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ooglay

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May 5, 2006
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Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
I was thinking about adding a second pickup to my single H SR4... a P pickup at that.

The P pickups are passive...

SO

Can the musicman active preamp support an additional passive pickup?

I'm no techno genius, I'm just wondering if this CAN be done... Thanks

PS: Sorry if this thread angers anyone.. ;)
 

SLUGGO

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Jan 5, 2007
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"I was thinking about adding a second pickup to my single H SR4... a P pickup at that."


Please don't do this......really
 

DTG

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Jan 13, 2007
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i think i saw one on ebay a while back where they had taken out the hum and put a P pick up in its place......looked strange
sorry i cant help with your question
 

adouglas

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Anything CAN be done with enough effort, money, time and expertise.

Whether it SHOULD be done is a different question.

I agree....sell it and buy a dual-pickup MM bass.

Or, if you MUST have a P pickup, just go buy a P bass. It'll wind up being less expensive and less hassle in the end.
 

oli@bass

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Jul 23, 2007
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I'm sure it can be done... the question is rather: What do you want to acheive by adding the P-Bass pickup?

Having a bass professionally modified by a luthier is in general not exactly a cheap way to get to results. Often there are less destructive and less costly ways to acheive what you want, like either trade your bass for a dual pickup version or a get another bass for the intended purpose.
 

bovinehost

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It doesn't matter whether or not "we" like the question. The only question is if YOU will be happy with the results.
 

Big Poppa

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Feb 9, 2005
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Coachella & SLO, California
Ok First off it is your bass and your sound you are seeking...the standard cavaets apply YOu will destroy your resale value....you will void your warranty if applicable.....

There are two problems...If you are tryjng to emulate the p bass sound you will not do that as the existing sting ray pickup is where you would want the p bass pickup...if you imagine a beautiful morphing of mm and fender you will have an output differential that will not be nice.....

I dont want to discourage you but these things have been around over 30 years and all mods have been tried Seriously....if this was bass nirvana I would be selling them from the factory......

Remeber Yogi Berra said it best "If you dont know where you are going you will end up somewhere else"
 

martin shane

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Jan 4, 2007
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Salyersville, Kentucky, United States
may I suggest that before making the mod. maybe going to a few music stores and trying out some 2 pickup ebmm configs...you may find the sound that you expect to get from the mod...then you would have the option of selling your current bass to help purchase a 2 pickup model, or possibly trading for a 2 pickup model...
 

mynan

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Feb 25, 2007
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Spring Lake, MI
Obviously, you are not the first person to come up with this idea. If you can find another one that's been done right...looks good...sounds good, then go for it.

My bet would be that you don't find one with both of those qualities, so if you are going in to it with the idea of achieving something with a good look and sound then keep in mind that you will probably be the first one ever to pull it off. Not saying it can't be done...just saying you should ask yourself "Am I that good?".
 

Musicman Nut

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Aug 20, 2003
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Ok First off it is your bass and your sound you are seeking...the standard cavaets apply YOu will destroy your resale value....you will void your warranty if applicable.....

There are two problems...If you are tryjng to emulate the p bass sound you will not do that as the existing sting ray pickup is where you would want the p bass pickup...if you imagine a beautiful morphing of mm and fender you will have an output differential that will not be nice.....

I dont want to discourage you but these things have been around over 30 years and all mods have been tried Seriously....if this was bass nirvana I would be selling them from the factory......

Remeber Yogi Berra said it best "If you dont know where you are going you will end up somewhere else"

I Myself tried that same Mod back in 1982, worse mistake I ever did, it did not sound good at all, to the point where I had to remove most the wood from the neck to the Music Man pickup, moving the p bass pickup all over, it was always very muddy. But if your brave and have a lot of money you don't need then go for it.
 

Psychicpet

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Aug 16, 2003
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Sylvan Lake, Alberta, Canada
yep, not to discourage creative expression on the construction part (just ask me about my "Big Duck" Bongo :p ) but I think that the tone you might be going for can be found in the new dual p/up designs, like an HS StingRay. Solo the single-coil and you get a really happening "P" style tone.
 

timmy5strings

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Apr 4, 2007
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Linthicum, MD.
There's a thread somewhere with a pic of a guy who has a p pickup on his stingray. I believe it was a white one but I don't remember the thread. Try a search. Remember, P bass is passive and Musicmans are active, so they probably won't play well together.
 

Rano Bass

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Sep 14, 2006
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Tijuana Mexico
I don't see anything wrong with that, BUT i don't think it would work well.
I remember a tread on talkbass about Ed Friedland doing that and not being happy with the results.
 

thunder

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May 14, 2007
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Brooklyn N.Y.
in 89' was at my local sam ash, i found a trans red ray with emg (i bleieve) active p bass pick ups installed. the bass was loaded with a bass boost, mid boost, treb boost toogle switch as well as a pick up selector switch. it sounded pretty good. i not sure if the pre amp was changed. but at the time it didn't impress me enough to buy it.
 

midopa

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I'm gonna get a SUB someday to do that same mod. Plus some other ideas I have in mind. Good advice from all the guys here tho!
 

Kristopher

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Apr 18, 2007
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Tempe, AZ
Why not add a MM-style humbucker to a Precision? Don't they have stock P basses that even have a hole there for two side-by-side J pickups? Granted, the MM probably plays better, but soundwise, maybe it's the better path?
 

syciprider

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Dec 23, 2005
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The 951
+1
Fender makes a MIA P Bass which has a P/MM pup arrangement.

I played one before. It sounds nice. You know, like a Stingray.:p
 
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