The Last Bass Outpost
Gear Discussion Forums => Bill's Shop: Projects, Mods & Repairs => Topic started by: Alanko on October 19, 2015, 02:14:44 AM
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...a Fender Wide Range bass humbucker? I have one sitting on a shelf here sourced, allegedly, from a '70s Tele bass. It is certainly an original '70s model and not a repro.
Do I pick up a basket case P bass or similar and drop it in the mid position, or do you prescribe something whacky?
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Put it in a Gibson.
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Put it in a shoe box and wait till the right project comes along.
Works for me 8)
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Put it in a Gibson.
Controversial! From memory it has 'Fender' stamped into the top of it....
It currently lives in the parts bin, so no immediate hurry to put it to use.
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It would be funny to have a Fender stamped part in a Gibson. The Seth Lover pick up has lots of similarities with a mudbucker right? It would be interesting to see how it would compare in an EB0, EB2 or EB3. It could also give a more vintage sound as a neck pickup for an SG bass or a midtown. You could also put it in a recent Fender Starcaster and see if it sounds any different from the wide range buckers they make today.
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No, it doesn't sound like a Gibson mudbucker, it just looks similar. It does lack clarity because it's overwound almost as much as the Gibson, but the internal construction is completely different. It's very heavy in the midrange, I'd call it aggressive, which the Gibson isn't. It's got its own thing going.
I don't have a suggestion as to what to put it in, just remember that the polepieces are spaced for placement way up by the neck. If you were to put it at the bridge position you might run into problems, I don't know how those CuNi Fe magnets would handle misalignment.
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I'd do a replica, slab body, tele neck, etc but with a twist like a semi hollow body.
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Gut shots! As suggested, it isn't a mudbucker/sidewinder in there!
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y220/Meddled/L1010906_zpsfc0bec68.jpg)
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y220/Meddled/L1010905_zps2e16ccef.jpg)
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y220/Meddled/L1010908_zpse4f611bc.jpg)
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y220/Meddled/L1010909_zpsddc2409e.jpg)
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I'd find a cheap used P bass that has a nice neck (MIM, Squier, whatever) and replace the existing pickup with this one.
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Sell it on eBay and use the money to buy a Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounder which sounds almost exactly the same and will fit a wider range of pre-existing Precision body routs.
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Apologies for touting, but how much are these pickups worth? I don't really want to sell it, just curious.
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Roughly $200. Last two sold on eBay went for $225 and £225. The one from the UK would be high for an American buyer, but maybe not for you.
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Ooft. I paid £50 for mine, and I thought that was a push. $77 in funny money. Came with two inches of coax left, so I had to add a new hookup cable.
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You could drop it into a Squier Bronco - an inexpensive experiment that might sound pretty darn good! Might have to swap the bridge if the strings didn't like up, but that's easy to measure. On a short scale the string spacing might be OK.
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A Tele Bass HB in a Squier Bronco? That might stun a few sound guys!
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Save it for a rainy day and watch the alignment, as Dave noted...
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A Tele Bass HB in a Squier Bronco? That might stun a few sound guys!
That's enough reason to give it a try by itself. Bet it would sound pretty good. The Gretsch 2202 pickup in my Brono sounds pretty darn fine.
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I don't have a suggestion as to what to put it in, just remember that the polepieces are spaced for placement way up by the neck. If you were to put it at the bridge position you might run into problems, I don't know how those CuNi Fe magnets would handle misalignment.
A local session player had a similar vintage Tele MkII pickup installed in the bridge position of a heavily modified 70's P bass, and it sounded awesome when solo'ed. Like a really fat J bridge pickup.
(http://chc20.b2.cdn.co.il/upload0708/2010610_933025788_JPG.JPG)
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I finally got the WRHB mounted in my pickup testbed. I had it wired directly to an output jack, so I got to hear it in a fairly raw state. I like what it does, to some degree. It has a fat mids-heavy tone and a surprising clarity. If anything it lacks bass and treble response slightly. Imagine a jam donut that is 80% jam. :o
What I didn't anticipate was the noise of the thing. For a humbucker it seems fairly buzzy, which makes me wonder if mine is ok or if I was only hearing one coil.
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No surprise there. As I said earlier, very heavy in the midrange.
My Tele Bass and the one a friend had during the same years were both a bit noisy for humbuckers. Not sure it was the pickup, since the super high output was always overdriving the preamp.
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Mud, mud, glorious mud... er... oops... :mrgreen:
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Not really that muddy. :mrgreen: It was like a dark, chocolaty P bass pickup. Heavy on the mids, but not the pillowy tone of a sidewinder.
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Fatdawg of Subway Guitars describes it as fart-in-the-bathtub tone.