Need info on bass pickups

[LtKojak]

Fellow p'up aficionados and professionals:

I need to service for a friend an american Jazz Bass Active Deluxe 5 from 1998, I believe. The model with 22 frets, 5-in-a-row tuners.

The p'ups have one big polepiece per string. I don't know if it's a magnet or a slug, and they're staggered in a 9.5" radius. They look like Delanos, but they're not.

I'm asking for help in telling me how these p'ups are made, as the issue is the 5th string sounds too low in volume, and the easiest thing to do is to raise the polepiece, so i need to know if this will be possible or not.

I haven't had any luck finding these particular p'ups on the WWW, so if any of you have any experience with'em, I'll be all ears.

Another thing: how do you bass players set your p'ups? I mean, how far from the strings you usually set'em?

Thanking in advance,

[soundguruman]

you might actually have a bad pickup or a dead magnet.
Or it may be that the bridge saddle or nut is goofed up, muting the string slightly.
Or you may have a string where the wound outer metal is damaged, corroded or seperated.
So try a new string first, before doing anything.

Get yourself a set of Rotosounds, and test again.

[David Schwab]

You know I was reading about these pickups not that long ago. I think John Shur designed them.

I'd guess they are steel poles with a magnet on the bottom, but they might be alnico poles.

Have you tried measuring the strength at each pole with a gauss meter?

Also how does the bass sound unplugged? Is that string higher than the rest? It could be the string.

I set my pickups pretty close to the strings, and closer on the treble side than the bass side. The neck pickup is often a little lower overall.

You could try flipping the pickup around and see if the weak string moves.

[big_teee]

The only one I see like that in the fender support layouts is an Active Bass.
http://support.fender.com/service_di...6800B_SISD.pdf
If it is Active, could it be something else?
T

[LtKojak]

you might actually have a bad pickup or a dead magnet.
Or it may be that the bridge saddle or nut is goofed up, muting the string slightly.
Or you may have a string where the wound outer metal is damaged, corroded or seperated.
So try a new string first, before doing anything.

Get yourself a set of Rotosounds, and test again.

The bass just got installed a new neck from Warmoth, so the strings are all new, so is the nut and the saddles have been all cleaned up and polished. The strings are D'Addarios XL .45-.105 with a .145 5th string.

If I don't know how the p'up is made, I can't even guess what the problem might be.

[LtKojak]

You know I was reading about these pickups not that long ago. I think John Shur designed them.

I'd guess they are steel poles with a magnet on the bottom, but they might be alnico poles.

Have you tried measuring the strength at each pole with a gauss meter?

No functioning Gaussmeter at the moment, mine got run over by a SUV. Twice. Don't ask.

Also how does the bass sound unplugged? Is that string higher than the rest? It could be the string.

I set my pickups pretty close to the strings, and closer on the treble side than the bass side. The neck pickup is often a little lower overall.

You could try flipping the pickup around and see if the weak string moves.

The bass is actually a very nice instrument, specially the string separation. It's just the 5th string that could use a little bit more volume. The strings are set-up following the neck radius, which is 9.5", and so are the polepieces staggered. The first and fifth polepieces are flush with the cover, the other three make an 9.5" arc.

I don't have much experience servicing basses, that's why I'm asking for help. I do own a 5-string bass, a Peavey Cirrus BXP with the same set of strings and that 5th makes the earth shake, without overpower the others.

Before I disassemble the bass I would like to have some info on those p'ups, how they're made, etc. I don't feel comfortable learning at other people's expense.

I think I'll have to call the italian Fender importer, but I'm not holding my breath waiting to be helped in any way, specially this bass being a discontinued product.

[David Schwab]

Is it the low B string that's weak? What brand strings are on the bass? Low B strings often suck.

[LtKojak]

Is it the low B string that's weak? What brand strings are on the bass? Low B strings often suck.

D'Addario XL .45-.105 with a .145 5th string.

The same strings just kill in my 5-string Peavey Cirrus BXP, and the 5th string came from the same batch. I know, I've ordered'em as singles and they came in a box of 10. I did that just because it's a gauge that's not included in any set and it's impossible to get in the shops.

Being a low B, it's difficult to assess its behaviour just by listening unamplified, but it feels the same as in my other bass, so I'd rule out the string being faulty.

I'm pretty sure is something blatantly obvious for a bass player about the setup, but I'm a guitar player, you know? We just don't think that low!

[David Schwab]

Those are good strings. I was using them for the last 15 years. Probably the best low B too. I was using that same gauge set, but with the stock B string.

What does the bottom of the pickup look like? Have you pulled it out?

[LtKojak]

Those are good strings. I was using them for the last 15 years. Probably the best low B too. I was using that same gauge set, but with the stock B string.

What does the bottom of the pickup look like? Have you pulled it out?

No, I'll get the bass again on a couple of weeks time. I thought it would be time enough to learn about the instrument. Guess not!

It's a great-sounding instrument. The new maple/paoferro Warmoth neck is outstanding.

This bass was converted (badly, if you ask me) to a fretless, but it's a much better fretted bass than his Grendel bass, a eastern-europe Tobias licensed copy that I hate with a passion. It took me eight years and buying a Peavey Cirrus BXP bass to convince him to finally make the switch.

Last saturday I got it from the "luthier" that installed the neck to the body and I've noticed the 5th string sounding a bit too low to my liking, specially comparing it with my Cirrus.

OK, the Cirrus is a 35" scaled instrument, but I don't think it should matter that much. He can't play very well on it because not only of the longer scale, also the nut and the bridge are too small for his liking, not to mention the too little space from the strings to the body, something that impedes him to play slapping style.

Friends... can't live with'em, can't kill'em!

[james23]

I have notice that many considerations to make when one is thinking about pickup options for their bass. All of the pickups out there on the market, it could be an overwhelming process. As we dive deeper over the next few months into refining our tone, we will look at pickups on a closer level, including more detailed information about construction, tonal characteristics, and adjusting pickups, and we would start to examine other factors that impact your pickup’s sound.

[David Schwab]

I have notice that many considerations to make when one is thinking about pickup options for their bass. All of the pickups out there on the market, it could be an overwhelming process. As we dive deeper over the next few months into refining our tone, we will look at pickups on a closer level, including more detailed information about construction, tonal characteristics, and adjusting pickups, and we would start to examine other factors that impact your pickup’s sound.

You can break the bass pickup market into two groups. First is the original aftermarket pickups and their descendants. And the other is the "vintage" style pickups, which the aftermarket pickups were replacing.

Bass players started using the replacement pickups, like Bartolini (Hi-A) and DiMarzio because they wanted a clearer or brighter tone. You had the same evolution in bass amps since the 70s.

Now there's what I call a "vintage fad" going on where players want the tones they hear on older records, that many of us old timers were trying to get away from!

So of the vintage style pickups, which of course are P and J styles, they are all based on the stock pickups, but with some variations, i.e., a P sounds like a P. The more modern designs have more options, but in the end, a bass still sounds like a bass.

[David King]

I'd try boosting the B string output with a Neo disc on the bottom of the pole if you can get to the bottom. I suppose a thin neo might work on top.

These pickup aren't called "Noiseless" so can we assume that they are single coils? If that were the case then I'd try pushing the middle poles back down and raising the B sting side of the pickup.
Are the pickup shells normal 4 string J size?