Adding a bridge pickup for a short scale?

[DF Shortscale]

I have a Musicmaster style short scale which has a fairly loud P-style pickup installed in it. It's a very nice bass but it feels like it desperately needs a bridge pickup somewhere around the 60's position, not right by the bridge like the current USA Mustangs but much closer to the 60's spot. Before I go ahead and butcher this bass (it's not vintage and it's not a Fender), can anyone:

 

a. give me any reason why this would be a terrible idea?

b. recommend a single coil J pickup that has a nice loud but vintage J style tone, and won't be dwarfed by the loud P pickup? Nothing modern / over the top / no giant humbuckers etc, just a traditional (but maybe louder than average) J bridge pickup. 

 

 

Also - if anyone has done this mod on a shortie, please tell me how it went, and whether you liked the outcome or thought it was a waste of time. Thanks!

 

 

 

 

[Andyjr1515]

Go for it!

 

The J-only and the P-J blended sounds will be tangibly different to the P-only sound.  The J will produce a different tone not only because it is closer to the bridge, but also because the sonics of a single-coil J is very different to those of a P design.

 

I would strongly urge you to consider a blend rather than an on-off three way switch, but, either way, you will find that those different tones at your disposal give you options in different venues and genres that can be very useful. 

 

Do be aware, of course, that any non-reversible mod to a guitar or bass will reduce its resale value, regardless of how well it's done.

[DF Shortscale]

8 hours ago, Andyjr1515 said:

Go for it!

 

The J-only and the P-J blended sounds will be tangibly different to the P-only sound.  The J will produce a different tone not only because it is closer to the bridge, but also because the sonics of a single-coil J is very different to those of a P design.

 

I would strongly urge you to consider a blend rather than an on-off three way switch, but, either way, you will find that those different tones at your disposal give you options in different venues and genres that can be very useful. 

 

Do be aware, of course, that any non-reversible mod to a guitar or bass will reduce its resale value, regardless of how well it's done.

 

Thanks, yeah it would definitely be a blend, not a fan of pickup switches at all. I'm half tempted to buy the Model J set, so if I'm not happy with the tone of the P-style pickup I'll just turn the whole thing into a jazz bass. It's a funny old pickup, it looks like a 50's P pickup but is actually a split coil. I'm also going to switch out the tone control, it's doing something nasal that I really don't like at the moment, it's not doing what you'd expect a tone control to do on a Precision. It's quite a lot of modding, which I'm not normally into but it's a case of a bass with perfect ergonomics and playability but weird tone. I want to be able to gig with it.

[Kyndainverse]

I'm interested in how you get on with this mod. And intrigued by what bass you have.

[Baloney Balderdash]

Sounds like a great idea to me.

 

I exclusively use the bridge J pickup on my 5 string Ibanez GSRM25 Mikro Bass, which is even shorter than the standard 30" for short scale basses, at just 28.6" (and no, I don't have it strung up and tuned with a low B string, in fact the lowest string is a gauge .080 string, tuned to G, 3 half steps above regular 4 string low E, the latter though in my opinion working perfectly great on a regular 30" scale short scale bass), and it gives me a really resonant growly tone, with a huge sustain, that is really sensitive and responsive to picking dynamics, as is typical for single coil pickups, not only in terms of volume, but also in terms of changing character and tone depending on how and how hard I pick.

 

For the latter reason I recommend you getting a true single coil pickup.

 

What about hum then, you properly ask.

 

Well, I don't know how Ibanez did it, this even being a budget instrument, but this bass is practically quiet, might be due to the fact that they have started using shielded wiring, that is wiring where the ground runs as a braided shield all along the independently insulated hot wire.

 

So if you just shield your bass properly and replace the wiring for shielded wire, while you are at installing a new pickup anyway, you should be good.

 

If it works this great for a sub short scale cheap budget bass with cheap budget pickups, then I can only imagine how great it would work with a better pickup on a 30" scale instrument.

 

Plus, since you got a middle pickup already, adding a bridge pickup and a blend pot it ought to give you access to a broad pallet of tones (or you might even consider wiring the new bridge pickup to an independent output jack socket, so you can blend the two pickups actively off board, with for instance something like a Boss LS-2 pedal, or even using 2 independent amps for each of the 2 pickups respectively, which would give you even wider tonal options). 

 

DO IT !!!

 

Edited February 9 by Baloney Balderdash

[DF Shortscale]

10 hours ago, Baloney Balderdash said:

Sounds like a great idea to me.

