Pickup kit for 5 string bass

[cenizasblancas]

Hi, i was looking in the pickup makers faq and i couldīt find pickup kit for 5 string bass, humbucker and single coil, in guitar jones i find a single coil pickup but no humbucker.
Maybe i can find the magnets in other source and build it myself?

juan

[David King]

Juan,

You can buy the magnets on Ebay, try Addiction FX store. You might also try Steven Kersting Pickup making components and pricing as he has most of the other parts you'll need except for the covers. Good luck

[David Schwab]

Mojo has bobbins, ceramic magnets, and EMG style soapbar covers.

[cenizasblancas]

I was looking in Mojo an skguitars but i donīt know what part i need and what size magnets etc, for pickup like 5 string jazz bass what size of magnets,etc do i need?

juan

[David King]

Juan,
To build a Fender style Jazz pickup you want AlNiCo 5 magnets that are .187" x .75" (4.77 mm x 19 mm). If you find 5 mm x 20 mm magnets those will work as well.
The top and bottom of the bobbins (the flatwork) is traditionally made from vulcanized fiber (Forbon) that is 3/32 (0.93" -2.5 mm) thick. The plastic cover you use is going to depend on the string spacing, traditional Fender J bass shells are too short for 5 string basses with 19 mm bridge spacing. You'll need a cover that's at least 4" long. What many people do is put two J pickups side-by-side in an EMG style "40" soapbar cover to make a humbucker pickup. You'll need 20 magnets per pickup, 40 magnets for a set of two pickups. You'll want to wind 8000-9000 turns of wire per pickup. That's about 6-8km of magnet wire. To connect the ends of the coil to the external wires you can use small brass eyelets as terminals. Mojotone.com can probably put a kit together for you where all you'll need to do is cut the forbon and drill the holes for the magnets and eyelets.

You don't have to use forbon you can use anything that's stiff and a good insulator, many people just make the pickup covers and flatwork from wood instead. You should read through the "beginners" section for more information about the basics. There are thousands of youtube videos showing how to build and wind a pickup.