Boomy Pick ups

Bassatronic

Bassatronic

Aug 2, 2023
40
18
811
Australia
#1
Hi All,

Years ago I picked up a Guild JS II from about 73. The previous owner had moded things a bit and replaced the stock pick-ups with two huge Fender wide range bass humbuckers.
Similar to this (https://www.nationwideguitars.com/1973guildjsIIbass.html)
It makes a big vintage sound!

Guild_pickups.jpg


But i've always wanted to try to 'voice' the pickups some how. As it's super muddy, pushes out some heavy sub 100k frequencies.
If I wanted to pull back some of those low frequencies, could i just add a capacitor to the pickups?
I guess my other option might be to split the pickups, to single coil?
 
#3
The capacitor trick is cheap and easy, tho I’m not sure how well it will work. Worth a try I suppose.

How much have you messed with pickup height and strings? I’d try lower the pickup(s), and try brighter strings.

also, how are they wired? Consider trying the direct-to-output wiring, that’s the brightest (least loaded). If you like that better, maybe a simpler wiring (fewer pots; or high resistance pots) could do the trick.

last, it may just be the nature of the bass… is the bridge pickup also boomy? The neck pickup will always introduce a lot of low end, that’s what they’re there for… if the bridge pickup is fine, then you focus on the mix.

finally. I’m not sure if you can split these? If you can, worth a try, or try wire them in parallel if you can.
 
#4
I've actually had much success with utilizing capacitors to cut back on unnecessary low frequencies. There isn't just one particular value that works best though; I've found a wide variety of caps to work, just depending on the pickup. I don't have any first-hand experience with these Fender pickups, so I would say just try a bunch of different ones and see what gives you the best results. Obviously factors like strings, amp EQ, speaker cabinet, room you're playing in, etc. will also impact how much boominess you get.
 
Last edited:
#5
Start with a high pass filter, see what cutting everything below the E fundamental pitch does and see if it cleans it up the way you want, or at least in a way that sounds better. Get a spectrum analyzer, there are apps for smart phones. Try to get a picture of the existing frequency response and tweak from there.
 
  • Like
Reactions: dbsfgyd1 and Medicine Man
#8
Yes. What @Major Seven said. Lower the E string side of the pickups. Put an in-line .01 capacitor on a switch to the volume control for each pickup. I have done that, especially on the bridge pickup. This has the added advantage of eliminating the impedance volume drop from having both pickups dimed. A Rickenbacker 4002 (yes, "2," not "1" or "3") has the inline capacitor on both pickups as a stock wiring.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back