Upgrade Day! Anyone Else Upgrading?

yeah it’s a great mod, it can really extend the tonal range of an instrument, for not more than the cost of a pot.

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This is a great and quick easy mod, thanks for sharing and giving folks here the idea.
I like blending much better than selecting when it comes to pickups. This is one of the things I like about my Lakland 55-02, you can do both. Blend front and back, select from the bridge front/back set of coils. Gives a lot of versatility.

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My favorite setup is separate tone and volume controls for each pickup. Next to that is a blend control.

I’ve come to value a passive bass with tone, volume and blend with a preamp pedal.

I think my favorite use of a switch is on my Surveyor, where I can switch the bridge pickup between a Music Man pickup and a Jazz pickup. Switches have their place, but blending ain’t it in my book.

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I agree this is the best of all worlds for me too.
I like some active pickup setups for the raw output but generally don’t like the onboard preamps as much as a preamp pedal.

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Onboard preamp plus preamp pedal is nice if you have effects in the chain before the preamp that you still want to EQ for. Usually you put compressors, octavers and tone-generative pedals (wah, synth, etc) earlier in the chain, so it’s nice to be abe to EQ before those.

Often you end up with the preamp pedal last in the chain because that’s where your DI is; having an EQ before that becomes more critical. I definitely want to EQ before going into modulation and usually distortion too.

Of course I haven’t had that problem in a long time though - software rules for this kind of ordering thing. I can use a dozen EQs anywhere I want now :rofl:

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She is done! Now she needs a name.

My ESP LTD Surveyor 400 has gone through the latest (and hopefully last) upgrade.

For the Bridge, a Delano MC4 Jar Ray dual coil pickup
For the neck, a Delano SBC4 HE/S-4 Quad Coil pickup
The EMG B30 EQ is removed, replaced with an EMG tone knob
The top switch is to toggle between MM and Jazz on the bridge pickup
The bottom switch toggles between series and parallel on the neck pickup
La Bella 760 strings

Coupled with the stock Rosewood Fretboard, Ash Body, Wilkinson bridge

She sounds so good now. The pickups have a lot of clarity, the tone is clean and detailed, even with the flats you can hear the mid range. I really like this setup.

The Stream is much more comfortable to play, but may put Delanos on one of them.

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Suhweeeeet! Those pups even look the business. Post a soundbite, please!

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I have a few days off, will try if you don’tr mind less than masterful playing

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that’s a great instrument that you made :slight_smile: I like it (despite the sunburst :joy: )

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You heard my sound clips when I upgraded my P-bass with the Steve Harris pups. I think I can handle just about anybody’s less than masterful playing, seeing as it will be more masterful than mine.

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I’m not a sunburst fan either, but this one looks nice to me.

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Love it. I bet those pickups are gnarly. Want to hear them!

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I don’t mind a burst, and I think that without a pick guard it looks gorgeous.

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One update on this.

Apparently the blend is wired incorrectly. Turn the knob to the front, you favor the bridge pickup. Roll it the rear, you get the neck pickup. It’s like a lefty switch. I think I can deal.

Also, I will have to Stream 204s. What would it take to put an MM pickup on the bridge side? Cause I really like this sound, but the Stream feel

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Probably some routing. Aren’t those Nord soapbars in it?

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The 204 has ESP SB-4N, the “entry level” ESP pickup. It’s not a bad pickup

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Right. OK. I assume it’s the same length as the MM pup, 3.5", but it’s narrower, correct?

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Correct, the length is 89mm for both, but the width is 38mm for the soapbar and 48mm for the MM

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There’s also a difference in screw location?
I’ve got the original one from the Ray4 if you want it

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Thanks, I have the one taken out of the Surveyor too, I could use that as a template

Or, might just be a chicken and put in two Delano soapbars

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