Should I put a guitar pickup on my Bass

[Kylebleder101]

I wanna add a guitar pickup to my fender jazz bass so i get one bass pickup and one guitar pickup on the same bass. idk if this would be bad sounding or just bad sounding in general. The sound I am going for is a distorted bass like royal blood or death from above.

if you have any questions lemme know


Edit:I know that it wont give me distortion but would it just make the bass sound diffrent in general?

 

[Reedt2000]

A distortion pedal is a way easier and more effective method to get what you're after. A guitar pickup would not overdrive, especially not a fuzzy, over the top, distortion. A guitar amp with distortion would but so would a pedal. There are lots of options out there and lots of threads here on TB discussing them.

 

[5hithead]

You could probably do it, rail-style pickups usually work better than with polepieces but you don't need a guitar pickup to get a little dirt. I think an overdrive pedal might be more of what you're after.

 

[BioWeapon]

Yeah sure you can use a guitar pickup in your bass.

Neither DFA1979 or Royal Blood do it.

They're two different sounds too! Jesse Keeler of DFA uses a Peavey amp and an Acoustic amp to get his tones, whereas the guy from Royal Blood uses an octave pedal, a harmonizer pedal, and two amps.

In short, just get a distortion pedal - the pickup won't just "give" you distortion.

 

[Reedt2000]

 

[Meyatch]

I've got a couple basses with guitar pickups in them, they sound like bass pickups.

 

[lug]

I suggest a Peavey T60 guitar pickup for bass.

 

[Skybone]

You would need to split the signal between a bass amp, and a guitar amp with an octave/harmonizer, as well as a dirt pedal in front of it.

Have a look for Amy from Clatter's You Tube video's on how she runs the signal chain (bass amp / guitar amp).

Pretty sure you can do something similar with an amp modeler, like a Helix/Kemper/Axe-FX, by splitting the signal chain & send 1 channel to the Left output & the other channel to the Right. Run that into separate channels on the PA, sorted.

 

[honeyiscool]

Guitar pickups sound like bass pickups once they're in a bass. You know why? Because both types of pickups are usually just wire wrapped around a magnetic field. There's nothing inherently bass about bass pickups, and nothing inherently guitar about guitar pickups. The Musicmaster Bass is infamous for using a 6-pole guitar pickup. It sounds like a bass.

 

[superdick2112]

You need to add some Darkglass to your pedalboard - that's the easiest way to get the sound you want.

The guitar pickup is not a bad idea though.
Johnny Christ of Avenged Sevenfold has a Schecter sig. model with an EMG 82 guitar pickup in the neck position, and IMHO, it sounds pretty darned good.

 

[Bob_Ross]

No

 

[UNICORN BASS]

Ibanez Tube Screamer, any one as long as it's green.

 

[two fingers]

Pickups are just coils of wire and magnets. They have some influence on tone but don't make or break it. Position affects more than windings. The number of coils and how theu are wired affects tone more than "style".

I say go for it. It will likely sound like a really hot bass pickup. That's not a bad thing. It's an experimental thing. But it won't "give you distortion".

 

[Maxdusty]

The Ibanez Iceman ICB200 I believe has two mini guitar humbuckers. Has six poles. I no longer have the bass but it sounded pretty different from anything I already have, a little on the weak side, but had a nice burpy kind of sound to it like a Rick.

 

[rogerbmiller]

Yeah sure you can use a guitar pickup in your bass.

Neither DFA1979 or Royal Blood do it.

They're two different sounds too! Jesse Keeler of DFA uses a Peavey amp and an Acoustic amp to get his tones, whereas the guy from Royal Blood uses an octave pedal, a harmonizer pedal, and two amps.

In short, just get a distortion pedal - the pickup won't just "give" you distortion.

Jesse Keeler also uses an octave pedal and stereo chorus and splits the signal to emulate the effect of two players not perfectly synchronized. Similar concept to doubling tracks. It's very effective. See here:

 

[1bassleft]

I've got a couple basses with guitar pickups in them, they sound like bass pickups.

+As others. I have a Yamato from the 70s using a tele-style 6-pole rather than an early Precision single-coil. Apart from looking a bit naff, it doesn't do anything much different. If you're thinking of a hot, high-output guitar pup - there are bass versions that might be an easier drop in.

 

[BooDoggie]

No...

 

[BioWeapon]

Jesse Kerker also uses an octave pedal and stereo chorus and splits the signal to emulate the effect of two players not perfectly synchronized. Similar concept to doubling tracks. It's very effective. See here:

Don't worry, I've seen the rig rundown saw them live twice and own all the albums too!

 

[AdamR]

 

[micguy]

The original 51 P pickup was... a telecaster bridge pickup with 4 poles instead of 6 and a different mounting base. I have a Barden 50's P pickup (dual rails) in one of my basses. I'm not sure ther's any difference between that pickup and what they sell as a tele bridge pickup, aside from the mounting base. There is no real difference between guitar and bass pickups - at frequencies below their resonance, all magnetic pickups are flat in their response. Put a bass string there or a guitar one...it'll work ok.