Mudbucker mods

[Roffe]

A friend asked if I could get rid of some of the mud in his bass. It’s an Eastwood with a mudbucker in the neck, looks like it’s the same as the Epiphone pickups with a low 1.3K DCR reading. My first thought was just connecting the coils in parallel, has anybody tried this before, and most importantly, does it help?

[big_teee]

1.3K seems very low for a Mudbucker.
Here's a thread on some Mudbucker mods.
https://music-electronics-forum.com/...ight=mudbucker
GL,
T

[Roffe]

Yeah, it’s very low, I thought it was something wrong with my ohm meter at first, but then I read that the Epi mudbuckers have about the same resistance. Apparently they use pretty thick wire, 36 gauge or something like that.
If I try the parallel connection, should both coils be grounded to the baseplate?

[Chuck H]

I can't find any reference to the Epi mudbuckers being so low in DCR. I think there may be something wrong with the pickup or the measurement.

[Roffe]

I found it here: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/epi...edence.919380/

[Chuck H]

Well huh? For your link I wouldn't hesitate to suppose another shorted pickup as coincidence since there's virtually no tech in the discussion, but for this thread from here:

https://music-electronics-forum.com/...ad.php?t=44222

Whatever that pickup is, at 1.2k to 1.3k it's not a proper Mudbucker at any rate. And that DCR is SO low I might suspect that the Epi model not only uses thicker wire, but may also already be wired in parallel. Only further examination can tell.

[Roffe]

It is wired in series, the coils are a little over 600 ohms each. Not a proper mudbucker, but still no shortage of mud

[big_teee]

Not the answer anyone wants to hear, but the mudbucker is IMO a poor design, plagued with problems.
I always take the cover and build something else under it.
Like I did here.
https://music-electronics-forum.com/...ight=mudbucker
YMMV, GL
T

[Roffe]

I don't have the equipment to rewind it so I'll try wiring it in parallel first. If it doesn't get any better I have a humbucker with blade magnets we could try instead, there's plenty of room for it under the stock cover.

[big_teee]

How are the magnets placed on the end of the coils?
Is it a sidewinder, or a sidebucker?
A picture with the cover removed would help determine that?
T

[Roffe]

This is the only picture I have on my phone, I can get a better picture a little later. Both magnets have the white mark on top.

[Helmholtz]

Is this a solid, thick brass baseplate? If so, it is likely to cause some eddy current losses (reducing highs).

[Roffe]

The baseplate is a pretty substantial piece of brass, about 2mm thick. It’s only held on with 2 screws, so it might be worth trying without it?

[Roffe]

Can't seem to get the images to preview, but just click the attachments

[Chuck H]

Even if the wire gauge is 36 (as you say it may be and which I don't doubt) that DCR still represents about 1400 feet per coil. Which would certainly be very short for a guitar pickup at less than half of typical. But I'm not a pickup guy so I don't know what's normal for a bass pickup, let alone a "sidewinder" type. Still, I wouldn't expect it to be muddy except for Helmholtz observation about the base plate.