A while ago I built a two string upright bass with a p bass pick up turned 90 deg. So that each string had in effect it's own pick up, sounded great real oomph on amplification , however my gf said it didn't have enough strings so this week I added a third string straight down the middle , acoustically it sounds good but under power the middle string is not loud enough, I know a little bit about pups and that they work with magnets so I tried bridging the poles with metal , didn't make any difference, so I got some mini magnets that I saved from my cigarette papers and I was trying to place one on the pup body Inbetween the two coils , didn't work, but the little magnet became attracted to the string and hey presto! A loud third string. I experimented a bit and found it only works if the magnet is over the pick up and adding more magnets don't make any difference as I don't want to competly re build the bass with new pick ups I am considering attaching the magnet permanently ( with a bit of tape or similar) has anyone else had this prob and does anyone have an other solution , as this is an upright the little magnet is far enough away not to interfere with the plucking /strumming . First pic is 2string, 2nd is the three sting conversion and the third is a close up of the pick up ,strings and the little magnet on the middle string
I get that you want to do minimal destruction to the git as it is. so perhaps add a sigle coil just south of this one with the poles centered under the newly added string?
or since the proportions on these type p-bass pickups is 1x2, you could widen the hole to a square and put 2 in there turned perpendicular to the strings....
or pull it out, cut the hole bigger just to fit a thin-bucker some of the other builders here sell?
Just a few ideas that might avoid your worry of leaving a gaping hole where part of the old pickup used to be.
Your best solution for that pickup to work right on all 3 strings is to mount it at a slant or straight across. Putting a metal plate across will work,but it will make the whole pickup weaker because of diminished magnetic field.
Yeah, that middle string is too far from either magnetic field from either pup.
Six string pups can be had extremely cheap, even free, if you ask nicely at your local guitar shop. Also, search pawn shops for cast off electric guitars X they might be willing to part out.
Alternatively, there's a fair number of people here that would be quite willing to sell you a relatively cheap homemade one. Check with CBN members Ted Crocker, Dan Sleep, Skeesix, Wayfinder, and a host of other DIY pup makers.
Orrr, you could look at the incredibly cheap (less than $10) homemade DIY pups being made on the Lace Alumitone thread, with a simple magnet, a loop of thick copper wire, and a wall wart transformer, as well as the more modified and quite a bit neater designs we've been experimenting with.
My first guess, its a double set of poles, so I suspect its a hummbucker and one row is N and the other row is S. Take a compass and check if the rows of poles are opposite magnetic poles.
If so...
A) open it up. reverse one set of poles and reverse the connections of that same coil
B) replace the pickup with another of the same size that's a single coil.
then a decent thickness chunk of iron/steel that spans the strings might work better....
Yep just checked it north on the left south on the right.
I don't think rebuilding the pick up is an option so I may have to replace it, wouldn't a single coil solve the problem without bridging the poles?
Replies
I get that you want to do minimal destruction to the git as it is. so perhaps add a sigle coil just south of this one with the poles centered under the newly added string?
or since the proportions on these type p-bass pickups is 1x2, you could widen the hole to a square and put 2 in there turned perpendicular to the strings....
or pull it out, cut the hole bigger just to fit a thin-bucker some of the other builders here sell?
Just a few ideas that might avoid your worry of leaving a gaping hole where part of the old pickup used to be.
Your best solution for that pickup to work right on all 3 strings is to mount it at a slant or straight across. Putting a metal plate across will work,but it will make the whole pickup weaker because of diminished magnetic field.
Six string pups can be had extremely cheap, even free, if you ask nicely at your local guitar shop. Also, search pawn shops for cast off electric guitars X they might be willing to part out.
Alternatively, there's a fair number of people here that would be quite willing to sell you a relatively cheap homemade one. Check with CBN members Ted Crocker, Dan Sleep, Skeesix, Wayfinder, and a host of other DIY pup makers.
Orrr, you could look at the incredibly cheap (less than $10) homemade DIY pups being made on the Lace Alumitone thread, with a simple magnet, a loop of thick copper wire, and a wall wart transformer, as well as the more modified and quite a bit neater designs we've been experimenting with.
My first guess, its a double set of poles, so I suspect its a hummbucker and one row is N and the other row is S. Take a compass and check if the rows of poles are opposite magnetic poles.
If so...
A) open it up. reverse one set of poles and reverse the connections of that same coil
B) replace the pickup with another of the same size that's a single coil.
then a decent thickness chunk of iron/steel that spans the strings might work better....
I don't think rebuilding the pick up is an option so I may have to replace it, wouldn't a single coil solve the problem without bridging the poles?