 

I exclusively use the bridge J pickup on my 5 string Ibanez GSRM25 Mikro Bass, which is even shorter than the standard 30" for short scale basses, at just 28.6" (and no, I don't have it strung up and tuned with a low B string, in fact the lowest string is a gauge .080 string, tuned to G, 3 half steps above regular 4 string low E, the latter though in my opinion working perfectly great on a regular 30" scale short scale bass), and it gives me a really resonant growly tone, with a huge sustain, that is really sensitive and responsive to picking dynamics, as is typical for single coil pickups, not on in terms of volume, but also in terms of changing character and tone depending on how and how hard I pick.

 

For the latter reason I recommend you getting a true single coil pickup.

 

What about hum then, you properly ask.

 

Well, I don't know how Ibanez did it, this even being a budget instrument, but this bass is practically quiet, might be due to the fact that they have started using shielded wiring, that is wiring where the ground runs as a braided shield all along the independently insulated hot wire.

 

So if you just shield your bass properly and replace the wiring for shielded wire, while you are at installing a new pickup anyway, you should be good.

 

If it works this great for sub short scale cheap budget bass with cheap budget pickups, then I can only imagine how great it would work with a better pickup on a 30" scale instrument.

 

Plus, since you got a middle pickup already, adding a bridge pickup and a blend pot it ought to give you access to a broad pallet of tones (or you might even consider wiring the new bridge pickup to an independent output jack socket, so you can blend the two pickups actively off board, with for instance something like a Boss LS-2 pedal, or even using 2 independent amps for each of the 2 pickups respectively, which would give you even wider tonal options). 

 

DO IT !!!

 

Thanks for the motivation! I’m gonna do it. Or rather get someone who knows what they’re doing to do it.

[DF Shortscale]

On 08/02/2024 at 16:00, Kyndainverse said:

I'm interested in how you get on with this mod. And intrigued by what bass you have.

 

I’ll post some info and pics once I’ve modded it.

[JohnDaBass]

I am in the process of upgrading a rather nice 2015 Squier Jaguar SS.

I have successfully used the DiMarzio Split P Pup on a few Bitsa builds, it's a fantastic Pup,  it's powerful, articulate, with a huge range of tones. 

In my search to match a single coil bridge Pup to the Split P I concluded that the DiMarzio Ultra J was the best fit.

The DiMarzio website has a very nice set of data sets and graphics  which show the tone and power characteristics for each of their Pups.

The Split P has a reference output of 250 which is the same as the Ultra J. That 250 output is far higher than the new Relentless P and J Pups so I am hopeful of quite a nice balance between the Split P and Ultra J so avoiding the normal drop off of gain when switching from P to J .

The Ultra J is humbucking so should be free from hum associated with single coil Pups.

As always,  do your research, seek testimonials from  guys who have actually used the various target Pups and listen, listen, listen to as many examples before parting with your hard earned cash. 

Good luck with your quest. 

Edited February 9 by JohnDaBass
Error

[ped]

I say go for it. I recently bought a 66 Mustang which had already been modified, so I asked the fantastic @Andyjr1515 to change the pickups and straighten things up for me. Full thread here

https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/471651-modding-a-66-mustang-really-really/#comment-4854101

 

There are lots of options for bridge pickups, and on a Musicmaster you have quite a bit more space to play with to position the pickup. Because the mustang has such a bit bridge and because I wanted to use the existing hole I butted mine right up to the backplate, which gives approximately 70s spacing (taking the shorter scale into account). Blended, it sounds superb and the bridge pickup on it's own is really loud and 'parpy'

 

You can hear it here, sorry for the shite playing. Mostly neck at the start, blended from 1:00 and bridge at 2:00

 

 

 

[DF Shortscale]

4 hours ago, ped said:

I say go for it. I recently bought a 66 Mustang which had already been modified, so I asked the fantastic @Andyjr1515 to change the pickups and straighten things up for me. Full thread here

https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/471651-modding-a-66-mustang-really-really/#comment-4854101

 

There are lots of options for bridge pickups, and on a Musicmaster you have quite a bit more space to play with to position the pickup. Because the mustang has such a bit bridge and because I wanted to use the existing hole I butted mine right up to the backplate, which gives approximately 70s spacing (taking the shorter scale into account). Blended, it sounds superb and the bridge pickup on it's own is really loud and 'parpy'

 

You can hear it here, sorry for the shite playing. Mostly neck at the start, blended from 1:00 and bridge at 2:00

 

 

 

Wow that bass sounds tasty, the tones in this and the other video you posted with the flats are killer. Really like that Gemini pickup in the bridge. I’ll send you a DM.