4 string J bass pickups in a 5 string. Can it be done?

[BELA]

Sorry if this is not the right forum but I did not know where to post.

I have a 5 string bass that has no pickups because I removed them and put it in another instrument.

And then I have a set of J pickups designed for a 4 string bass.

I do not want to spend the money on a new set for the 5 string, for the time being, so I was wondering if I can put the 4 string pickups in the 5 string bass should they be wide enough.

Can it be done?

What would I miss/lose in comparison to the "real thing"?

 

Thanks  

[Dazed]

Unless the 4 string jazz pickups are blade types and wide enough to cover the width of 5 strings I don’t see how 4 or 8 magnets in a typical 4 string J pickup would sense the 5 strings evenly or well at all? 
If you have the pickups and assuming the body wouldn’t need routing mods to fit, just try it and see how it works out. 

[shoulderpet]

2 hours ago, BELA said:

Sorry if this is not the right forum but I did not know where to post.

I have a 5 string bass that has no pickups because I removed them and put it in another instrument.

And then I have a set of J pickups designed for a 4 string bass.

I do not want to spend the money on a new set for the 5 string, for the time being, so I was wondering if I can put the 4 string pickups in the 5 string bass should they be wide enough.

Can it be done?

What would I miss/lose in comparison to the "real thing"?

 

Thanks  

Depends where they are positioned I would imagine, by the bridge would probably not be good but by the neck where the spacing is closer together would probably be fine

[Cosmo Valdemar]

I used to have a 5 string Epiphone Thunderbird, the 90s PJ model. It had VERY narrow string spacing and used 4 string pickups, so the A string sat between the magnets and was very quiet.

Unfortunately I was very young and naive, and the crook of a shopkeeper convinced me it was normal and even Warwicks used 4-string pickups... 

 

[jd56hawk]

Pics of the bass and pickups might help, but it's more than likely not going to work.

[Lfalex v1.1]

8 hours ago, Cosmo Valdemar said:

Unfortunately I was very young and naive, and the crook of a shopkeeper convinced me it was normal and even Warwicks used 4-string pickups... 

 

Some Warwicks share pickups between 4 and 5 strings. I have 2 that do; An Infnity SN4 and Fortress MM5. The MEC TwinJ (JJ) pickups are the same on both basses. I've been told that they've blades inside rather than individual polepieces. 

[andruca]

I converted a 4 string cheap kit P into a 5 string PJ (then a fretless). The P pickup was no problem, sounds balanced in all strings. Now the J, well, you couldn't notice with both pickups on, but definitely could when soloing the J. I swapped it for a narrow 5 string J (cheap, from AliExpress) and it works way better.

 

 

[BELA]

1 hour ago, andruca said:

I converted a 4 string cheap kit P into a 5 string PJ (then a fretless). The P pickup was no problem, sounds balanced in all strings. Now the J, well, you couldn't notice with both pickups on, but definitely could when soloing the J. I swapped it for a narrow 5 string J (cheap, from AliExpress) and it works way better.

 

 

Gracias Andruca! Yo también soy de Madrid! Me llamo Victor.