u/Funny-Witness3746

I am getting started with modding, I really just love to tinker and get excited about customizing my instruments. I play bass and I've got a few projects that I'm planning, I have a lot of experience DIYing, but not much with electronics or soldering yet.

So just a few questions:

Any suggestions for "Guitar Electronics 101", whether it's a book, a site, or a YouTube channel?
I am planning to build a bass with two pickups, each with it's own output, either two jacks like the Billy Sheehan bass, or else a stereo output that uses a TRS to dual TS cable. My question is, if I use a set of active pickups that are powered by a single battery, does this pose a problem? Each pickup has its own completely separate signal path, so will I have to give each pickup its own battery?

Thanks in advance for any guidance!

Getting ready to start another project bass, adding a pickup close to the neck on a 4-string P bass. FTR it's probably going to be a Sire, mostly because they sell basic models with roasted maple fretboard and their headstock doesn't look dorky. A genuine Yamaha Attitude bass would be nice to have, but the price on those can't possibly be justified. Plus, DIY is more fun, and gives me something to do.

So I am looking for suggestions on a few design elements, as well as recommendations for what pickup would be suitable. I'm not asking about routing or anything more applicable to r/Luthier, I'm looking for "what's your experience with this setup?"

First, any recommendations for a neck pickup in the "extreme position", as close to the neck as possible (see pics, a McGrath Thunderhorse and Yamaha Attitude II, which is what I'm going for)? I'm thinking an overwound humbucker or "mudbucker" since the job of this pickup will be to capture low end. Something like a Rickenbacker neck pickup would also be great, as long as it's a hum-canceling design, since it won't be running in parallel with the other pickup. Would another split coil work fine, or a jazz-split (not staggered) like Nordstrand makes?

Next, I'd like to hide the additional pickup under the pick guard so I can use one with graphics that I don't want to cut a hole into. My only concern is that lowering the pickup that far from the strings will reduce output. Should I be concerned about losing the low end? Output I can make up for, but it will be harder to restore frequencies that are lost. Mostly will be using this pickup the way Billy Sheehan does, for bi-amping, and also to get "pure tones" that are better for feeding synth pedals.

Finally, I would like to use a stereo output jack instead of two separate jacks like the Attitude bass, this would mean using a RTS cable that splits into two separate mono outputs. What would I lose from having mono outputs instead of stereo? Is there any real application/need for the signal from a standard bass to be "stereo", especially if I can just dupe the signal on a second channel in my DAW for recording purposes?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts, experiences, suggestions and donations knowledge.

Splitting up active pickups

Mod Time: turning a P bass into an Attitude bass