bluesy

Nah, the dimensions are too large, and they look like surface mount. I bet they are more Music Man replacements. Thanks anyway. I have ordered an EMG bass humbucker from a local store that I think will even fit inside the old pickup cover. That and a new mounting ring, and I should be set.

I haven't decided how much refinishing to do. If I wanted to restore to new condition, I'd need to get the gold hardware replated, but, as many people here have suggested, the aged look of the pickups etc might be a look to preserve. Hey, they sell reproductions of rock stars guitars with the scratches all faithfully reproduced! The back of this guitar had started to come away from the edge at the bottom. I think the wood has suffered a little shrinkage. I have reglued it, and need to smooth the edge where the finish has all worn away. I was thinking of respraying just the edge and various chips to seal it, then see how it looks after cleaning and polishing.

Yes it's a fully floating bridge, just like a more normal archtop (did I mention this is a full hollowbody as well?). A lovely big solid chunky thing it is too. One thing about it that is odd, is a little metal 'shelf' under the strings just forward of the slanted bridge saddle. I think you can see it in the photos. It looks like it used to have something stuck to it. I was thinking it might have been a foam damper or something, but if so, I can't see any mechanism to switch it in and out. Any other suggestions on what it is? I noticed it was a little bit to one side also (judging by the alignment of the strings and the pickup poles). The strings are stuffed too, so I will give it a full setup and reposition the bridge when I have fixed the pickup.

Yes they look like the Music Man pickups. They are bigger, and surface mounted.

Yes, aged is a good word for the way they look If it will fit, I'll definitely put the cover on the new pickup. I pulled the faulty pickup apart and it's completely dismantleable. There's a frame under the cover, and 2 separate interlocking magnets with pole pieces. The coils (in plastic formers) just slide off them. They were originally stuck with what looks like contact cement (which has hardened and largely let go). I guess I could get it rebuilt - or at least just send the faulty coil away for rewinding - if I was determined to restore this to complete originality.

Great ideas. If the mounting rings fit, that's the easiest solution. If not, the adapter plate would work well too.

I appreciate all the ideas.... Thought I'd post a picture or two, as it is an interesting old guitar. You can see that the two mounting lugs at the top of the humbucker are quite far apart, so I don't think I can use the pickup you posted the photo of (guess I'll drill the mounting ring to take something more standard) and this is the headstock with the machine heads I mentioned in my other question

Sorry to be unclear. I guess the first question is if these 3-lugged pickups can be purchased anywhere, but as they might be expensive anyway, should I use a normal bass humbucker that will fit with just the small mod I suggested to the mounting hole. I never thought about the possibility of using a normal humbucker from a 6 string - will that work - it's only a 4 string bass)

I am restoring an old bass and the machine heads are kind of unusual. The shaft comes in from the side, and the strings go into slots in the headstock (like a classical guitar). I think they will work OK if I take them out and lubricate them. What is the right type of lube to use do you think?

I am restoring an old bass guitar. The pickups on it are humbuckers, and I need to replace one of them as it's coil is o/c (or I could rewind it I suppose), but instead of the usual single screw at each end for height adjustment and mounting in the rings, these have 2 screws at one end, and one at the other. The size seems to be about standard (70x39mm). The only other 3 lugged pickup I can find using google is the larger Music Man type. I guess I can just drill a hole in the centre of the mounting ring at the end where there are 2 at the moment, then use a normal humbucker?

The surgical tubing idea is new to me. Are you referring to the tubing used to supply oxygen, or used for a drip, or something else?

Thanks for your thoughts. The cardboard was jammed between the side of the chrome pickup cover and the inside of the black plastic ring, so it would prevent both the pickup, and the cover from moving. The ring is held down by the usual 4 screws, but as I removed the cardboard, I noted that the thin (long) side was very flexible and easy to move. Maybe it's just a cheap ring. Anyway, like a lot of things, I will just have to experiment I guess.

I was a little annoyed to find, on a brand new guitar that I had purchased, that someone had stuck a bit of folded cardboard down between the side of the pickup and the plastic pickup ring (on the neck pickup on the side furthest from the neck). The guitar is a Washburn J3 (Gibson ES175 copy) hollowbody with 2 humbucking pickups. I removed the cardboard and soon found out why it was there. When you play rhythm on the guitar a nasty noise is heard through the amp, which turns out to ne vibration - of the pickup ring, I believe. The cardboard was preventing it vibrating. Has anyone experienced this before. I wonder if it's vibrating against the guitar top or against the pickup? So, how would you fix this? Should I replace the pickup ring (maybe for a better made one), or maybe file the bottom edge a bit to see if it was vibrating against the guitar top (and this might provide enough relief to stop it).

They look ideal to put under the bridge on my floating bridge archtop. I am going to try it.

If you mean that older, clean, jazzy sound, you might try one of those floating neck pickups that strap onto the end of the neck, or there's another type that mount on the pickguard. These leave the guitar's top intact (no holes or extra mass) for maximum acoustic sound which when amplified via a floating pickup, gives a distinct authentic sound.