How to modify Our Bass Guitar Pickup?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Jump to Latest
T

thomgun_lc

Member
Joined 2005
#1
😉 Hi there!!! 😉
I'm a bass player with a low budget🙂 . I'm not satisfied with my humbucker pickup sound, the sound too boomy without a clear sound. How about to rewound the coil or add some passive components (RLC) or some active circuit to get a different sound??

I have a question about how to build and active tone control. In my bass guitar there is only one pot to control the tone control, but i'm not satisfied with that tone control and want to add some low pass filter / bandpass filter to get a more unique bass sound, is it worth?:angel:
 
#4
DoctorJ said:
Disassembling and rewinding a pickup can be a real mess. They are ussually full of wax. Further there is more to the sound of the pickup than just the wire.
Click to expand...

That's exactly correct!

But, not all pickups are wax potted.

One other thing I have noticed, Capacitors used in a guitars tone setup have a fairly significant effect.

Another issue of course the amp itself. I have an old old Harmony bass my brother gave me that has 20 year old strings. At his house, on his amp (solid state) it was terribly muddy sounding.

I put it on my amp and it was extremely tight even with the old strings.

I have re-wound a few strat pickups only to have them sound no different or even worse. Though I have found on some El-Cheapo early 1990's Fender Squire/Strat pickups, Wax Potting them had a very good effect. Prior to potting they were very microphonic to the point of being able to reproduce voice!! Another nice feature was feedback reduction. These particular pick-ups were terribly sensitive to feedback issues. Walk within 10ft of a 50W amp with the gain up high and they really squealed . Potting them cleared it up to a useable nice sounding unit.
Trout
 
#8
Nigel Goodwin said:
How about improving your playing skills?, a good player makes anything sound good - often blaming the instrument for a poor sound is more down to poor technique?.
Click to expand...


Wow, isn't that the truth,

I had a guy a couple weeks back wanting to return an amp because he could not get the exact same sound from the amp as he had heard in a dry sound clip. Same Axe, Same Strings Yada Yada.

Turns out, He did not know the correct cord! When I finally figured it out, I mailed him a cord chart with the correct cords used. After he learned them he was happy as a lark!
Go Figure.

Some of those cords Brian Setzer uses can easily fool guys into similar simple substitutes and then they wonder why it just does not sound exactly right 😉
I am sure things like that apply to bass players also.
Trout
 
#9
Nonetheless, there are instruments that just won't give a clean, well-defined sound. Even in Jack Bruce's hands, an EBO still sounds like the campfire scene in Blazing Saddles.... Is it the pickup? Is it the body? The bridge? All of the above?
 
#10
SY said:
Nonetheless, there are instruments that just won't give a clean, well-defined sound. Even in Jack Bruce's hands, an EBO still sounds like the campfire scene in Blazing Saddles.... Is it the pickup? Is it the body? The bridge? All of the above?
Click to expand...


SY, That bass setup you mentioned "sounds like the campfire scene in Blazing Saddles"

Oh how well I know that sound!! 😀

There are so many variables involved I think that I would start at the bass iteslf.
Try it on other amps, If it still sucks,
Try swapping out the strings and or caps (cheapest potential fixes first). No improvement?
Then try a few good sounding bass guitars out at a Sam Ash or Guitar Center store, Find the type of sound your looking for and shop ebay for a deal on either the bass you like or on the pickups for it and wire it in properly.

Now, If the bass were to sound great on other amps, It gets a bit more involved, at least more tricky budget wise.
At some point generally it becomes more cost effective to just get better gear for a lot of guys.

Hey thomgun_lc,
Exactly what brand and model bass and amp are you working with?

Trout
 
#12
poobah said:
C'mon Trout,

If you shop at the local store... then BUY it there... what's 20 bucks anyway? If we keep going this way, we will have only Walmart and ebay and NO local stores. Support your local biz...

:smash: :smash: :smash: :smash: :smash:
Click to expand...


HAHA,, notice I only mention Sam Ash & Guitar Center?

I agree shopping locally is best, "BUT" only at independent shops. I fully support Mom N Pop Shops Vs Evil bay.
But as far as I am concerned, Especially with GC, they can fry in bankruptcy and I would not shed a tear.:whazzat:

GC is nearly as grey market as Tiger Direct is for PC stuff 😱
My Favorite music shop is AXE In Hand in Dekalb Illinois, A Mom N Pop shop for over 30yrs, Second choice is Village music In Dundee Illinois, I bought several Guitars from ole Paul Gary there in Dundee. My Younger Brothers outfitted the entire Band there years ago also.

Question, Whats a Walmart??

