musicman Sub 1 pick ups

**wgmontgomery** · 03-29-2009, 09:30 PM

I have a Musicman Sub 1 guitar with two humbuckers. I just bought a LR Baggs X-bridge, and I think that I'm going to change the stock pick ups, too. Does anyone know what pick ups are stock for this model? They sound really bright to me.

If I upgrade, I'll probably put a Seymour Duncan P-Rail in the bridge position and a Jazz pu in the neck position. I'd like to be able to blend the piezo in the Baggs X-bridge with the humbuckers, or select each ind. pick up by itself. Any thoughts or hints?

**azazael** · 03-29-2009, 10:18 PM

Pickups are not branded pickups like on other models, they are made for Musicman (I don't know who by) specifically for the Sub. I like the bridge humbucker in my sub. One thing to remember is that Subs have 250k pots. Maybe changing it to a 500k might lose some of the treble you do not like.

**wgmontgomery** · 03-30-2009, 02:11 PM

Thanks for the advise; even a high quality pot is much cheaper than the Duncan P-Rails I was considering. I'll give it a try! I bought a LR Baggs X-bridge last night, so I'll have to do some re-wiring anyway.

I'll post anything useful that I encounter installing/using ther new x-bridge; if anyone has advise on the installation or questions about problems/solutions that I encounter while I complete this mod, let me know.
Thanks again!!

**Vikunt** · 03-31-2009, 07:28 AM

The sub pickups are made in Korea, I'm pretty sure there designed in the us and use us wire though. I love them, mine only came with the bridge pickup and I found it really warm. Wierd yours are so bright

**Irvas** · 10-08-2009, 05:15 AM

I need help. I want to add push/pull pot for coil split on SUB1. Does anybody know about wiring diagram for stock pick ups(wire colors are different from Dimarzio, SD..).

**agt** · 10-08-2009, 08:13 AM

Originally Posted by azazael

Maybe changing it to a 500k might lose some of the treble you do not like.

Just to clarify: 500k Ohm pots will result in a brighter sound relative to 250k Ohm pots.

**Jack FFR1846** · 10-08-2009, 12:17 PM

Originally Posted by Irvas

I need help. I want to add push/pull pot for coil split on SUB1. Does anybody know about wiring diagram for stock pick ups(wire colors are different from Dimarzio, SD..).

I'll go look at the wiring diagrams I made when I was doing the switches. The center of each hum is easy to spot because both wires are brought to the switch/pot area and twisted/soldered/heat shrunk. If you have not changed the wiring, there's a place to start. I can't remember if both hums had one side grounded or not (soldered to the case of one of the pots). When I rewired, I did a lot of custom stuff. Check out my sublhouette thread....the first post has a pic of the pickguard before I did any changes.
http://www.ernieball.com/forums/musi...ublhoette.html

**Kaloyan** · 10-08-2009, 01:30 PM

It's totally weird that your Sub sounds bright. Mine was/is one of the darkest/warmest guitars I've ever encountered even after a JB and '59 duncans. I've always thought that Seymour Duncan are usually warmer pickups than Dimarzio so in this case I suggest probably you to experiment with DiMarzio. I'd say ... Evolution, PAF Pro, D-Sonic. Give it a shot. Good luck!

**Sub1 Zero** · 10-08-2009, 03:09 PM

I love the pickups in the SUB1, and I too am surprised that yours is bright. I'm with Kaloyan, mine was one of the warmest guitars I have ever owned.

**telemike** · 10-25-2009, 06:18 AM

My SUB-1 is brighter than other HB guitars, almost single coil-ish. Very good clarity on the bridge pickup on clean tones,

**Jack FFR1846** · 10-25-2009, 03:18 PM

Ok, looking through my notes from when I did the modifications, the green wire for each humbucker is the coil where the screws are exposed on top. The red and white wires are twisted together and connected (each coil continued for series hum) and the black wire is the coil with the magnets showing.

This picture isn't very clear, but it's what the back of the pickguard looked like before I started pulling stuff apart.

**jamminjim** · 10-25-2009, 03:47 PM

Originally Posted by Irvas

I need help. I want to add push/pull pot for coil split on SUB1. Does anybody know about wiring diagram for stock pick ups(wire colors are different from Dimarzio, SD..).

Sure, go to this link. Now, do you want one push/pull switch on tone control.
GuitarElectronics.com Guitar Wiring Diagram 2 Humbuckers/3-Way Toggle Switch/1 Volume/0Tone/001

or do you want to use push/pull switches on both tone and volume?
GuitarElectronics.com Guitar Wiring Diagram 2 Humbuckers/3-Way Toggle Switch/1 Volume/1Tone/003

The GuitarElectronics website
GuitarElectronics.com Guitar & Bass Guitar Wiring Diagrams & Repair Resources