MM Pickup for neck position

[El Gato]

Hi all,

A friend is building a bass fo me and I'm deciding on a pickup configuration. I have a G&L L-2000 Tribute which I love the pickup configuration (two humbuckers), which I want to model the new bass after.

Basically, I'm thinking of getting two SMB-4d Musicman pickups (one for bridge and other for neck position) and a Tone Circuit STC-3 bass EQ system, but had a few concerns. First of all, most bass pickups models have different version for the neck position because of calibration difference (either size or magnet strength). Since the Stingrays only have one pickup, for which the SMB-4d pickups are modeled for, is there going to be an issue using that pickup for a neck position? Would it be too bright for the neck position? Plus, I love the Jazz bass neck feel so I want to go with the 1.5" nut. Since it's a narrower profile neck, will it cause issues with the strings not lining up with the pole pieces?

Also, will the STC-3 work with two MM pickups? I would think for a two pickup system, I'd have to go with that since the STC-MM for a true STingray doesn't have a blend control.

Thanks for any help. I can probably go with just a Jazz neck pickup but would rather go with a humbucker.

 

[John Wymore]

Re: MM Pickup for neck position

The STC-3 tone circuit will be fine for what you are doing and should be helpful in taking care of any output or tone difference you might have in the bridge versus neck pickup.

If you don't get too close to the bridge with the bridge pickup you shouldn't run into any big output difference issues. If you look at the G&L you will see the bridge pickup is forward a bit compared to something like a jazz bass.

String spacing OTOH may be a problem and would require a little calculation to figure out. I don't have an MM pickup here at the moment but string spacing on a jazz bass in the area of the neck pickup measures about 11/16" center to center. You might compare that to your G&L ...