Cieran

[quote name='henry norton' post='879634' date='Jun 28 2010, 10:20 AM']The EMG HB is basically the EMG P pickup squashed into a guitar humbucker sized case - yeah, they sound pretty good although it is an active pickup so may sound a little too harsh or bright in comparison to your TV Jones. The DiMarzio Model 1 has the narrow spacing you need but is not a guitar humbucker size or shape so won't fit your Gretsch. It's designed to drop into a Gibson Mudbucker neck position so won't tick any of your boxes. The Squier P will give you all the P growl you'd need and if you've got a nice TV pickup in your Gretsch already why not spend your hard earned on a DiMarzio/Wizard/Seymour Duncan/Lollar pickup for your Squier?[/quote] Thanks for the info Henry. After weighing it up I think I will do as you suggested and stick with the Thunder'Tron - that way I have a larger range of sounds available from both basses. Next on the agenda is saving enough money to get myself a Jaguar Bass VI...............

[quote name='neepheid' post='878106' date='Jun 26 2010, 12:59 PM']The EMG-HB is a split rail humbucker in a P-like configuration. Can't speak specifically about the HZ/Select passive versions, but I have the active HBs in my Epiphone Les Paul bass, just slotted right in. I think the Schaller Bassbucker is guitar humbucker sized, check the excellent techy info on the Schaller site: [url="http://bass-pickups.com/hp135071/Bass-Humbucker.htm"]http://bass-pickups.com/hp135071/Bass-Humbucker.htm[/url][/quote] Thanks for the info guys. Wasn't even aware of the Schaller humbucker - have also come across the DiMarzio Model One & model G, as well as the Seymour Duncan Hawkbucker, which are all guitar sized humbuckers. The Schaller seems the best as far as I am concerned - have used Schaller gear before and from my experience it is quality made. Am I right in thinking the Schaller will be very p-bass sounding? Also do you think it will make much of a difference over the TV Jones Thunder'Tron which is also a guitar sized humbucker? I am fairly new to the world of pickups and would rather not spend unnecessary money on getting a new one if it is not going to make that much difference. The Thunder'Tron specs are: DC resistance - 4.8k, Inductance - 2.05 H, Pole to Pole .676", Alnico magnets (these figures mean nothing to me but thought someone else might understand them!) I have only been playing bass for just under a year and the players that originally inspired me were JJ Burnel/ Stranglers, Bruce Foxton/ Jam, Paul Simonon/ Clash - I really dig that p-bass/ rick sound with Rotosound strings. However I know this information now but didn't when I orignally purchased my short-scale Gretsch G2202. It has been a really steep learning curve with all of this and so far I have swapped pickups, replaced/ soldered the electronics and given it a whole new paint job all by myself. I have also since gone on to buy a cheap squier p-bass. So basically I don't know whether I should leave my Gretsch/Thunder'Tron bass as it is for a nice deep, boomy sound and then use my squier p-bass when i need a typical p-bass sound or whether I should try to make my Gretsch sound more p-bass like which will essentially give me 2 guitars with a similar sound and thus limit the range of sounds/ styles I can get with the 2 of them. Thanks once again for the info....

Not sure if this is the right place for this topic but here goes... I am looking for a direct replacement (with as little modding as possible) for my TV Jones Thunder'Tron which I currently have in my Gretsch G2202. As far as I can tell the only likely candidates that are passive and are the same dimensions as a standard guitar humbucker are: - Rio Grande Pitbull (14k) $100+ - EMG-SEHB Select Bass (8.2k) $25+ Does anyone have any experience with either of these pickups? I am ideally after as close to a p-bass sound as possible. Or does anyone know of any other candidates other than these two? Many thanks

Hello everyone - this is my first post on basschat so please be kind! I am new to the world of bass and only last month got my first guitar - a short scale Gretsch G2202 electromatic junior jet. I love it's scale length as it provides a fairly easy transition from regular guitar which I have been playing 5+ years. Since I got it I have been going through the process of trying different types of strings - chromes, nickels, gold-plated and finally steels. I'm currently using some La Bella Hard Rockin' steels which I am really happy with - tone and tension wise, but was thinking of trying some Super Steps after reading up on them. However from what I can tell the general consensus is that taper/ exposed core strings have less tension due to their reduced mass - is this right?? I detune this bass a fair bit with heavy gauge strings (54-111), so it is essential I crank as much tension out of the strings as possible. Also on a side note I have read on another forum that it is possible to get a similar taper/ exposed core tone out of regular strings by bending them at the bridge and nut to create a good 'witness point'. Is this something that anyone has come across?? Any advice or suggestions are welcome. Thanks!