When a bass has an MM pickup in the bridge position...

Most 2 pickup basses with a MM style humbucker in the bridge position do not have that pickup in the Stingray sweetspot. It's almost always further back. And in my experience, "that Stingray sound" is lost with a surprisingly small move towards the bridge. That spot really is a sweet one, forward just enough to have serious balls, back just enough to have serious bite. If you really want that Stingray sound, it's important for that pickup to be in the right spot.

This is not to say that a bass with a humbucker further back can't sound good, it'll just be something different from a Stingray. For example, few people would say that Lakland's version of a J + MM sounds bad, but likewise few would say that it gets a true Stingray tone. Most say it's close, but not quite spot on.

 

Geez Bruce. Nothing like a complete and perfect answer to shut down a thread.

 

An interesting thing I've noticed - the pickup on a Stingray looks closer to the bridge than it really is because that bridge design has quite a bit more plate out in front of the bridge saddles, to accommodate the string mutes. At first glance, the HH in the middle looks like the bridge pickup is further away from the bridge than the single PU Ray on the left, and the Thundergun on the right looks about the same as the Ray on the left. But when you look at the distance from the actual saddles, it's a different story.

 

I was thinking the same thing!

 

Having a MM pickup in the Stingray position is no guarantee it will sound like a Stingray. To achieve that, it would also need the Stingray pre-amp.

MM pickups in different positions can also sound great, especially when combined with a great pre-amp e.g. Sandberg basses with Delano pickups and Glockenklang pre-amps.

 

The Lakland 4-94 design puts the MM PUP where the two coils are essentially where a Fender Jazz bridge PUP is- one in the '60s and one in the '70s position. They had a single PUP version with a MM in the original StingRay location, called the 4-76. I've played my 4-9s since at least '99. None of them sound quite like the two (pre EB) StingRays I've owned including the '78 that I had when I got my first Lakland.

But don't assume a sound based only on outward shape and location of the PUP. Magnets, wire, coil shape, preamp, wood, bridge, etc. all come into play.

 

I installed an MM pickup in the bridge position of one of my Jazz V’s. I centered the pickup over the original Jazz pickup (60’s position), and have it wired Bridge Coil/Parallel/Neck Coil.





So you can see by the positioning of the coils, neck coil is slightly more towards the neck of 60’s position, and the bridge coil is almost exactly where 70’s position would be.

As for the sound... each individual coil sounds great, I prefer the bridge coil’s bite and rasp. In Parallel, it kinda-sorta sounds Stingray-ish... It has that high-end zing, but not the signature midrange snarl. A Stingray preamp might help...might not...