Humbucker Outline Bass Pickups

[Robert_the_damned]

Hi everyone,

I've recently bought an old Kay SG bass as I need a bass but have no money, as far as I know this body is routed for humbucker sized pickups (as in guitar humbuckers). I was wondering what options I had in the way of pickups that would be direct drop-ins but designed for bass. I know EMG does a bass HB but I've not found anything else whatsoever.

I'd rather not buy EMG as that would mean trippling the cost of the project! I'd be tempted to just use standard gutiar humbuckers but have no idea how that'll sound.

Any information would be appreciated.

Robert.

[kpcrash]

Ugh! Guitar humbuckers?

Got a router? Ok, seriously, there are several types of HB bass pickups - the problem will be that a gtr sized hb barely covers all four strings. eBay is a great place to search for these (just to get ideas if nothing else). If all else fails, there are several people on here who can make pickups - whether or not they will cost you more than EMGs is up to them.

[Robert_the_damned]

yeah I was thinking guitar humbuckers are going to sound well...yeah wont even go there.

I don't have a router unfortunately, and as this body is already routed I'd probbaly have to rebuild it and then re-route and its just a lot of hastle and I really need this to be a rather quick project.

[WezV]

there is no reason for a guitar pickup to sound bad used on a bass... there are two important issues though

1. polepiece spacing - obviously if they dont match up with the bass you may get some loss of signal some of the time. so if putting a guitar pickup in a bass its best to get something with blade polepieces to prevent that

2. the other issue as mentioned already is string spacing, and whether the strings actually fit over the pickup... some of the older basses like kay's generally have a narrower spacing so check first but you might be alright

[Robert_the_damned]

Any particular suggestions if I decide to go down that route Wez? I've got a number of pickups lieing arround so if I can get away with using something that I already have that'd be handy. This is only going to be used for playing metal so its going to be down in the mix anyway.

[kpcrash]

I guess you're right Wez, but might suggest making sure 250k pots are in there???

[dugg]

I don't see any reason why guitar pickups would be 'bad' in a bass, they really aren't all that different. Humbuckers have the magnet under the pickup and the field is unfocused compared to a single with magnet polepieces. That's why a setup like EVH's with a humbucker mounted on the slant works. The screws and iron polepieces of the humbucker won't line up visually with your bass strings, but I'm betting you won't hear much difference in string balance.

[WezV]

Humbuckers have the magnet under the pickup and the field is unfocused compared to a single with magnet polepieces. That's why a setup like EVH's with a humbucker mounted on the slant works. The screws and iron polepieces of the humbucker won't line up visually with your bass strings, but I'm betting you won't hear much difference in string balance.

to a point, its definately more pronounced with singles but dont forget that the screws and slug polepieces in a humbucker do help to focus the field - thats why you can alter the screws to change the sound

i think you probably would be ok without the strings lining up to the polepieces but i wouldnt call it ideal. it depends a lot on the individual design of pickup.

i put a set of pickups in a guitar the other day and managed to mix up the neck and (trem spaced) bridge, the pole pieces missed the strings quite a bit at the neck pickup and it clearly sounded bad... but those were some handwound Bare Knuckle Pickups and they tend to be very sensitive to slight adjustments

as for what i would recommend for the bass... try whatever you have or go for some GFS pickups. they have a good reputation round these parts, good value for money and have plenty of blade style pickups