Firebird Pickups in Bass VI!

[Zork]

We are recording at the moment and trying out all the combinations of guitars and pedals and to hear the sounds not in a loud practice environment but properly miced and recorded sheds a very different light on various aspects of my setup.

I usually play my slightly modded Squier VI. Besides some bits and pieces, the relevant mod to mention here are 250k volume and 500k tone pots. It sounds good with fuzz and overdrive, works very well with modulation and delay but with distortion (Rat or sometimes Big Muff) it sounds brittle and undefined.

So for the heavier songs I'm using my homebuilt "Musima" VI. It has P90s and sounds very full and basslike. With the distortion pedals it's thick, in your face and heavy. On the other hand it doesn't work so well in parts with more effects or that require more subtle sounds and styles.

Now, for recording it's cool to just switch back and forth with the Squier and the Musima and use whatever works best but for playing live I like to use just one bass that does it all. The Musima isn't very comfortable to play, the P90s hum a lot and it has a looser string tension than the Squier, so I much prefer the Squier. So I'm thinking to replace the pickups.

My favourite pickups are the ones in my firebird and the thread about the Gold Foil Jazzmaster revealed that the Roswell LGM gold foils are true Firebird pickups in a stylish and affordable package. So these seem very interesting to me. I hope to get a sound halfway between the almost stock Squier VI (clear attack, nice definition, shiny top end) and the Musima (aggressive mids, thick distortion sounds). I'm thinking neck and bridge pickup with a three way switch, no middle pickup.

Now I know there aren't many who experimented a lot with pickups in Bass VIs but there are quite a few among us who put mini humbuckers and Firebird pickups in their Jaguars. So what's the verdict? Is it worth all the required routing and stuff or would I be better off with maybe just something like that Duncan hot Jaguar pickup or so?

[Sweetfinger]

I would almost think mini-humbuckers might just squeeze into the pickup routs on a Bass VI. If they don't, either way, you'll have a wider range of choices without the need for routing if you tried some Strat style rail design pickups, Lace Sensor, Dimarzio, etc. There's a huge variety and they'll all fit.

[Zork]

Nah, pretty sure they won't fit without routing but that will not stop me. I already reached out to my local guitar tech and I decided I'll be going for it. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?

[GreenKnee]

I dropped a set of Firebird sized goldfoils in my Jaguar. They aren't Firebird pickups, but they have the same footprint:





The guitar was routed out for them, nowhere near enough space in the single coil rout for a Firebird pickup.

More chrome is more chrome, and that can only be a good thing right?

[Zork]

Ah cool, I love that guitar. What pickups are those? Singlecoils or humbuckers?

[Zork]

More chrome is more chrome, and that can only be a good thing right?

That's exactly what my drummer said when I told my band about the plan!

[JVG]

It would look absolutely great, I’m certain of this.

I love Firebird pickups, and even have them in a Jag myself, but I don’t know if they would sound good in a bass. Even though they are at the twangy end of the spectrum as far as humbuckers are concerned, i think you might find the notes lose their edge and become mushy in a VI. Of course this is down to taste, and they might be exactly what you want.

That said, I’m happy to be wrong and therefore i support the experiment!

[JSett]

I've never found a properly built FB pickup to be anything other than really clear sounding..I think they'll pick up the Bass VI frequencies just fine and you should have great note separation. To my ears they sound just like big single coils

[HarktheUmpire]

I’ve actually gone and done this - put a proper FB pickup in the bass VI bridge position - and I really like the sound: clear and articulate. Firebird pickups don’t get muddy. The one I put in my Tele sounds clearer and brighter than Fender‘s normal single coil Tele neck pickup.

To the OP: personally, I’d still keep a Jag pickup in the middle position (FB - Jag - FB). The Jag pickup can give you that ‚classic‘ Bass VI sound. Fun to combine w the other two as well. Aesthetically, it may not be ideal, but if you have the switch and rout for it already anyway, why not keep that middle pickup?

[Zork]

I’ve actually gone and done this

That's awesome! Now that I think about it's actually even better to only replace the bridge pickup. Kind of a best of two worlds approach. Do you have any pics of your VI? I think I will go this way too.

[Zork]

Ok, I did a quick Photoshop mockup:



Looks fantastic to me.

[HarktheUmpire]

Adding the mounting ring is a great idea. Looks awesome!

[Zork]

Yes, I think so, too. And the ring covers the old routes in the pickguard, so I don't have to get a new one. I ordered the pickups today. The only shop in Europe that seems to have any Roswell pickups at all had only the bridge version in stock, no neck pickups. Coincidence? Or providence? Is there a great plan behind it all? Will we ever find out?

[Zork]

Pickups came in. I hope they sound as good as they look!

[Zork]

This is going to be very cool.