Tapping Into the Mud (Mudbucker Dissection)

chromium · July 16, 2008, 11:29:48 AM

As I recall, the question of adding coil-tap and series/parallel switching to a mudbucker has been raised before... but has anyone here actually attempted it yet? I guess what I'm curious about is if the new sound options would justify the effort. Speculation is welcome here. I'm leaning towards the opinion that it probably would yield some useful/different/interesting sounds, especially for recording.

I have a mongrel '69 EB-0 with a filled (partial?!) pbass pickup route, body refin, and non-original wiring. I'm considering doing the deed on this bass. If I did this, I would probably use two push/pull pots - vol w/coil-tap switch, and tone w/series-parallel switch. That would preserve the stock appearence and controls, and add the switching capability.

I won't say that splitting the mudbucker coils that are currently hardwired in series is trivial, but it does look feasible (I pulled the pickup and took a look last night). There is just enough slack on the coil wires that would enable me to make the cuts, solder on the additional leads, and cover/insulate the unions with a small piece of heat shrink tubing. It could be reverted back, albeit with evidence of tampering - but I'm not worried about that.

Any thoughts, experiences, or opinions are welcome!

Chris P. · July 17, 2008, 08:34:00 AM

Sounds nice and possible. Do it!

Another option is to keep the mudbucker, only use its chrome housing and let someone make a new humbucker with coil tap.

chromium · July 17, 2008, 11:45:42 AM

I'm in love with the sound of the stock pickup (and the bass in general). I guess I'm just really curious about what different permutations of the coils would sound like than anything. I had purposely gone after a break-fix EB-0 so I wouldn't feel too bad about doing some tinkering with it.

I ordered the pots for it yesterday, and I'll post some pictures and soundclips of the end result once I get around to doing this (assuming it yields anything of interest).

Chris P. · July 17, 2008, 11:57:26 AM

Cool! Can't wait!

ramone57 · July 17, 2008, 08:54:18 PM

psst, Joe, you're avatar is twitching!

chromium · July 19, 2008, 10:52:43 AM

Quote from: ramone57 on July 17, 2008, 08:54:18 PM
psst, Joe, you're avatar is twitching!

It's alive!

chromium · July 24, 2008, 11:59:19 AM

Before:

After:

Next up:

To be continued....

Chris P. · July 24, 2008, 02:13:32 PM

X to the G - Exciting!

Basvarken · July 24, 2008, 03:31:35 PM

Wow! I'm impressed.
Can't wait to hear soundclips!

bostonguitarrepair · September 23, 2008, 01:51:11 PM

Very cool idea - I bet that pickup wouldn't sound bad running on just ONE coil - more bite, less insane level of output.

Very curious to hear what the sonic results are - glad that bass is holding up for ya too !!

krishna

hollowbody · December 20, 2009, 12:25:01 PM

Did you leave the mod in when you sold this bass? It's been parted out and put back up for sale.

http://cgi.ebay.com/1960s-Gibson-EB-0-bass-guitar-project-and-pickup_W0QQitemZ140368677942QQcmdZViewItemQQptZGuitar?hash=item20aea00c36

chromium · December 20, 2009, 06:11:36 PM

Yeah, the pickup and wiring shown in that photo is the work that I had done.

The guy that bought it from me sold it recently (link below), and I've bought parts before from this seller that currently has it listed.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120483419118

In this latest auction's text, when the seller says "The bass has no breaks to the body or headstock" what they really mean to say is that there is a body break at the neck heel pocket that had been patched up nicely by mr Krishna. You can see the v-shaped wood graft in the pic. Also, the contours were sanded with a heavy hand at some point, rounding them slightly.

This was a great little bass, and had some magic to it as a player. Anybody looking for a project should try to snag it. The neck is awesome (and original finish; no breaks). I only sold it because it was a little redundant to my EB-3 (which is a keeper), and I was buying my modular synth at that time and needed the dough.

I didn't post an update in this thread but I had posted the results of this modification over at Jules' place:

http://forums.vintageguitars.org.uk/showthread.php?t=1524

There are some pics and soundclips there. I had used it on this home recording, too:

That's the mudbucker in its "normal" config, mute on, and tone ~halfway. Uber-thump!