Will a guitar pickup work on a bass?

[Biostrings]

I'm restoring a fender jazz and modding it and I've got some emg Select pickups from a guitar which is beyond repair (body wise), and I was wondering wheather they would work on my fender Jazz,

 

[DWBass]

I doubt it. Don't think the poles would line up properly.

 

[pasta4lnch]

yeah - the magnetic field will work. seen a few basses on TB w/ them. I don't know about how it will sound though . . .

 

[M0ses]

As long as the strings are within the magnetic field, whether or not they line up is MOSTLY irrelevant. On Fenders none of the poles are right under the strings, remember? They did that on purpose because with the pole directly aligned, you get more of a volume spike on the attack of the note, which apparently Leo didn't like (although he did it on his G&Ls, don't ask me) It will work just as well as a dedicated bass pickup as long as the strings are all within the magnetic field. Whether or not you will like the tone is a different story. Give it a try.

 

[flowlikeocean]

The EMG should work, as far as I know they use blade magnets under the casing, so the magnetic field isn't directed anywhere like it would with a pole.

I once used a friends bass, he dropped a Dimarzio X2n at about the P-Bass spot, and it did exactly what I thought it would

 

[Craig_S]

X2Ns seem to be a popular choice for putting in basses. Didn't B.C. Rich have stock basses with the X2N pickup?

 

[Biostrings]

Thanks very much =D

 

[Pilgrim]

The answer is, absolutely yes!

Fender and others have used guitar pickups on basses for 40+ years.

Here's my Bronco, which is one example....this has a S-D Hot Rails replacing the original Strat-style pickup.

 

[Stratstink]

I'm currently using a Schaller/Schecter Hot Stuff (similar to X2N) pick-up in the bridge position of my Les Paul bass and it plays great.

 

[Jefenator]

These basses you're reporting success with - do they have narrow string spacing? (I know the Musicmaster does.)

I wouldn't expect most electric guitar pickups would have a wide enough field to properly include the outer strings on a 3/4"-spaced bass (like the OP's Fender Jazz).

 

[SpamBot]

The Squier Bronco comes stock with a guitar pickup.

 

[Fajah]

Blade type guitar pickups will work. Here's my P-Bass with a GFS Lil Killer strat pickup in it.

 

[Hoover]

These basses you're reporting success with - do they have narrow string spacing? (I know the Musicmaster does.)

I wouldn't expect most electric guitar pickups would have a wide enough field to properly include the outer strings on a 3/4"-spaced bass (like the OP's Fender Jazz).

On Allen Woody's infamous Modulus 18-string bass -- triple-courses (dual octave strings) tuned EADGBE -- luthier Geoff Gould had to use pedal steel guitar pickups, because at the time no one made bass pickups for ultra-wide string spacing.

 

[Johnny Mack]

ive used a seymour duncan invader at the neck on a modded p bass. the width of the pu was perfect. poles obviously didnt "match" up, but that is not important. all strings were equally loud.

 

[eutgard]

Jay Turser JTB 401 with Alumitone pickup.

Beautiful tone.

 

[abjr]

I'm restoring a fender jazz and modding it and I've got some emg Select pickups from a guitar which is beyond repair (body wise), and I was wondering wheather they would work on my fender Jazz,

 

[groooooove]

it's pretty obvious -


"work?" yes- they're magnets, and if properly connected, you'll get output. as others mentioned the tone and/or issues with pole pieces/string to string volume/ext remain to be seen. i would expect most guitar pickups to sounds bad (or not particularly fat, at least) but wouldn't be surprised if some sound fine. they're just magnets and wires, anythings possible.

 

[honeyiscool]

I find it hilarious that people think pole pieces lining up matters.