Rarity of PM Basses

Jeremiah

Isn't the standard wiring of the MM pickup to be parallel so generally lower output than a P pickup that is wired in series?

crunchman

thegummy said:

crunchman said:

Maruszczyk will make just about any configuration you want with their configurator.

https://public-peace.de/configurator/jake-c

The zero fret on them puts me off a bit though.

How come?

I've never had a zero fret but seems like such a good idea to me.

It might be different on a bass, but on guitars they wear and cause string buzz.  On a guitar you tend play a lot of "cowboy chords" with open strings so the zero fret wears.  Once it wears, and gets too low, you then get buzz where the string vibrates against the other frets higher up the neck.

Maybe it's my prejudice from primarily being a guitar player, but I just don't like the idea of a zero fret.  I just think of them as wrong - like a big headstock on a Strat, or a Les Paul without a scratchplate!

Thinking about it, on a bass, you aren't likely to play so much on open strings to wear it down, so it might not be an issue in the same way.  On balance though, I'd still rather have one without a zero fret.

ICBM

Jeremiah said:

Isn't the standard wiring of the MM pickup to be parallel so generally lower output than a P pickup that is wired in series?

A P pickup isn't "as series" as you might expect, because each half only picks up two strings, so the signal isn't doubled like it is with a humbucker where each coil extends fully under all the strings. If you switch one to parallel the change in output isn't that huge, it's more a change in tonality caused by the much reduced inductance.

thegummy

crunchman said:

thegummy said:

crunchman said:

Maruszczyk will make just about any configuration you want with their configurator.

https://public-peace.de/configurator/jake-c

The zero fret on them puts me off a bit though.

How come?

I've never had a zero fret but seems like such a good idea to me.

It might be different on a bass, but on guitars they wear and cause string buzz.  On a guitar you tend play a lot of "cowboy chords" with open strings so the zero fret wears.  Once it wears, and gets too low, you then get buzz where the string vibrates against the other frets higher up the neck.

Maybe it's my prejudice from primarily being a guitar player, but I just don't like the idea of a zero fret.  I just think of them as wrong - like a big headstock on a Strat, or a Les Paul without a scratchplate!

Thinking about it, on a bass, you aren't likely to play so much on open strings to wear it down, so it might not be an issue in the same way.  On balance though, I'd still rather have one without a zero fret.

Never thought about that before but I suppose on a 6-string guitar the open strings would be played more often than any single fret.

I've always thought they seemed good because without them the nut has to be filed so precisely to get good action and intonation and I found that difficult to do myself and have had bad experiences of paying for it to be done only to get the instrument back without it being done. So I thought how much easier it would be if the nut could be filed all the way down cause the string would actually be sitting on the zero fret.

fretmeister

crunchman said:

thegummy said:

crunchman said:

Maruszczyk will make just about any configuration you want with their configurator.

https://public-peace.de/configurator/jake-c

The zero fret on them puts me off a bit though.

How come?

I've never had a zero fret but seems like such a good idea to me.

It might be different on a bass, but on guitars they wear and cause string buzz.  On a guitar you tend play a lot of "cowboy chords" with open strings so the zero fret wears.  Once it wears, and gets too low, you then get buzz where the string vibrates against the other frets higher up the neck.

Maybe it's my prejudice from primarily being a guitar player, but I just don't like the idea of a zero fret.  I just think of them as wrong - like a big headstock on a Strat, or a Les Paul without a scratchplate!

Thinking about it, on a bass, you aren't likely to play so much on open strings to wear it down, so it might not be an issue in the same way.  On balance though, I'd still rather have one without a zero fret.

Depending on the bass, open strings can sound very different to fretted notes. The zero fret makes them the same.

I've had 3 Status, 3 Sandbergs, and 1 Marleaux with zero frets.

The Marleaux I had the longest - a good 10 years. Only 1 of them ever needed any zero fret work - and that was a brand new Sandberg where it was a bit high and needed filing down a bit.

Some bass makers have tight nuts / string guides and a regular fret. Some put little grooves in the zero fret and a looser guide. Some use a harder material for the zero fret.

I played the Marleaux a huge amount with plenty of open notes and a load of stuff in B flat, E flat where the 1st fret would be fretted putting pressure on the 1st fret and the zero fret. For 10 years. Still didn't need any work. The bass had Prosteels on it too. Not nickels or flats.

Funkfingers

Jeremiah said:

Isn't the standard wiring of the MM pickup to be parallel so generally lower output than a P pickup that is wired in series?

Yes. The coils of a ‘Ray pickup are normally connected in parallel. The pre-amp is where the extra output appears. 

Series interconnection of the coils of a ‘Ray pickup gives a pretty hot signal but the note definition is not good … unless your name is Lemmy. 

My experience has always been that P and ‘Ray pickups each have their sweet spot. Deviate from those and the sound deteriorates.