3 pickup bass build

[Gades]

Hey everybody,

    So I am new here, but I have used the website a lot already as a great resource. I am a bass player, and am planning my first bass build. I have been an apprentice luthier for a little over a year so I am not completely ignorant, but I still have a ton to learn, and my knowledge of bass pickup tones is embarrassingly limited. I want a three pickup bass to get a huge variety of tones because I play with several different groups that play jazz, funk, pop-punk, church music, 60's rock and roll,  and 80's glam metal. Honestly It is also because I had the privilege to work on a Big Al bass and I just thought the three pickup configuration sounded and looked awesome.

    I already have a Basslines SMB-5A alnico pickup (I play a five string) that I got as payment for a job, and I was wondering if anyone has any advice or ideas on which pickups would go well with that to be able to get that big variety of tones I'm looking for. Also, I would like it if I could swing a active bass with the ability to go completely passive if I wanted/needed to, but alas, I know next to nothing about bass pre-amps as well.

Thanks!

 

[Jack Michaelson]

Sorry, I can't help you, but check out hachikid's Jaguar bass. I can't help but go back look at it on a regular basis.

 

[drewfx]

Welcome!

Don't take this wrong, but if you aren't exactly sure what you want, "more options" isn't generally the right answer.

You will either end up with a zillion convoluted knobs and switches (most of which you won't ever really use), or you will need to make compromises to keep only the most useful options readily available. But unfortunately, unless you know exactly what you want going in, you aren't going to know which compromises to make.

And for the record, unlike some people here, I personally don't mind some extra knobs/switches/options. But they have to be useful ones, and I want things setup so that the most useful stuff is "on top" and anything "extra" is kept out of the way until desired.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

TubbyTwins has some nice 3 pickup Geckos and input on tones of the different spots.

 

[greywolf]

You don't have to have a complex arrangement to get a wide tonal spread .  To compliment your exisiting pickup I'd consider a P bass for the neck ( moved slightly forward from standard )  and a J bass bridge for the center .  A simple three way toggle switch , then a nice 3 band pre-amp EQ like the Bartolini 5.2 which has a blender , master vol and Bass/Mid/Treble boost cut and  a passive /active push pull  on the master vol .

Hook up the blend knob from the neck to the MM so you get all combinations ..

 

[hachikid]

I know I can get 6 or 7 distinct tones out of my bass without knob twiddling, and all in just mono output, too. if I go stereo, I can easily go from Sheehan to Squire to Geddy to Entwistle without trying much. I don't know why three pickups aren't the norm as they seem to be on guitar, but Vincent is definitely a "Swiss Army Bass."

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

When Leo put 3 pickups on a guitar, they were all (supposedly) the same pickup, didn't allow for any tandem operation, and wasn't done for any real reason than just to do it.