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View Full Version : Has anyone used Guitar Fetish Bass pickups?



wazkelly
07-07-2018, 09:27 PM
Trying to wire up the MMB4 pickup and the wire strands are so thin on the stock kit supplied PUP that they break off at the solder joint way too easily.

Looking for a replacement MM style PUP is limited as to what is available that doesn't cost plenty and I tripped over these at Guitar Fetish and wondered if anyone has used their pickups and keen to hear any comments on physical quality control and also sound quality. Their own specs and blurb have talked things up and I am trying to filter the fact from fiction.

https://www.guitarfetish.com/-KP--GFS-MM-Pro-Music-Man-size-pickup-MAXIMUM-string-response--Kwikplug-Ready_p_21977.html

https://www.guitarfetish.com/KP--GFS-MM-Pro-Plus-Alnico-Music-Man-style-pickup--INCREDIBLE-tone--Kwikplug-Ready_p_21978.html
27294

Thanking you in advance for your assistance.

Waz

Dedman
07-07-2018, 10:39 PM
haven't used their bass pick ups but use their guitar pick ups a lot

wazkelly
08-07-2018, 06:17 AM
haven't used their bass pick ups but use their guitar pick ups a lotThanks Deddie, how do you rate them for guitars?
Cheers,waz

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Dedman
08-07-2018, 07:26 AM
probably on the same level as Tone riders

wazkelly
08-07-2018, 07:31 AM
Thanks mate, that is encouraging to know.
Looking at about AUD $75 delivered for their top spec unit so not too expensive.

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Dedman
08-07-2018, 09:20 AM
put it this was Waz, probably 1/2 of my guitars have Tone Riders, the other half have GF's. They aren't Duncans but then they don't cost nearly as much

wazkelly
08-07-2018, 11:31 AM
If they are as good as Tonerider that is a pretty good standard.

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dave.king1
08-07-2018, 01:53 PM
I've got the GFS MM bass pickup on my PB4-H and it sounds pretty good, but having said that the kit pups never went in there and my other bass has a 1970s Fender HB ( mudbucker ) in it and being a short scale bass gets used more often than the kit bass because of the limited room I have in my studio space so really nothing to compare it with

wazkelly
08-07-2018, 03:00 PM
Thanks Dave, really appreciate your feedback.
How thick is the wire gauge on the GFS 4 wires as the kit ones are thinner than a strand of hair.
Cheers, Waz

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wazkelly
08-07-2018, 03:01 PM
Just wondering which one you have got Dave as GFS has 2 to choose from.

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dave.king1
08-07-2018, 07:43 PM
Just wondering which one you have got Dave as GFS has 2 to choose from.

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Good question I'll have to see if I've still got the receipt, I have their PB replacement pup and high mass bridge as well.

As for the wire gauge I have no idea and would need to open it up to check

wazkelly
08-07-2018, 07:48 PM
Thanks Dave, no need to open it up. I'm sure you would remember if it was super thin as that is the main issue I am having with the stock unit.
I swear my hair is a thicker gauge and it is super fine, not from balding, just always had fine hair.

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wazkelly
29-07-2018, 01:41 PM
Wiring up GFS MMB pickup to Belcat Pre Amp

Having lots of fun trying to work out best way to wire up on blend pot that comes with the eBay 'Belcat' pre amp.

Kit supplied PUP had 5 wires where one was outer shield and theoretically should have allowed for front coil, rear coil isolation via the blend pot, and when centered it was in series as a humbucker. Played around with that PUP over a few days and could never get that to happen plus the wires were so thin they broke off at solder joints way to easy.

GFS replacement arrived a couple of days ago and this one is 4 wire but technically 3 as the outer shield does not share a signal with the 3 inner Red, Black or White wires. This probably means I can only coil split in one direction. When measuring things the rear coil lines up pretty close to same position as bridge J Bass PUP (10 mm further forward) whilst front coil is about 34 mm further towards neck. At the moment it seems I have wired in series as nothing is happening on either left or right side of center detent. Still sounds quite meaty and happy with that sound but seeking some guidance on which wires to swap around as my patience is almost at an end. At this stage I am leaning towards splitting to front coil as hopefully that should still retain more lower mids and maybe sound a bit like P Bass, and if I want J Bass sound I already have one of those.

Here are a couple of photos and diagrams and happy to wait for some feedback and guidance before heating up the soldering iron again. Last handwritten diagram is where things are at...

Thanking you in advance.

Cheers, Waz

Simon Barden
30-07-2018, 07:34 PM
The tap wire is connected to the join between the two coils. You'd normally switch this to ground if you wanted to do a coil tap.

I'd only use one set of balance pot connections, have white and red on the two outer connections and have the wiper connection going to the volume pot. The balance pot then selects a balance between the fully single coil and fully humbucking sounds. You do have the balance pot resistance linking across the second coil, so there may be a very slight drop in volume, but I can't think of any other way to make use of the balance pot.

27616

If you find that you want to use the other coil for single coil, then you will have to swap the black and red wires around. This will reverse the phase, but as there is only the one pickup, then it's not an issue.

Just leave the other set of pot tabs unconnected, or just join all its tabs together and connect to ground for completeness.

Obviously the black (or red if swapped) wire and cable shield get connected to the pot back and ground as normal.

wazkelly
30-07-2018, 08:21 PM
Thanks Simon.

The blend pot has been a source of much confusion and frustration. Would work ok for 2 PUP situations but not quite so easy to find the best combination for these MMB PUP's.

Scott (Weirdy) has also put forward another idea and will have a look at both. Yesterday I was that fed up it was just going to remain in series with blend pot not functioning. At least now I have a couple of fresh ideas to explore.

Thanks again.

Cheers, Waz