ESB-4SC pickup replacements?

[nDR01d]

Hi fellow builders, I'm seriously thinking about making the ESB-4SC but I would like to get gold hardware. So the humbuckers in the description have to go, (amongst other things). I'm wondering if any of you have built this bass and if so, can you tell me what size pickups I should be looking at ie: guitar sized humbuckers, mini-humbuckers, P-bass size etc. etc. I just want to make sure I can get the right gear for the build, before I layout the cash
Thanks.

[Simon Barden]

The pickups in the picture are copies of Hofner 'staple' bass pickups. Hofner do a gold version (H511B-G) in a style where the pickup surround (H512B) sits on and then screws into the top, with the pickup held in place by 4 grub-screws on the side of the surround. To use these, you'd first need to know whether the Hofner pickup surrounds would fully cover the existing cutaways, and you'd then need to glue some extra tabs of wood into the cutaways so you can drill mounting holes for them. Not a hard task, a few bits of strong ply, a bit of epoxy and a small clamp and you're there. However, it would make the pickup openings smaller, and thus harder to get your wiring harness in and out, which may be an issue.

But the cutouts should fit standard mini-humbucker sized pickups, or you could enlarge them to fit any bigger pickup that has a mounting ring surround. But you aren't going to be able to fit Fender P or J style pickups or any soap-bar styles designed to screw directly onto a body.

[nDR01d]

Thanks heaps Simon. Absolute gold.

[wazkelly]

G'day nDro1d, mini Guitar humbuckers might fit but being 6 pole vs 4 for Bass could sound weird.

I think Dedman asked this question a month or so ago as he was looking at what replacement PUP's would go into the Hoffner Kit. From memory I think Seymour Duncan do something but most of what I have seen are chrome. Plenty of Rickenbacker Neck PUP clones out there too that should fit but again they tend to have a small amount of chrome on them too. Might need to consider soapbar styles made by EMG or Bartolini which tend to look like black blobs of plastic, but hey, at least no chrome? EMG's would be the cheapest if going down that path and they do make passives if you don't want to be mucking around with actives and batteries.

http://www.seymourduncan.com/pickup/...humbucker-neck
http://www.emgpickups.com/bass/thund...tbhz.html#info
http://www.hofner-guitars.com/guitar.../pick-ups.html

Looks like Hofner do make a Gold set but you would have to order them through an authorised dealer plus photos to not show any side tabs for mounting the PUP's.

[Simon Barden]

On closer look the kit has a mixture of Hofner and Gretsch influences (just posted a comment in Feedback as the kit is most certainly not ES-175 influenced as described). So you could look at Gretsch bass replacement pickups as well.

[Simon Barden]

If you had the cash, TV Jones do gold finish Gretsch style replacement pickups that would fit.

[nDR01d]

I saw the TV Jones ones. They look lovely and would fit the bill nicely, but, yeah, that would set me back $440AUD or there abouts. Definitely out of my price range.

I guess the remaining 2 easiest options (for fitting) are the Hofner style or Rick style pickups.

[pablopepper]

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Gretsch-B...sAAOSwOVpXYI5u

Check these out. I put a similar Gretsch pickup in my RC-4 and I'm very happy with it. P.S. From what I have read Gretsch pickups are made by TV Jones.

[wazkelly]

Geez they look the biz Pabs and priced well too. Just a pity we are sliding down against USD at the moment.

[Simon Barden]

Hard to find ones with a gold finish though.