoustic B20 practice amp and recorded it with a Zoom H2 sitting about 3 feet away. No effects and amp set flat. Low tech, but good for comparison.
First time through is tone turned all the way to treble
Front pickup only (SD QP), then back pickup only (stock super ferrite), then both.
Second time through was with tone tuned all the way to the bass side
Front PU only, then back PU, then both.
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
I hope this helps anyone needing to replace a dead super ferrite... let me know what you think.
