- Humbucker Pickup for MusicMan Bass
- For 5-String MusicMan Basses up to 1992
- 3/8" Alnico 5 Rod Magnets, Unique Coil Windings
- Four Conductor Hookup Cable
- Black Cover with Basslines Logo
- Made in USA
The Seymour Duncan SMB-5A is a 1976-voiced humbucker for Ernie Ball MusicMan® StingRay® bass. Great for blues, funk, classic rock, southern rock, jam, and hard rock. This is a direct replacement for 5-string MusicMan® StingRay® basses up to 1992. (note: a three-coil version is available for post-'92 5-string basses, please call for details)
Ernie Ball used Alnico magnets on the original 1976 StingRay basses. These groundbreaking instruments are some of the most highly collectable basses of their era, and are known for producing some of the most popular bass tones for metal, rock, blues and funk.
Installing a ceramic magnet in a conventional humbucker will tend to make it brighter and edgier with a punchy bass response and a higher resonant peak. However in the case of Seymour Duncan's SMB-5A MusicMan replacement pickup, the Alnico magnets, together with unique coil windings, have the effect of extending both ends of the frequency spectrum beyond that of their ceramic magnet counterparts. In other words, the SMB-5A Alnico version is both warmer on the bottom and more detailed on the top.
Seymour Duncan uses .375" (3/8") diameter Alnico 5 rod pole pieces and a winding spec that's designed to product the same resonance as the original 1976 StingRay. The SMB-5A is hand-built in the Seymour Duncan Basslines facility in Santa Barbara, California. Mounting hardware and detailed wiring diagram included. Comes with four-conductor hookup cable and Basslines logo cover.
The SMB-5A is often used together with the STC-3M4 Tone Circuits for optimal tonal control.
Players include Darrell Harris / Gary Puckett, Dan Lutz / Andy Summers, Roger Camero / No Motiv.