Trout
 
#13
First: to make sure that what you're hearing is the pickup itself as much as possible, wire it direct to the socket and listen. The results can sometimes be enough that some passive changes may help. Or it's a good excuse for relocating the first amplification stage onboard. Forget batteries, and go phantom powered if you do.

Also some pickups will allow easy access to both coils, or may with some de waxing or careful reshaping. That way, you can have single coil, parallel oser series HB arrangements. That a lone is a lot of tonal variation. The you have differing loads for the pickups (R & C) which will radically reshape the response.

I'm a bassist, and over the years have collected a ton of pickups, both bass and geetar cheaply off ebay and locally from other sources. I'd advise you do the same, if for no other reason than if you want to experiment with pickups, you need a good baseline on what sort of tone you're looking for. Without a reference, it's easy to get lost in the tonal wilderness and you might find some cheap old DM pickup is perfect. Pickups are usually cheap secondhand, esp DM snd SD as they've often produced a particular design unchanged for decades, so there are often lots about. Pickups are small (low postage) and don't usually break so can be good deals secondhand. Also make sure the bass itself is worth messing with a lot. There's that old expression about polishing a .....

If you haven't seen this yet, then you need to spend some time reading and maybe listening to the mp3's. Ron's (Dr Dimento's) thread are particularly good reading, but don't take any of it as gospel. I have very different views on tone to a lot of people, and disagree with many of his experiences eg wrt onboard preamps and pickup placement, but it's an excellent read, and may help narrow some of your choices or get you thinking about what you really want. Experimenting is fun, but it can kill any resale.

Building an onbaord pre of equal or better quality to the commercial stuff is easy, if you don't limit yourself to batteries and go offboard with the power. No need to cut holes for the battery box and no risk of your running flat mid gig. Mine power direct from my custom rack pre, or from a little adaptor box when I use my designs or use the Alembic with other normal commercial gear.
 
#15
thomgun_lc said:
😉 Hi there!!! 😉
I'm a bass player with a low budget🙂 . I'm not satisfied with my humbucker pickup sound, the sound too boomy without a clear sound. How about to rewound the coil or add some passive components (RLC) or some active circuit to get a different sound??
Click to expand...


Hi,

The first option is to add a series / parallel switch. The humbucker
is probably wired in series and will sound much brighter (with lower
output in the bass) if wired in parallel. If its already wired in parallel
then it won't work, and niether will shorting one of the coils.

🙂/sreten.
 
#16
Brett said:

Building an onbaord pre of equal or better quality to the commercial stuff is easy, if you don't limit yourself to batteries and go offboard with the power. No need to cut holes for the battery box and no risk of your running flat mid gig. Mine power direct from my custom rack pre, or from a little adaptor box when I use my designs or use the Alembic with other normal commercial gear.
Click to expand...

This is *exactly* what I want to do for the bass I'm building (and for the power for the two I already have with active pups - they are Precisions and it's a pain in the bottom having to remove the pickguard to change the battery).

I was looking to do a 18V version of this: http://www.till.com/articles/GuitarPreamp/
 
#17
I build active electronics into most every Guitar I own to give it that extra Punch......

I have built several Boosters(Volume/Trebble/Bass/Overdrive/Compressor ect) that were small enough to Fit inside even the smallest Guitars.....

There are several such curcuits over at DIYStompboxes.com that are easy enough to build cheaply and small enough to fit inside a guitar or bass.....

😀
 
#19
rickl said:
I'm definitely working on improving my skills. I haven't even figured out the knobs on my p-bass 😀
Click to expand...
I'm not sure if you're taking the mickey, but the one closest to the neck is the volume and the other is the tone control which is just a variable low pass RC network. At least this is how my P is wired and nearly every other one I've seen, but who knows with some of the clones and the variations (active pre, an extra bridge or neck pickup etc).
 
#20
Brett said:
I'm not sure if you're taking the mickey, but the one closest to the neck is the volume and the other is the tone control which is just a variable low pass RC network. At least this is how my P is wired and nearly every other one I've seen, but who knows with some of the clones and the variations (active pre, an extra bridge or neck pickup etc).
Click to expand...

Thanks Brett. I didn't even look tonight when I practiced. I do have two PUPs (one 'dual?' and one by the bridge) and three knobs if it helps (standard Squire p-bass). I searched Musicansfriends and it looks like

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Squier-Standard-P-Bass-Special-Edition?sku=519630

From the site, I guess I have:
# Split single-coil center pickup with volume control
# Jazz Bass bridge pickup with volume control
# Master tone control

Thanks for forcing me to look at this.

rick
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom