Pickup upgrade for Aria fretless 5string

[jh5speed 0]

Afternoon all

Just joined the forum and having a pleasant time exploring the threads.Thanks to all who contribute here.

One of my basses is a 5strg Aria Pro 2 Magna fretless which l reckon could benefit from a pickup upgrade. I was thinking of just changing out the bridge J type...

Trouble is the spacing is 15mm. I’m OK with that, but are there any J 5 pickups out there which would fit the hole and which have 15mm centres?

If not what is the alternative? Happy to get my router out and mod the hole if needed. Not looking for anything fancy as the rest of the hardware is pretty modest, but there’s scope for some tonal improvement l think. 

I’d be very grateful for any advice. Thanks.

Marc

[geoffbyrne 56]

How about "rail"-type pickups?

G.

[jh5speed 0]

Yes l was wondering about rails - the existing Aria pickup appears to be a rail (though embedded under the plastic cover) as far as l can make out using a magnetic ball bearing ...

The rail type advertised on Janika.co.uk as a 4 string rail would fit the existing hole (and cover 5strings at 15mm spacing) but l wonder whether it would be much of an improvement. It’s only £17 so could be worth a try. Anyone out there using this pickup?

Another option is a Warman humbucker double rail at about the same price which would involve a bit of chopping about.

M

Edited December 23, 2019 by jh5speed

[amir93smith 0]

I replaced the pickups in my magna with some mecs I found on eBay (taken out of a warwick) 

[John Cribbin 59]

Depending on the pickup construction. It might be an option to have the original rewound to the spec you're looking for. Sort out the spacing issue.

[amir93smith 0]

The mecs have a bar magnet going through them (similar to soap bars) if you'd like I can record some quick clips. 

Think warwick/mec sell them on their site 

[jh5speed 0]

Hi  - l missed the replies here. Thanks  all. I got a new bar type from Janika so will report back when l get around to fitting that. In the meantime l’m rather enjoying playing on my 4string which l fitted with Schaller Jtypes some years ago.

M