Question about my Precision Bass:

chet · June 12th, 2007, 05:03 PM

I got a Fender Precision Bass a few years ago from MARS before they closed. It's one of those Midnight Wine ones. It doesn't have the S-1 switch.
Is the pickup a humbucking pickup?

Steve McGinnis · June 12th, 2007, 05:10 PM

I don't know the model you have. The "usual" precision pickup is humbucking, but not like Gibsons. They are two coils, one for the A and E string and the other for the D and G string. The two coils are wired for humbucking.

Tim Armstrong · June 12th, 2007, 07:53 PM

Yeah, the stock P-Bass pickup has one coil for the E and A strings, and one coil for the D and G strings, and they're reverse-wound to each other, resulting in hum-cancelling.

I don't know why more folks don't use that kinda design, G&L makes a guitar pickup like that, but that's about it...

Cheers, Tim

bassflyer · June 13th, 2007, 05:24 AM

Quote:

got a Fender Precision Bass a few years ago from MARS before they closed. It's one of those Midnight Wine ones.

Sounds like a MIM Standard P-bass to me. I was surprised a few months back to find out that the split coils are humbuckers. I never knew that.

Not what I thought of when it comes to them.

chet · June 13th, 2007, 10:57 AM

Well, I noticed that the Paisley P Bass is a lot noisier than the one I've had.

Is there a replacement humbucker PU that you can put in the 51 style P Bass?

bassflyer · June 13th, 2007, 01:59 PM

Quote:

Is there a replacement humbucker PU that you can put in the 51 style P Bass?

Stewart-Duncan (SP?) makes a 'stacked' pup that is supposed to be quieter.

Steve McGinnis · June 13th, 2007, 05:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chet

Well, I noticed that the Paisley P Bass is a lot noisier than the one I've had.

Is there a replacement humbucker PU that you can put in the 51 style P Bass?

Fralin makes a "Precision" Style humbucker in the Jazz bass shape. It is two coils, one for EA, the other for DG. It sounds great, but is expensive. I'm not sure of any other manufactures that may make 51 style hum pickups.

chet · June 13th, 2007, 11:01 PM

Shoot....my older Fender P Bass sounds a lot better through my new amp!

Tim Armstrong · June 13th, 2007, 11:28 PM

Chet, try adjusting the pickup height, maybe it's too close or too far from the strings.

If that doesn't help, well, maybe you're finding out why Leo changed the pickups in 1954....

Yikes!

Tim

chet · June 14th, 2007, 10:17 AM

I first noticed that I had to be careful about how high I set the volume/gain/boost etc. before I got too much noise with the Paisley.
The newer version P Bass just sounds clearer and louder.

bassflyer · June 16th, 2007, 02:03 PM

Quote:

Chet, try adjusting the pickup height, maybe it's too close or too far from the strings.

Don't think that will help Tim, it's just the ol' SCPB problem.

I would check out SD's stacked pup. I've heard they really work.

I'm going to run a ground wire from my pup cover to the control plate, I play between the covers most of the time, so when I rest my thumb on the cover, I'm completing the ground and some noise goes away.
(I lost some grounding when I put the tapewounds on.)

The oringinals (51's) had a ground wire from the pup to the control cavity.

chet · June 18th, 2007, 10:46 AM

It's funny that I've never read any comments about the PU noise in any of the threads about the 51 P Bass RI.
The noise i get might be because I have my amp set up right next to my tv set in my living room. Maybe it isn't too bad in gigging places/studios.

Tim Armstrong · June 18th, 2007, 11:02 AM

Chet, my regular gigging bass is a Vista Series Musicmaster with an almost identical pickup. It isn't particularly noisy, but it does buzz around neon lights and TV sets (and my old computer monitor, since replaced with an LCD monitor), all the same places that my Tele gets buzzy...

If you have the problem all the time, it may be a ground wire needs resoldering.

