Oscar South Posted April 7, 2009 Share Posted April 7, 2009 (edited) I have a Cort C4 Ltd which I bought off basschat a while ago, I love the neck, feel, setup etc. of that bass but I want to replace the Mighty Mite pickups (pair of soapbars) as I can get a decent but not entirely versatile tone out of it and I'd liek something higher spec. I also have a Yamaha TRB1005 which I like as well, but I much prefer the feel of the cort. The Yamaha has much better pickups in though, I've not measured them up yet but they look similar, If they're the same size can I just swap them over and use the cort with the better pickups? (even though one is a 4 string bass and one is a 5)? Thanks, Oscar. Edited April 7, 2009 by Oscar South Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OutToPlayJazz Posted April 7, 2009 Share Posted April 7, 2009 If the dimensions are the same, they should work fine... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leschirons Posted April 7, 2009 Share Posted April 7, 2009 (edited) If they have exposed pole peices, you will see 4 on the 4 string pickups and five on the 5 string pickups. Don't these need to be in line with the strings? (directly under each string) This has always been an issue with guitars when I've had pickups changed in the past. The 5 string pickups may also be longer and you wouldn't want to have to rout out the body. I would look in the marketplace section for some good secondhand 4 stringers. Edited April 7, 2009 by leschirons Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oscar South Posted April 7, 2009 Author Share Posted April 7, 2009 I measured em up, they are a bit longer even thought they look similar. Yea I've been watching the marketplace, only prob is soapbars seem to be sold as singles a lot of the time so its a hassle finding a good set for an 'affordable' amount. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted April 7, 2009 Share Posted April 7, 2009 [quote name='leschirons' post='456145' date='Apr 7 2009, 09:23 AM']If they have exposed pole peices, you will see 4 on the 4 string pickups and five on the 5 string pickups. Don't these need to be in line with the strings? (directly under each string) This has always been an issue with guitars when I've had pickups changed in the past. The 5 string pickups may also be longer and you wouldn't want to have to rout out the body. I would look in the marketplace section for some good secondhand 4 stringers.[/quote] Yeah Fender - does a Musicmaster bass have 6 strings? In general, to save pain 2 things need to be true for a painless change. 1) physical size of the pickup has to be the same/damn near the same and 2) rail polepieces will make sure that strings are covered, with some provisos - if the rail is straight across the whole pickup, no problem. If it's split like a Precision pickup (like the EMG P soapbars for instance) then you need to make sure the split is in the middle for a 4 string bass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huge Hands Posted April 7, 2009 Share Posted April 7, 2009 My advice would be to try it. Its the guts inside that determine whether it will work, not the casing. I got Wizard to make me a set of 5 string J-pups based on the dimensions of the originals in my P5. The initial set they made, although a match in casing size, did not pick up in a wide enough field to get all strings. For example, if I played a downstroke on the low B, i.e., pushing it into the field, the sound was good. If I plucked upwards (as normal for me), I lost the initial attack as the string was pulled out of the sensing area of the pickup. Thankfully I was able to get another set from Wizard that worked - if I understood him correctly, Andy fiddled with the "blade" dimensions within the pickup design. I think experiment will be your only way to see if your current pup is wide enough! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted April 7, 2009 Share Posted April 7, 2009 [quote name='Oscar South' post='456136' date='Apr 7 2009, 09:15 AM']I have a Cort C4 Ltd which I bought off basschat a while ago, I love the neck, feel, setup etc. of that bass but I want to replace the Mighty Mite pickups (pair of soapbars)[/quote] I don't blame you. I had Mighty (haha) Mite pups on my old Tobias 6, they were more feeble than an asthmatic vole with a bad hangover. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huge Hands Posted April 7, 2009 Share Posted April 7, 2009 [quote name='Rich' post='456232' date='Apr 7 2009, 11:05 AM']I don't blame you. I had Mighty (haha) Mite pups on my old Tobias 6, they were more feeble than an asthmatic vole with a bad hangover.[/quote] I have to say I've always enjoyed the Mighty Mites on my Cort C5. Never had an issue with them, and the added active electronics give plenty of extra scope. Must admit I normally use it in active mode. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oscar South Posted April 7, 2009 Author Share Posted April 7, 2009 They're not too bad, I only use them in active mode too. They're just only really that good for fingerstyle playing I find, anything else and the tone suffers, also theres not a great variety of tones to be bad from the electronics, tone seems to deteriorate with the blend dial on anything less than dead center and the bass/treble controls don't seem to do anything too dramatic either. It'll be a few hundred quid though to gut it, put a new set of good pickups on it and redo all the circuitry, I'm thinking of just keeping this as a 'cheap' (its damn good for a cheap bass) bass and getting something higher end for my main. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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