Bass pickups?

[carlaz]

Hi all!  I just heard about Bare Knuckle Pickups yesterday when a friend emailed me to say he'd just put Brown Sugars in his Tele and holeeeesheeeeeeeeeit! :)  So he's now saving to put some Mules in his other guitar.

I rushed over to take a look at the site here -- I've been meaning to replace the stock pickups in my Gibson LP Std ever since I decided they felt a bit mushy 10 or 12 years ago, but never felt like I found something that was right. Perhaps that time is over .... But that's besides the point.  I mentioned Bare Knuckles to some of the guys in the little band I'm in and they said, "Does he do bass pickups?"  At which point I came down from guitar-toy cuckoo-land and remembered that right now I'm mostly playing bass :)

So: I know Bare Knuckles doesn't list bass pickups, but is there a possibility that Bare Knuckles would do bass pickups?  I play a lovely old Ric 4001 bass with non-stock pickups (one is actually a rewound Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounder for Tele, I think!) but I've never been entirely happy with them or the the usual run of other Ric replacement pickups. Would Bare Knuckles consider expanding into the bass pickup area? :)

Cheers,
Carl (who still wants to save to replace his guitar pickups anyway) :)

[Ratrod]

BKP is planning to do a bass pickup line. In fact they can offer some already. Check out the p-bass zebra in this topic.

And welcome to the forum!

[carlaz]

BKP is planning to do a bass pickup line. In fact they can offer some already. Check out the p-bass zebra in this topic. And welcome to the forum!

Thanks!  I've scooted right on over to the P-Bass Zebra thingy as suggested.  Mmm, yes, I'll be watching these developments keenly :)

Cheers,
Carl

[Tim]

Welcome to the forum!

We're doing P and J style right now in vintage and vintage hot wind with Heavy Formvar or plain enamel wire-drop me a PM or email if you want prices. PDT_012

[dooogz]

im gonna have to introduce my bassist to you tim :)!

[carlaz]

We're doing P and J style right now in vintage and vintage hot wind with Heavy Formvar or plain enamel wire-drop me a PM or email if you want prices.

Ah, the P and J pickups have, I think, different dimensions than those that my Rick takes .... But from reading the zebra bass thread, it seems like various BKP bass pickup action is in the works, so hopefully something will come along for me out of that (though I guess you're likely to move more P and J style replacement pickups than Rick replacements). Anyway, it's already clear there are already a plethora of options for my guitar, and I'm having fun reading the forum and seeing what's what :)

Cheers,
Carl

[HJM]

BKP rewind - could that be an option for now?

[carlaz]

BKP rewind - could that be an option for now?

Tempting! :) But I'm hoping to put some humbuckers in the Rick bass eventually, so even nicely rewinding its current single coils would feel like a temporary measure in some sense, and as a -- sigh -- hobbyist musician, really, I mustn't go down the road of spending money on things I know I'd want to change.

On the other hand -- I've spent 10 years or so thinking about putting replacement humbuckers in my Gibson LP, and BKP already does what are clearly very lovely guitar pickups of just the sort I've been hoping to find so it's just a question of me thinking what will work best (and saving enough money over the coming months that my wife doesn't kill me ;) )

And meanwhile I'll keep watching the bass PU developments here :)

Cheers,
Carl

[Steve-Mr Pig 2U]

Tempting! Smile But I'm hoping to put some humbuckers in the Rick bass eventually

Bass humbuckers sound very nice, I had some in an Ibanez bass and I played one of the new warwick double buck corvetts at LGS. Bass humbuckers are BIG! so it would be quite a job routing a hole in the Rickenbacker to get them in. To be honest I think it would be better to get the ones you have re-wound, It wouldn't de-value the bass at all, where as  routing the hole for the humbuckers would.

[carlaz]

Bass humbuckers sound very nice, I had some in an Ibanez bass and I played one of the new warwick double buck corvetts at LGS. Bass humbuckers are BIG! so it would be quite a job routing a hole in the Rickenbacker to get them in. To be honest I think it would be better to get the ones you have re-wound, It wouldn't de-value the bass at all, where as  routing the hole for the humbuckers would.

Are bass humbuckers necessarily that big?  I've long seen advertised the Seymour Duncan Rick bass replacement humbuckers and my understanding was that they required no modification to the instrument. Likewise with the Bartolini Rick replacements, I thought. I haven't done a lot of research, admittedly; I could be wrong.

But, yeah, I certainly don't want to dig a hole the body -- not 'cause I'm worried about resale value, more because I just wouldn't want to dig a hole in the body!  Well, I'll keep in mind the rewind option (though the neck pickup is actually a bar-stewardized Tele guitar pickup, which makes it a bit odd in terms of pole position and such, so perhaps there's not much point in rewinding it!). 'Course, I could get SD Rick humbuckers and then get 'em BKP rewound ;)

Cheers,
Carl

[Steve-Mr Pig 2U]

I think to get them sounding good they would have to be big, the problem with the SD ones is that because they are so small, they are probably wound with 43 gauge wire instead of 42, which doesn’t sound very nice with bass pickups.
They also have ceramic magnets, which will give a sterile sound.
Your right that they require no mod' to the bass, but I think the only benefit will be the fact that they are hum cancelling.
The Bartolini ones are also humbuckers. I have bartolinis in one of my basses but Im swapping them for one of our sets because they sound quite lifeless in comparison.

[carlaz]

The Bartolini ones are also humbuckers. I have bartolinis in one of my basses but Im swapping them for one of our sets because they sound quite lifeless in comparison.

Well, I poked around under that big pickup guard thing Ricks have, and lo and behold, it is a little Bartolini humbucker down there on the bridge!  Judging by the dimension info I found online, looks like Bartolini are still selling basically the same thing (in terms of size, at least) that got put in my bridge position a zillion years ago. Well, well, well ....

So, would a vintage rewind work on this thing?  Or does the wire gauge become an issue because of the size? And can the magnet (probably ceramic, but I couldn't find old or new magnet info for the Bartolini Rick bridge pup) be changed out on this thing? (Not sure what I should do about the funky ex-Tele pup in the neck -- probably leave it alone for the moment -- I don't much use the neck pickup anyway at present.)

Cheers,
Carl

[Steve-Mr Pig 2U]

the only problem is that I think bartolini seal their pickups in resin, making it impossible to get into them!
Is the Pickup active or passive?

[carlaz]

the only problem is that I think bartolini seal their pickups in resin, making it impossible to get into them!
Is the Pickup active or passive?

Passive, definitely passive.  But, mmm, yeah -- if it's sealed in resin, there's not much to do about that! (Except wait for BKP to make a better complete replacement someday, of course! :))

Cheers,
Carl

[magma]

Our bass player has an old ricy bass he loves - but finds the sound a bit dull and lifeless - Could the pickups be given the Bare Knuckle treatment with a rewind ?

Or could replicas be created as a custom job ?