Cheers, Tim

bassflyer · June 18th, 2007, 08:09 PM

Quote:

The noise i get might be because I have my amp set up right next to my tv set in my living room. Maybe it isn't too bad in gigging places/studios.

Oh yeah, that will add to the noise for sure! Well, not the amp, but having the guitar near TV's, computer monitors, florescent lights, like Tim already mentioned, will add to the buzz.

giginthesky · August 2nd, 2007, 12:50 AM

buy emg's. then say goodbye to that 60 cycle hum.

Clive Hugh · August 2nd, 2007, 10:45 AM

I put Bill Lawrence's p-bass replacement in mine, they are fantastic, super quiet.
And that's Bill and Becky, not the plonker using their name.
Clive

4mal · August 2nd, 2007, 10:33 PM

I'm another user of the Lawrence P-46 - a very under rated pickup.

bkief1 · August 3rd, 2007, 09:39 AM

+1 for the BL P-46 pickup (additionally, I have a bass Q-filter in there); I also use his J-45's in my Geddy Lee.

The bass Q-filter actually makes the tone knob quite useable

Tim Armstrong · August 3rd, 2007, 12:04 PM

Just fwiw, Chet was asking about replacement pickups for a '51 P-Bass, the old single-coil variety...

Cheers, Tim

bkief1 · August 3rd, 2007, 03:08 PM

I see what you mean Tim...I also have one of the Vista Squier Musicmaster basses (BTW, I love it). I installed one of Bill's L-250XL pickups (single coil size, double blade) that I found on ebay, and then coupled that with a bass Q-filter.

In a recent post on the Wilde-Gate forum, I see Bill is planning to launch a new single coil size humbucker (L-45) that may be suitable for this application.

Tim Armstrong · August 3rd, 2007, 07:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bkief1

I see what you mean Tim...I also have one of the Vista Squier Musicmaster basses (BTW, I love it). I installed one of Bill's L-250XL pickups (single coil size, double blade) that I found on ebay, and then coupled that with a bass Q-filter.

In a recent post on the Wilde-Gate forum, I see Bill is planning to launch a new single coil size humbucker (L-45) that may be suitable for this application.

That's good news! I've been thinking of getting one of those GFS twin blade pickups, but I'm kinda digging the stock Vista Series pickup...

Cheers, Tim

June 12th, 2007, 05:03 PM	#1 (permalink)
chet Doctor of Teleocity Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: The Jersey Shore Posts: 11,896	Question about my Precision Bass: I got a Fender Precision Bass a few years ago from MARS before they closed. It's one of those Midnight Wine ones. It doesn't have the S-1 switch. Is the pickup a humbucking pickup? __________________ You could be the next internet Superstar!

June 12th, 2007, 05:10 PM	#2 (permalink)
Steve McGinnis Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Fort Worth, Texas Age: 45 Posts: 1,046	Probably I don't know the model you have. The "usual" precision pickup is humbucking, but not like Gibsons. They are two coils, one for the A and E string and the other for the D and G string. The two coils are wired for humbucking.

June 12th, 2007, 07:53 PM	#3 (permalink)
Tim Armstrong Moderator Doctor of Teleocity Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Ocean Pines, Maryland, USA Age: 50 Posts: 13,701	Yeah, the stock P-Bass pickup has one coil for the E and A strings, and one coil for the D and G strings, and they're reverse-wound to each other, resulting in hum-cancelling. I don't know why more folks don't use that kinda design, G&L makes a guitar pickup like that, but that's about it... Cheers, Tim __________________ http://www.moodswingers.org

June 13th, 2007, 10:57 AM	#5 (permalink)
chet Doctor of Teleocity Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: The Jersey Shore Posts: 11,896	Well, I noticed that the Paisley P Bass is a lot noisier than the one I've had. Is there a replacement humbucker PU that you can put in the 51 style P Bass? __________________ You could be the next internet Superstar!

