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Permalink Reply by JL on June 17, 2016 at 3:30am

My first guess, its a double set of poles, so I suspect its a hummbucker and one row is N and the other row is S. Take a compass and check if the rows of poles are opposite magnetic poles.

If so...

A) open it up. reverse one set of poles and reverse the connections of that same coil

B) replace the pickup with another of the same size that's a single coil.

then a decent thickness chunk of iron/steel that spans the strings might work better....

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Permalink Reply by Barrie Collins on June 17, 2016 at 3:39am

Yep just checked it north on the left south on the right.
I don't think rebuilding the pick up is an option so I may have to replace it, wouldn't a single coil solve the problem without bridging the poles?

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on June 17, 2016 at 10:51am

Yeah, that middle string is too far from either magnetic field from either pup.

Six string pups can be had extremely cheap, even free, if you ask nicely at your local guitar shop. Also, search pawn shops for cast off electric guitars X they might be willing to part out.

Alternatively, there's a fair number of people here that would be quite willing to sell you a relatively cheap homemade one. Check with CBN members Ted Crocker, Dan Sleep, Skeesix, Wayfinder, and a host of other DIY pup makers.

Orrr, you could look at the incredibly cheap (less than $10) homemade DIY pups being made on the Lace Alumitone thread, with a simple magnet, a loop of thick copper wire, and a wall wart transformer, as well as the more modified and quite a bit neater designs we've been experimenting with.

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Permalink Reply by Paul Craig on June 19, 2016 at 5:46am

Your best solution for that pickup to work right on all 3 strings is to mount it at a slant or straight across. Putting a metal plate across will work,but it will make the whole pickup weaker because of diminished magnetic field.

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Permalink Reply by JL on June 20, 2016 at 4:32am

I get that you want to do minimal destruction to the git as it is. so perhaps add a sigle coil just south of this one with the poles centered under the newly added string?

or since the proportions on these type p-bass pickups is 1x2, you could widen the hole to a square and put 2 in there turned perpendicular to the strings....

or pull it out, cut the hole bigger just to fit a thin-bucker some of the other builders here sell? 

Just a few ideas that  might avoid your worry of leaving a gaping hole where part of the old pickup used to be.

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