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Some New Found Love for the Mudbucker Pickup

#21
If you want to know if its a real mudbucker, and NOT a regular old humbucker,
Just pop it out...
It should look like this
20230709_102526.jpg

Thats why they call it the Sidewinder.
This ones a 1961 example. And it, and I, fist fought for the first 5 years of my bass playin journey.
Its in better shape than I am...so I guess it wins. ;)
 
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#24
Michael Jewels said:
Oh, man!

I don't like this tone, I love it!

I have a 2014 SG bass, and you're going to make me butcher it! :laugh:

It has its own tone, but it is in Music man Stingray/Jazz bass territory.

Congrats, Alex; I love when experimentation works out!

Mike :thumbsup:
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Thanks Mike - I love it too. I don’t know if it would work as well with shorter scales than my big 39”, as they are naturally more defined in the low end, but it’s sweet.

cdef said:
An attractive, mellow tone, clear and nuanced. What strings are those?
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Thank you! I have Newtone Strings on all my basses. The are made custom in just about every aspect, and cost only a little more than factory strings.
 
#25
RustfeatherBass said:
I had always heard they were mushy, so when I got the 2014 I was pleasantly surprised by how very full-range it sounded. It being an entirely different animal makes sense!
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The ones found in modern Gibson and Epiphone basses are not wound at all like the original pickups from the 1960s. I assume this is because modern tastes want more clarity, certainly DiMarzio moves a lot of Model 1 pickups because of that.

The mush of the originals is real, the attack of the notes is slower. I have one that was added to a P bass and had a Kalamazoo bass (like a bolt-on EB0). Unamplified the basses sound bright and twangy. Plug them in and the twang is long gone.

I remember trying to play funk lines on that Kalamazoo, plucking down near the bridge. There was still no snap.

On my P, I use the pickup like a subwoofer, mixing it with a Duncan Quarter Pounder adds low end heft while the QP provides the snap.
 
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#28
My first bass (borrowed, around 1968) was an EB-2 Gibson short scale. Mudbucker only. My first bass of my own was a Hagstrom HII short scale. By the end of the first year, it had become this. Worked really well for 60's and 70 rock back then, and it still does! I have gotten so many comments on the sound. Sorry I don't have any recordings of it:( I am quite sure it does not have the articulation of your amazing 39" bass.
upload_2024-5-16_15-38-36.png
 
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#29
Alex Xander said:
Forgive the quality of the recording, but I did some work on this bass recently and relocated a mudbucker to the Musicman sweet spot.

A-standard tuning (a tone below a low B) and a 39” scale. I’ve been playing this for a week or so and while I have other options on the bass than the mudbucker in series (the most potent and muddy of the sounds), I have found myself gravitating back to the mudbucker. Somewhat counterintuitively, it seems to give the low notes a degree of clarity. Next step is to string it F#BEA or and octave low EADG. I’m having too much fun for now, though.

Anyone else got some love for the mudbucker? I’d love to hear other basses with the pickup not so hard against the fretboard.

I have a gig on Saturday that is fairly low key, and I think the mudbucker will get a good run.

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Love how that bass look....... but , the tone......hmmmmm......ahhhhh......yiiiiiiiii........
 
#32
Bassamatic said:
My first bass (borrowed, around 1968) was an EB-2 Gibson short scale. Mudbucker only. My first bass of my own was a Hagstrom HII short scale. By the end of the first year, it had become this. Worked really well for 60's and 70 rock back then, and it still does! I have gotten so many comments on the sound. Sorry I don't have any recordings of it:( I am quite sure it does not have the articulation of your amazing 39" bass.
View attachment 5450263
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I would LOVE to have a play of that bass. Looks like an excellent rock and roll machine.
 
#35
Alex Xander said:
Im close to certain that SG basses from that era don’t have a true mudbucker, but a more conventional humbucker. I was surprised when I took the cover of one I owned to find a very guitar like humbucker with a 3k DC resistance.
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The neck toaster on my 4004L SPC has a DCR of 3.6K. For being right up against the neck it has lots of clarity (but then, it is a single coil).
 
#36
Gig report with the mudbucker.

Firstly, taking an ADGC tuned four string to a gig with unfamiliar set list was not the wisest choice. Thankfully I was with friends and it was low key. I tuned up to BEAD and I was much more at home. I didn’t seem to miss the G string.

I found myself flicking between the mudbucker and the Model One quite a bit through the night. I didn’t switch to the Model One for the sake of clarity, just to get a less in your face tone. Mudbuckers are so rich in low mids that they can be very overpowering in the mix. On some slower Radiohead ballads, the mudbucker was obnoxious. On songs like Time by Pink Floyd or any Hendrix, Clapton etc, the mudbucker was very at home.

For those who hate the mudbucker, I can say that they have a very unique and cutting tone in the mix. At least mine does with the pickup closer to the bridge. I think many of you would be surprised hearing it in the mix.

All said, I think it’s a very usable tone, but it was nice to have an alternative.
 

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