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Okay so I have recently purchased a refinished 72 fender musicmaster bass. The pick up is awful and I was thinking about replacing it. I hate the look of rails pickups but in tryin to find a decent drop in pick up... I was thinking about the fender vintage 51 single coil bass pick up and if it would fit as a drop in. Seems perfect considering its a 4 pole single coil bass pick up....

it will fit but the poles won't be well align under the strings.
did you think to change the pots and cap?

it will fit but the poles won't be well align under the strings.
did you think to change the pots and cap?

Lace Sensor.

i don't know if the vintage P Bass pickup would drop in. as far as I am aware it's a different fit. the musicmaster basses use a standard guitar single coil, strat-sized.

if however it does fit i would look at the Seymour Duncan 1/4 Pounder version. i had a vintage output one on my classic vibe bass and it was very quiet and poor output. the 1/4 pounder gives you some good thump and girth



in the more likely event that you will have to go down the strat pickup sized route, most people recommend lace sensors. that way you get plenty of tonal options and it keeps the look. i can't stand them myself but maybe they're better on a bass. if you wanted to get some rails i imagine you could fit a mustang cover over the top with a bit of effort

Johnny Noir wrote:it will fit but the poles won't be well align under the strings.
did you think to change the pots and cap?

IIRC the original one is just a Musicmaster pickup so the poles don't line up anyway.

NickD wrote:

Johnny Noir wrote:it will fit but the poles won't be well align under the strings.
did you think to change the pots and cap?

IIRC the original one is just a Musicmaster pickup so the poles don't line up anyway.

It is.

If you'd rather avoid a rails pickup, a Lace Sensor red actually works pretty well as a bass pickup. Got one in my Bronco bass.

Lace Sensor Red.

You're welcome.

Lace Sensor Red.

You're welcome.

Have you heard of a Lace Sensor red? I heard good things about it. Surprised no one mentioned it yet.

Also: check out this awesome thread which discusses the best pups for a bronco bass upgrade:

http://www.shortscale.org/forum/viewtop ... ght=bronco

mkt3000 wrote:Lace Sensor Red.

You're welcome.

I had one of those in my Competition Mustang in the Bridge position. I heard they work great for Bass.

Duncan rails pup

Do an robroe cover

Yes, a Telecaster bass pickup fits in the cavity with no routing, but it's not exactly the same size through the pickguard, although you might be able to squeeze it though without sanding the pickguard.

Mine came with one already installed, I think the owner before me might have taken a bit off the pickguard, not sure. But mine is screwed to the body, not with screws and springs to the pickguard.

In any case, the sound is pretty bright, kind of like a funk sound, so you might want to consider something else like the higher output Dimarzios with rails if you want something bassier. Although I'm not sure what kind mine is.

has anyone suggested a red lace sensor yet?

robert(original) wrote:has anyone suggested a red lace sensor yet?

mkt3000 wrote:Lace Sensor Red.

You're welcome.

So I got my lace sensor red ready to slap in the bass. Anyone have a schematic for the musicmaster bass ?? I can't seem to find one

Lace Sensor Red? Whoa, curveball!

This wiring diagram should be the same thing, or at least work fine.
Disregard pickup wire colours obviously... the "black" wire (ground) should be the white and green wires together on the lace I believe, at least according to this: http://www.lacemusic.com/pdf/1.pdf

You missed a trick by not going for the red lace sensor.