Which pickups are these?

laterali

laterali

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Sep 11, 2012
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Toronto, ON
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#1
I recently purchased a 1977 BC Rich Eagle bass for next to nothing.

The possible reasoning behind the low price being the previous owner had taken out the original Dimarzio DP122 cream coloured pickups, cored out some wood, added filler and put these pickups in. I'd have asked the previous owner why he did this, but I bought this thing on consignment.

This thing plays like a dream, the pickups cut through nicely in the mix. I wish this had the original pickups but I'm not hating these ones.

Does anyone have any idea what these are? Which make? etc... I'm just trying to wrap my head around why someone would swap the originals in such a drastic way.
 

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#2
Those are obviously the pickups he wanted,badly. :D

They look like some old Schallers or DiMarzios I have except that on mine the bobbins are less “square” more rounded on the ends. Pull the pickup rings and take a look at the bottom of the pickups.
 
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#5
If they are schallers it will say so on the baseplate. Dimarzio did produce PUs like this back in the 70s I have an old catalog somewhere. I'll see what they look like.
Update. not dimarzios unless the are pre 1979 (oldest catalog I have. Possibly Schallers but I thought schaller used three or four screw arrangement for pickup height adjustment.
Looking at your pictures the original hole looks to be for a humbucker size pickup? I thought dimarzio DP122 were P-Bass style? It seems that the pickup has been repositioned and not replaced. You might want to check before getting rid of those.
By the way it would not be impossible to fix this to put it back to original.
 
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#6
Hey just did the internet search. DON"T get rid of the pickups. I believe they are original and the previous owner must have repositioned it trying to change the sound (dumb ass). Look into fixing it and you will have a more valuable instrument. Basically the pickup should be moved back closer to the neck again. The area between both pickups needs to be slightly routed out and a new layer of matching (or as close as possible) wood imbedded. The darker stripes can be fixed. The new wood would have to be aged and refinished to match the patina of the original. There is a way to return this to its original state
 
#8
Yup, I think those are the original DiMarzios. Might be a version of the Model G pickup?

I would do nothing to that bass, particularly if it sounds good. That pickup location is probably a better choice anyway (the original owner must have thought so). I suppose the wood fill could have been done better, and depending how bad it looks in person, a re-do might make sense...
 
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