Replacing Fender style humbuckers?

Freddy-Bl00D

When i consider buying a new bass i always make sure i can replace certain parts just incase i need to change something in the future..

Im looking at the Fender Blacktop p-bass or Fender Modern Player Jazz bass.

Both of them have humbuckers that look like 2 j-bass pups right next to each other (unlike the music man humbuckers which is clearly one big pup) im just curious on where replacement pups could be found for them?

I havent seen any similar looking pups on the SD or bartolini site so im guessing you should modify a standard J-bass pup set to form a humbucker.. But would that work?

AlanRatcliffe

No-one else makes anything else in the same package, so I think you might be stuck with them. You'd have to look under the covers to see how they are constructed to be sure - covers would definitely be unique, so at the very least they would need to be re-used. The coils in a J are usually wound directly on the polepieces, which are pressed into the fibreboard flatwork (flat plates top and bottom), but it is possible they would have used bobbins for each coil (which would make rewinding easier), or hopefully even separate flatwork (which would mean you should be able to take any J-pickup with the same polepiece spacing and just drop it in to the cover).

If it's a single baseplate with bobbins, the only possible way to upgrade would be to remove and send the pickups to a rewinder/rebuilder like Jason Lollar or Pete Biltoft (vintage Vibe Guitars), who could rewind and change magnets if needed. Pete made me some custom 'buckers for my Hohner from scratch, but they were guitar humbucker size, so he was able to use his normal humbucker parts and just modify for four strings.

So it's all down to what is hidden under the covers.

Big-G

You could contact some manufacturers like Delano (US based I think?), Aero (US based) and Wizard (UK based), and they will build custom pups to the size and requirements you need. They are all excellent quality, and to be considered 'Hi-End', thus obviously meaning they will not be cheap.

But at teh end of the day, if the bass plays well, and is suiting your every need other than sound, then its a worthwhile investment in my eyes. Couple these pups with a nice active pre, and you've got a versatile and 'winning' combination.

Hope that helps?
Regards
G!

Freddy-Bl00D

Thanks guys, ill check into it.. Im thinking with a pair of solid pups, a nice preamp and maybe split coil switch the bass would be killer.. Music connection in randburg has a 2nd hand usa p-bass from early 2000's and that model has one of these pups in the brige and the typical p pup in the middle.. So im hoping it stays there until i get the cash otherwise ill go for one of the other similar models