Fender '51 CS P-bass problem

[boroman]

I have a problem with my '51 CS P. It has factory installed "51 stacked pbass pickup" made in seymour duncan's custom shop ([url="http://customshop.seymourduncan.com/51-p-bass-stack/"]http://customshop.se...1-p-bass-stack/[/url]). The neck as usual, is not flat top, it's carved like most p-basses. Pickup is made without raised A and D pole pieces which leads to completely unbalanced sound. I tried changing strings, I've tried chaning pickup positioning: up/down and balancing it. Stuck with situation where E, A, D are near equal in power, but G is almost twice as loud that the others. Just don't know what to do.

This is my first '51 type bass, so maybe some of you can tell me if they just tend to be unbalanced and its their nature? How i can deal with it? It's unusable, even playing with compressor.

Edited January 8, 2016 by boroman

[Muppet]

Hi, I've had one of these pickups before but not had the problems you describe. Is the pickup fitted the correct way round (implausible I would think)? Before assuming it is the pickup I would check the strings at all body touch points - bridge, nut, tuner to make sure everything is OK, then adjust strings to factory spec height and pickup height also.

Have you tried a different amp too just to rule out another potential cause?

[franzbassist]

Have you tried adjusting the (basic) bridge too? One possibility would be to fit an aftermarket pickup, such as the Fralin, which i believe does have staggered pole pieces.

[Turnaround]

Fantastic instruments and I really like them but you have to recognise that a 51 style p bass and indeed the late 60s Tele single coil basses have a fairly unfocused looser almost raggedy sound. Wonderful contrast to later split coil P bass which is more focused, tighter and almost compressed in comparison. Another thought would be changing strings might help

[Happy Jack]

If it's a CS bass then it really, [i][b]really [/b][/i]should work properly without needing parts replacing!

Boroman, have you owned this bass from new, or did you buy it from someone else?

[ikay]

What height are the strings from the poles? May sound a bit counter intuitive but to get an even magnetic flux with these it's sometimes better for the pickup to be lowered.

As a point of reference, I have a '57 P (single coil) with flat poles and get a good string balance with the following setup (measurements in inches):

G - 12/64
D - 16/64
A - 16/64
E - 13/64

I know the stacked pickup is taller than the regular single coil which might possibly be part of the problem. Close pickup settings will accentuate the G and E, but set them up with a bit of air and they produce a wonderfully rich piano-like tone. Beautiful things!

[boroman]

Guys, I checked everything from strings, nut, to bridge etc. @ikay - I will check that height tonight, but I spend one day raising, lowering and balancing with no "balanced" results. The bass sound great unplugged so this is not string/bridge/nut issue. Also Height of each string is setup right to the fretboard curve.

@Happy Jack - I bought it second hand but it "like new" shape, I saw that ad on this bass here too somewhere.

I will record something to DI without any effects to show you that problem. I mailed Fender CS (they wanted me to ship bass to the US… no way) and mailed also Seymour Duncan about raising pole pieces and they said its impossible with this construction and I can destroy windings if I try to push A and D magnets up.

This is my bass (identical) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIVa40Du1z4

[karlfer]

As wonderful as these basses are, they have the limitations inherant in the original design.

Whenever I've had one of these kind of basses with 2 saddle bridge and single coil, I've replaced the bridge with one of the £50 Fender Deluxe string through bridges. Same 3 screw placement.
Just makes the whole pick up/intonation/string height balancing job so much easier. ALWAYS keeping the original bridge of course.

Good luck, lovely bass,

Edited January 9, 2016 by karlfer

[police squad]

I have the same problem with one of mine. It also has the stacked pickup (same as Stings bass). Seymour Duncan said I could push the pole pieces in a little on the A & D strings to even up the sound. I haven't done it yet. I raised the action on the E string a little , which helped. I don't really use the G that often and I just live with it. I might just change the pickup

[boroman]

[quote name='police squad' timestamp='1452262870' post='2948216']
I have the same problem with one of mine. It also has the stacked pickup (same as Stings bass). Seymour Duncan said I could push the pole pieces in a little on the A & D strings to even up the sound. I haven't done it yet. I raised the action on the E string a little , which helped. I don't really use the G that often and I just live with it. I might just change the pickup
[/quote]

Yeah. I thought the same. Will balance the pickup so E, A, D will sound equal and leave G because I hardy every touch this.. But there's a song when I hit octaves and it just so loud that OMG... I never thought that Sting bass had stacked CS SD pickup? I've read that its split coil, but never "stacked" (which is only produced by SD). I'm just back from rehearsal, and man, I love that bass. Never ending punch and sustain, but that unbalanced G string... damn. Maybe I should push A / D pole pieces and even if it breaks I just replace to another one with raised poles. huh.

[police squad]

yep, try it and if it breaks change it. Stings has the coils wired in parallel too

[Twincam]

Have you tried just lowering the pickup for all strings then just slight raising the g
Or vice versa

You won't have a nice string curve (radius) but it will balance the sound more. You will adapt to the compromise in setup but you will never adapt to a loud unbalanced string.

[boroman]

[quote name='Twincam' timestamp='1452366313' post='2949346']
Have you tried just lowering the pickup for all strings then just slight raising the g
Or vice versa

You won't have a nice string curve (radius) but it will balance the sound more. You will adapt to the compromise in setup but you will never adapt to a loud unbalanced string.
[/quote]


Yep, but I set is as low as I could. Since this is "stacked" contruction, it's deeper than standard s-c for 51 pbass. I have around 10-12mm from strings now but it don't go lower than that.

By the way. What pickups do you recommend for 51 pbass? What is difference between split coil and normal beside the hum-cancelling feautre? I play lot with fuzz so noise is someting I count… Does anyone on the market produces "stacked" 51 pickup?