Basslines Musicman Replacement Pickup Reviews 
4 / 5 based on 1 reviewsThese are installed on two Musicman basses,
one as replacement for an old PU that went
bad and the other as a modification.
My used fretless StingRay came with a full
Basslines system, incl stack-knob 2-channel EQ. Having compared mine to a same-model
StingRay with its original electronics I
prefer mine. It's a bit mellower without
lacking "StingRay flavor". Mine has Fender
nylon-covered roundwound strings while the
all-original fretless has metal flatwounds.
My Musicman Sabre [wooden neck] had one of
its original MM humbuckers go bad [went to
single-coil-only], and it was decided to
put the Basslines PU at the neck position
and the remaining original MM PU, being a
bit hotter in tone, would be the bridge PU.
I like this because it runs more toward the
extemes: hotter PU in the hotter-sounding
location, and the darker PU at the boomier
neck location.
The Basslines PU has its poles spaced for
the StingRay string spacing, but is now in
the neck position of a Sabre, which has a
skinny jazz-type neck, so the PU is a bit
wide for the job although it seems to be
doing a good job. Also, Sabre PUs being
smaller, routing was required to fit the
new PU.
It's a bigmomma humbucker with 8 exposed
non-adjustable pole slugs. It rides on
screws like a MM PU, not in an elevator
frame like classic humbuckers.
The Basslines 2-channel system fits in the
existing control cavity of the StingRay,
and is powered from the existing 9v supply
[a single battery on the back of the body].
I'm not a string popping slapper [so why
do I have 2 MM basses anyway...?] and so
I prefer these modified axen to any other
[all-original] MM basses I've ever tried,
including a new 2-PU Bongo bass. These
are less harsh than original MM basses,
but a long way from Muddy Thudsville. If
I were getting a custom-built bass I'd be
very tempted to specify two Basslines PUs
set very wide apart [close as possible to
neck and bridge]. I'd describe them as a
good middle ground between the MM and G&L
humbucker tones.
I'm gong to rate it a 4 because it lacks
adjustable pole slugs and doesn't come in
a narrower version for the neck location.
Golem rated this unit
on
2004-06-08.