June 13th, 2007, 11:01 PM	#8 (permalink)
chet Doctor of Teleocity Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: The Jersey Shore Posts: 11,896	Shoot....my older Fender P Bass sounds a lot better through my new amp! __________________ You could be the next internet Superstar! Last edited by chet; June 18th, 2007 at 10:43 AM..

June 13th, 2007, 11:28 PM	#9 (permalink)
Tim Armstrong Moderator Doctor of Teleocity Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Ocean Pines, Maryland, USA Age: 50 Posts: 13,701	Chet, try adjusting the pickup height, maybe it's too close or too far from the strings. If that doesn't help, well, maybe you're finding out why Leo changed the pickups in 1954.... Yikes! Tim __________________ http://www.moodswingers.org

June 14th, 2007, 10:17 AM	#10 (permalink)
chet Doctor of Teleocity Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: The Jersey Shore Posts: 11,896	I first noticed that I had to be careful about how high I set the volume/gain/boost etc. before I got too much noise with the Paisley. The newer version P Bass just sounds clearer and louder. __________________ You could be the next internet Superstar!

June 18th, 2007, 10:46 AM	#12 (permalink)
chet Doctor of Teleocity Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: The Jersey Shore Posts: 11,896	It's funny that I've never read any comments about the PU noise in any of the threads about the 51 P Bass RI. The noise i get might be because I have my amp set up right next to my tv set in my living room. Maybe it isn't too bad in gigging places/studios. __________________ You could be the next internet Superstar!

June 18th, 2007, 11:02 AM	#13 (permalink)
Tim Armstrong Moderator Doctor of Teleocity Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Ocean Pines, Maryland, USA Age: 50 Posts: 13,701	Chet, my regular gigging bass is a Vista Series Musicmaster with an almost identical pickup. It isn't particularly noisy, but it does buzz around neon lights and TV sets (and my old computer monitor, since replaced with an LCD monitor), all the same places that my Tele gets buzzy... If you have the problem all the time, it may be a ground wire needs resoldering. Cheers, Tim __________________ http://www.moodswingers.org

August 2nd, 2007, 12:50 AM	#15 (permalink)
giginthesky Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: south jersey Age: 38 Posts: 1,773 6 Photos	buy emg's. then say goodbye to that 60 cycle hum.

August 2nd, 2007, 10:45 AM	#16 (permalink)
Clive Hugh Tele-Holic Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Western Australia Age: 65 Posts: 740	I put Bill Lawrence's p-bass replacement in mine, they are fantastic, super quiet. And that's Bill and Becky, not the plonker using their name. Clive

August 2nd, 2007, 10:33 PM	#17 (permalink)
4mal Friend of Leo's Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: The Gorge Posts: 2,584	I'm another user of the Lawrence P-46 - a very under rated pickup.

August 3rd, 2007, 09:39 AM	#18 (permalink)
bkief1 TDPRI Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Posts: 52	+1 for the BL P-46 pickup (additionally, I have a bass Q-filter in there); I also use his J-45's in my Geddy Lee. The bass Q-filter actually makes the tone knob quite useable

August 3rd, 2007, 12:04 PM	#19 (permalink)
Tim Armstrong Moderator Doctor of Teleocity Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Ocean Pines, Maryland, USA Age: 50 Posts: 13,701	Just fwiw, Chet was asking about replacement pickups for a '51 P-Bass, the old single-coil variety... Cheers, Tim __________________ http://www.moodswingers.org

August 3rd, 2007, 03:08 PM	#20 (permalink)
bkief1 TDPRI Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Posts: 52	I see what you mean Tim...I also have one of the Vista Squier Musicmaster basses (BTW, I love it). I installed one of Bill's L-250XL pickups (single coil size, double blade) that I found on ebay, and then coupled that with a bass Q-filter. In a recent post on the Wilde-Gate forum, I see Bill is planning to launch a new single coil size humbucker (L-45) that may be suitable for this application.

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