Pickups for a new bass?

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bayswater
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Pickups for a new bass?

Post by bayswater »

Someone I know started making a bass from a single block of Jatoba. He lost interest and gave it to me. The basic shape, generally like a Precision, has been cut out, but little more than that is done.

This wood is heavy, dense, hard, and when you hit it, it pings. If this bass ever comes to be, it will be used mainly for recording through a DI or a small Gallien-Kruger. I have an Aria semi hollow body from the 70s and a low end Steinberger from the 90s, so something that sounds different from those would be best. I know absolutely nothing about bass pickups.

What pickups would you use?
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mikehalloran
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Re: Pickups for a new bass?

Post by mikehalloran »

Is the pickup routing(s) cut out?
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bayswater
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Re: Pickups for a new bass?

Post by bayswater »

mikehalloran wrote:Is the pickup routing(s) cut out?
Nothing much is cut out. All that is done is the overall shape of the neck and body.
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stubbsonic
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Re: Pickups for a new bass?

Post by stubbsonic »

I bought some Q-Tuner pick-ups. They are neodymium side-winders (that means the magnets and windings are sideways, and poll pieces are how they reach the strings.

If you go here, you'll see what that means...

http://www.q-tuner.com

These are super swanky pickups, very well made and great sounding. But not cheap.

You can probably get really good pickups for much less dough. I just thought I'd mention them in case you were looking for a really high-end option.
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bayswater
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Re: Pickups for a new bass?

Post by bayswater »

A bit pricy, but not outrageous. I'll listed to the demos. Thanks.
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Re: Pickups for a new bass?

Post by Shooshie »

The Ford F100 can hold a pretty solid bass, though that pickup is really not like it used to be. Used to be made of all steel sheeting, but now it's got plastic all over the place, and the slightest tap makes the bumper fall off.

The Chevy Silverado is probably a good choice for a bass pickup. It'll hold two or three string basses before the springs give out. When you load them in with a crane, be careful not to drop them from more than about 8 feet, or they might go clear through the bed.

The problem with either pickup is the gas mileage. I'd consider a Prius V, which can hold a couple basses, and still gets up to 48 mpg on the highway, and around 40 mpg in the city if you use good gas. It's more of an Electric Bass Pickup, if you will, or at least a Hybrid Bass Pickup. I mean, if you don't mind your pickup being a wagon, which is really what the Prius V is. I can carry all my saxophones in mine with room left over for a few groupies, and none have to ride in the rain. Beats the heck out of those old Ford and Chevy pickups.

Ok, ok, I admit that I know nothing about Bass Pickups. :surrender:

:lol:
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bayswater
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Re: Pickups for a new bass?

Post by bayswater »

Shooshie wrote: I'd consider a Prius V, which can hold a couple basses, and still gets up to 48 mpg on the highway, and around 40 mpg in the city if you use good gas.
---
Ok, ok, I admit that I know nothing about Bass Pickups. :surrender:

:lol:
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Thanks for the advice. Gas powered pickups are off the list. We have a carbon tax here.
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Re: Pickups for a new bass?

Post by stubbsonic »

Hey Bayswater,

Just FYI, I put those q-tuners on an ibanez 5-string. I requested coil taps which the maker provides upon request (that means you get 4 wires out of each humbucker). I then employed this switching scheme which lets me turn on individual coils and determine if they are wired in series or parallel. It's an unusual setup, but I get very useful tones.

Anyway, when I did that project, I recorded my bass with the q-tuners with all these different coil settings. It will give you a good real-world sense of how they sound. PM me and I'll get you that audio.
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Re: Pickups for a new bass?

Post by wylie1 »

You might want to save some head aches and buy a loaded pickgaurd for bass I see them on Ebay.

Seymour Duncan makes some really nice ones for guitar they also make bass pickups but I don't see any loaded pickgaurds for bass on their site.
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bayswater
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Re: Pickups for a new bass?

Post by bayswater »

wylie1 wrote:You might want to save some head aches and buy a loaded pickgaurd for bass I see them on Ebay.

Seymour Duncan makes some really nice ones for guitar they also make bass pickups but I don't see any loaded pickgaurds for bass on their site.
Thanks for the suggestion. I'm not that worried about headaches. I've made a couple of guitars, but never a bass. I'm doing the work at a woodwork shop that has a load of retired master carpenters, cabinet makers and even a luthier, so I get all the help I need. (More actually). The bass will be left handed, so I suppose I could get a loaded pickguard, dissemble and flip it. I had originally intended to go without a pickguard at all.
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Re: Pickups for a new bass?

Post by stubbsonic »

IMHO, if you've got a nice bass made of nice wood, it's a shame to throw a pre-loaded pick guard on it. And given that you have such nice access to tools and expertise, I think you should put the pickups in yourself. AND, since your a lefty, you'd be able to make something really special for yourself.
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Re: Pickups for a new bass?

Post by mikehalloran »

I am guessing that I have the same amp you do or something similar. GK used to be 15 minutes from my house.

Anyway, bass was my main gig for over 40 years. I found that I liked passive pickups into DIs and tube amps; active PUs into solid state or line inputs. This 505S 18V ACTIVE/PASSIVE BASS MODULE gives you the best of both worlds. It is installed by routing a cavity from the rear.

http://www.carvinguitars.com/products/505S

Curtis Novak has the reputation for being able to get whatever sound you want. He can be called on the phone. One of his specialties is side by side humbuckers (like a P bass) but in forms that few others will dare. This gives you the single coil sound without the phase cancellation caused by stacked coils. If I still played, one of these would be sitting in my '68 Telecaster Bass:

Image

http://curtisnovak.com/pickups_bass.shtml

Seymour Duncan, likewise, is quite knowledgeable and loves getting into the "I have two other basses, what's good and different?" questions. His gatekeepers want to keep him off the phone but you can get through if it's not something they can point to on the web site.
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Re: Pickups for a new bass?

Post by bayswater »

Thanks Mike, I see a Ric replacement pickup set in there. Hadn't considered that.
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Re: Pickups for a new bass?

Post by stubbsonic »

mikehalloran wrote:If I still played, one of these would be sitting in my '68 Telecaster Bass:
My first bass was a tele. It was really pleasant to play. Nice neck.
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Re: Pickups for a new bass?

Post by Gravity Jim »

A truly great-sounding passive pickup is the Fender Original '57/'62 PBass. I have one in my American Deluxe Precision and it does everything.

Don't dismiss actives. EMGs new X Series pickups maintain the clarity, balance and lo-noise characteristics they're known for, but with an "organic" sounding string response that's kind of incredible. I have them in my fretless Jazz and my Strat and they are the flat-out greatest.
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