Blades

[bassdog54]

Does anyone know of a blade type pup that will fit a Fender Musicmaster bass. I am currently using an SD SCPB-2 but am not totally satisfied with the string spacing issue, mainly over the E string pole. Still sounds pretty good. Gonna try an scpb-3 quarter pounder also. Bigger poles give bigger magnetic field so string excursion won't be such an issue. I may have to switch bridges to a model that will allow slight string spacing adjuctments. Thinking of a blade though. Thoughts? Bob

[Benjy_26]

Re: Blades

some people have liked the Cool Rails in their Musicmaster basses.

[ArtieToo]

Re: Blades

Thats interesting. Are you talking about the guitar pickup in a bass?

[Benjy_26]

Re: Blades

Yeah. The Musicmaster bass came with the same pickup as the Musicmaster guitar back in the day. it was a regular 6 polepice unit under a solid cover. I think they are the same pickups found in Duo-Sonics and mustangs too.

[Kent S.]

Re: Blades

Yeah. The Musicmaster bass came with the same pickup as the Musicmaster guitar back in the day. it was a regular 6 polepice unit under a solid cover. I think they are the same pickups found in Duo-Sonics and mustangs too.

I say this, rail type pups work very well on a bass, spreads the *field* around nicely, very true to attack, sustain, and harmonics. I remember that guitar that Dimarzio had that had a P bass pups towards the bridge ...
The cheap Bronco recommended a 1/lbs.er, I think it was, as a replacement. I still don't like the idea of pole pieces directly underneath bass strings, this is why Fender got away from that original tele style bass pup, and went with the double poles on either side of the string (similar to SD's parallel axis pups). Blades (rail) pups however work very well, and your smart to look into those. Plus you can always wire the cool rail for series/parallel.

[mrid]

Re: Blades

I second the Cool Rails

[bassdog54]

Re: Blades

Hmmmm. Interesting replys. Thanks. Kent S., what don't you like about the pole pieces directly under the bass string. What does it do/not do? I've gone away from the stock Strat pup to the scpb-3. I'm not convinced about the sound yet. I like the idea of a real bass pup but the cool rails thought interests me. I'll look into it. But what would be different from the orig guitar pup? What does the wiring for series/parallel do? Bob

[Metalman_666]

Re: Blades

I didn't think it was possible to use a guitar pup in a bass.... You'd think the sound would be really messed up.

[Kent S.]

Re: Blades

Hmmmm. Interesting replys. Thanks. Kent S., what don't you like about the pole pieces directly under the bass string. What does it do/not do? I've gone away from the stock Strat pup to the scpb-3. I'm not convinced about the sound yet. I like the idea of a real bass pup but the cool rails thought interests me. I'll look into it. But what would be different from the orig guitar pup? What does the wiring for series/parallel do? Bob

Genrally the attack portion of the sound is really strong, Fender had some problems with blown speakers and such from the poles picking up that strong of an attack a bass string has a lot more magnetic mass), plus I would assume that string pull is a problem also. Having the poles to either side gives you the same overall volume with less string pull, a softer attack the sustain portion remains more constitant in relation to the rest of the signal also, and better harmonics. I'm not saying that the tele bass style pup can't be used, it's just that the two pole on either side tend to work much better.
The blades or rails distribute that magnetic field evenly across all the strings, a broader field, but more of it, so the response or sensing of the pup is very even ... hard to explain, but they work well with instruments that are very dependent on string to string dynamics from the player.
A pup is a pup, the only differences are the tonal curve and output, guiatr pups can be used in bass as well, and bass pups (if they fit) can be used in guiatr, it's just a matter of whether or not it gives you the output and tone you want (string alignment is another problem) ... I don't have much real world hands on experience with swapping G and B pups back and forth, but consider that some basses actually want a good clean signal, and a good high end to preserve all of the harmonics (a bass because of the higher tension and larger mass of the strings has generally grreater and stronger harmonics than a guitar does), and with guiatr it's pretty much the same deal as well, just tuning output levels and the upper cut off. Conceptually it's not that strange. Generally the bass pup would be better, heck if you really like the bass get the custom shop to wind you a bass pup in the dual rail package. Oh, yeah series-parallel, the parallel option will give the same result as on guiatr, a brighter more open sound, with less output ... good if you're running a warm ballasy tone, and want to switch to some slap and pop stuff, or really accent delicate string to string fingering (think classical guiatr slike stuff on bass) ... It revoices the tone control also, and if you use a compressor/limiter you can get the tone change without any level difference.
My point is, that if you go with the cool rails, since it's four conductor, you might as well use the option for some extra versatility, plus it will still be hum cancelling.

[bassdog54]

Re: Blades

Hey Kent S. That's some good info in that post. Do I run a substantial risk to my spkrs by playing the bass through them. I have nice spkrs. JBL, Bergantino. Might the Cool Rail fit without mod to my bass? The scpb fit right in. Custom Shop idea is good too? Hmmm. Bob

[Benjy_26]

Re: Blades

I know for a fact that a regular strat pickup fits with no modification in a Musicmaster guitar ('65), though I'm not sure about the bass. If it indeed uses the same pickup as the guitar (which I strongly beleive it does), you should have no fitment problems.

[Thee]

Re: Blades

I would like to remind people that yes, people still use stingrays, despite the magnet location on the humbucker. Which is right underneath the string. (Oh No!)

[Kent S.]

Re: Blades

Hey Kent S. That's some good info in that post. Do I run a substantial risk to my spkrs by playing the bass through them. I have nice spkrs. JBL, Bergantino. Might the Cool Rail fit without mod to my bass? The scpb fit right in. Custom Shop idea is good too? Hmmm. Bob

I think the problems were more a product of the times, but Fender did find tht they got better results from the side to side poles. With todays gear I wouldn't think they would poses any risk per se'. The rail is still a good choice though.

[Kent S.]

Re: Blades

I would like to remind people that yes, people still use stingrays, despite the magnet location on the humbucker. Which is right underneath the string. (Oh No!)

So does G&L, but that doesn't change the situation, I believe those magnets a a bit bigger in diameter, and have a bit softer fields as well. All I know is the side by sides offer a better overall response generally. And fender did have problems with the poles in the tele style bass pup, it may have had something to do with the string actually hitting the polepiece ... that I don't know. I wouldn't have any problem at all playing a G&L, MM, or soapbar equipped bass. Just for some reason they did have problems with it at that time, and felt a need to drift away from it for something better.

[Benjy_26]

Re: Blades

So does G&L, but that doesn't change the situation, I believe those magnets a a bit bigger in diameter, and have a bit softer fields as well. All I know is the side by sides offer a better overall response generally. And fender did have problems with the poles in the tele style bass pup, it may have had something to do with the string actually hitting the polepiece ... that I don't know. I wouldn't have any problem at all playing a G&L, MM, or soapbar equipped bass. Just for some reason they did have problems with it at that time, and felt a need to drift away from it for something better.

All this, plus the fact that in MM Stingrays, the polepiece is a seperate part from the magnet, which also softens the magnetic pull, as opposed to a vintage Tele-bass and Musicmaster bass pickup, where the magnet IS the polepiece.