Experimental Bass Pickup

[Wolfeyes88]

Hello, Long time lurker first time poster. I've tried the search, but haven't found anything relevant(maybe I'm just not punching in the right info)

I just got into playing bass a couple of months ago, and already I'm looking into messing around with my bass. It's a cheap little Silvertone that I got for $50, so I'm not insanely worried about making drastic changes, so long as it still plays. I'm happy with the stock P pup (sounds pretty nice for a cheapo) so I don't want to mess around with it. What I have been considering is adding a single coil near the bridge.

Mainly I'm looking for something unique. All the other bassist in this area either have stock Ibanez's(nothing wrong with that) or something with EMG pickups. A couple have Quarter Pounders. They all sound nice, but after a while, they all start to sound the same.

I want something all my own, and I'm not afraid to dig into my wallet, get my hands dirty or strain my already frail sanity to do it, so I figured winding my own pickup would be the way to go. From the research I've done, it sounds easy, time consuming and frustrating at times, but easy. I'm not trying to replicate a particular sound, so I figured an experimental pickup would be a good choice for a first timer. If nothing else, I'll at least learn something.

My plan for this little project is to give my bass more low end. Highs and mids aren't as important in this case, I've got the split coil for that. I'd read that more windings will pickup more highs up to a point, but after that they start to disappear. Fewer windings will pickup more lows, but will also reduce the gain. I'd also heard that stronger magnets will have the same effect as more windings, but if they're too strong they dampen the string vibrations.

After digesting this, I came up with this plan:

Four of These sandwiched(and glued) between two pieces of hard plastic that I have laying around. Overall size of the pickup isn't a concern in this case, so I figured go with a thicker wire and still shoot for 8-9000 turns.

Sure, it will be a bit overgrown, but my attitude is I'm routing the body to fit the pickup and if it doesn't work out, I'll screw a piece of plastic over the hole and cover it with a sticker.

In short(too late) what I'm really asking is: Is this all just a misguided recipe for disaster, it is a fair plan in need of adjustment or should it get me close to what I want(strong low end, a little bit of mid with a reasonable amount of gain). I'm not looking for someone to hold my hand, but a compass and a map would be great.

Thanks in advance.

[David King]

That would work but I think the 1/8" diameter magnets won't shine a wide enough field to cover the full string excursion. You may end up with a pickup that doesn't handle a very wide dynamic range i.e. you'll get the same volume out whether you are playing hard or soft. (I don't know this for a fact so don't take my word for it). You could add a second magnet to each string and space them 1/4" apart on either side of the strings as Fender did.

In general neo's exert a lot of string pull and the tall thin poles tend to exacerbate the string dampening effect which is why most neo designs seem to use bar magnets that have a uniform field under all the strings. The uniform field doesn't seem to dampen the sustain as much.

That said, don't hesitate to experiment for yourself, there aren't any hard and fast rules.

[Wolfeyes88]

I see.... Hrmm... This bit of info gives me even more ideas. I'm liking the idea of using two 1/8" inch mags per string. Any size I get I'll be ordering 25 of anyway(always have a use for neo's around here), so it wouldn't add to the cost...

I I think that's what I'll do, unless anyone else has any input.