50's style P-bass pickup replacement

[Bus_Mute]

I'm looking to upgrade the single coil in my CIJ Fender '51 reissue

I've heard good things about Seymour Duncan and Fralin replacements.

I was wondering if anyone here had any good recommendations and could give me pros/cons of the vintage single coil replacements.

thanks!

[RPIcka]

No really pro's and con's. Only one type of pickup will fit that route and thats a single coil P-bass pickup. I'd go Nordstrand but Fralins are nice too for that vintage tone. I've heard good things about the Seymour Duncan as well.

[Bus_Mute]

thanks!
I know that only single coil P-bass styles will fit, but I've heard different things about the different brands' offerings.

some are reported to be "hotter" than others.
I'm looking for something with a bit more output.

[Rugaar]

I recently put a Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounder (scpb-3) into my Squier CV 50's P and I'm loving it. It's got a huge, full sound and it's really turned my bass into a beast. It's big and aggressive and sounds great for powerful rock songs. I can get a nice clean sound if I back my attack way off but it's a lot more fun hitting it with a bit of force and listening to it come alive. It's not going to be the right pickup for everyone and all occasions but for my use it's perfect.

If you're not quite sure what you want I'd suggest contacting Lindy Fralin. He offers single coil and hum canceling single coil pickups and a choice of 5 output levels. He's got a 30 day sound guarantee and a great reputation. I'm sure he'll direct you to what you want.

There's a Lollar listed in the classifieds right now for cheap. Hard to beat that one for the price listed.

[metalmariachi]

I'd go with a Lollar it will give you a very natural vintage sound.
The Duncan ¼ sounds good but has a high output and a slightly more modern sound.
Easy to get overdrive with it though.

MM

[62bass]

I just put a pickup from Pete Biltoft at Custom Vintage Guitars in my Squier 50s clone. Made the bass come alive. Was thinking of a Quarter Pounder but this one is custom wound for me and cost me less than a QP would. Seriously worth considering and he works fast. I had the pickup in the mail to me the day after I placed my order. It dropped right in without a hitch.

Love the sound. It's everything I asked him to give me.

Seriously worth considering.

[62bass]

Bus Mute-sorry, but I gave you the wrong name. I shouldn't post this early in the morning.

It's Vintage Vibe Guitars. You can check out Pete's website at www.vintagevibeguitars.com

I ordered the 51 P bass pickup overwound to 8.4 K. It's hotter than a firecracker but you can still back off the volume and get the traditional 51 P sound. Responds very nicely to differences in playing attack. I'm currently running it through a GK MB 150S and using Thomastic flat wound strings.

It comes with mounting screws, rubber tubing springs and wiring instructions (there are only 2 conductors to solder to the pots) plus some other good to know info about shielding and pot and capacitor values.

$85 plus shipping.

[Rugaar]

Originally Posted by 62bass

I just put a pickup from Pete Biltoft at Vintage Vibe Guitars in my Squier 50s clone. Made the bass come alive. Was thinking of a Quarter Pounder but this one is custom wound for me and cost me less than a QP would.

$85 plus shipping.

62bass-Where are you located that the Vintage Vibe pickup was cheaper than the QP? MF and BassPartsResource both sell the QP for $58 and I picked mine up new off eBay for even less. I've heard nothing but good reviews of the VintageVibe pickups but I've never seen them cheaper than the SD's.

[62bass]

Originally Posted by Rugaar

62bass-Where are you located that the Vintage Vibe pickup was cheaper than the QP? MF and BassPartsResource both sell the QP for $58 and I picked mine up new off eBay for even less. I've heard nothing but good reviews of the VintageVibe pickups but I've never seen them cheaper than the SD's.

I'm in Canada which probably explains it. You can't even find something like a 51 P pickup on the shelves here. Some years ago I bought a SD split coil QP for $120 Canadian in a store. I didn't realize that SD's sell so cheap on line. That's a great price.

How are you liking yours now that you've had it for a while?

[Rugaar]

Ah. That explains it then. Crazy how the markets can be that different between Canada and US.

I'm loving the Quarter Pounder in my Squier. The stock sound was good, especially when pushed a bit, but the QP is so much fuller at all volume levels. The bass was nice before but now it's my go-to-bass when I want an aggressive sound. It's a great complement to my Classic 50's P with the split coil pickup. Some songs really call for the low-mid thump of the split and others just scream for the aggressiveness of the QP. I'm definitely a happy camper.

I recently grabbed an SX P for stupid cheap. I'm considering throwing a QP in it, too, and stringing it up BEAD since I don't own a 5er. Have to wait til after the holidays before going ahead with it, though.

[62bass]

Originally Posted by Rugaar

Ah. That explains it then. Crazy how the markets can be that different between Canada and US.

I'm loving the Quarter Pounder in my Squier. The stock sound was good, especially when pushed a bit, but the QP is so much fuller at all volume levels. The bass was nice before but now it's my go-to-bass when I want an aggressive sound. It's a great complement to my Classic 50's P with the split coil pickup. Some songs really call for the low-mid thump of the split and others just scream for the aggressiveness of the QP. I'm definitely a happy camper.

I recently grabbed an SX P for stupid cheap. I'm considering throwing a QP in it, too, and stringing it up BEAD since I don't own a 5er. Have to wait til after the holidays before going ahead with it, though.

Thanks. That's about the same conclusions I've reached with mine. They must be very similar pickups. Looks like we're both happy.

I've had the split QP in my 78 P bass for 10 years now. Love it. It's still a P bass but now is a super P bass. It replaced a Dimarzio I had in before which was a bit on the thin sounding side. Not anymore. First I had it wired in the stock passive circuit. A few years later I picked up a Raven Labs preamp that installs in the control cavity and is powered by 2 lithium watch batteries. Now I have an even clearer top and bottom but no change to the P character. It's too bad Raven Labs went out of business. Great products.

So I think you'll like the QP split in your SX.

Getting back to replacing the single coil P pickup for Bus Mute-that's one alternative anyhow. The QP or the Vintage Vibe. I don't think you can go wrong with either.

[Bus_Mute]

thanks gents,
I really appreciate it.

Looks like the Seymour Duncan or the Vintage Vibe have the sound I'm looking for.

I'll let you all know what I end up going with & tell you how it sounds.

[Sundogue]

There's an article in the December issue of Bass Player about Fralin's new '51 P-bass pickup. Looks like a real vintage winner.

The guy writing the article dropped it in an ESP bass.

[joplin]

Originally Posted by Sundogue

There's an article in the December issue of Bass Player about Fralin's new '51 P-bass pickup. Looks like a real vintage winner.

The guy writing the article dropped it in an ESP bass.

I have a Fralin '51 P-Bass Single coil on the way for a Squier 50s bass (which is also on the way). Can't wait to hear the Fralin in there...

[62bass]

Originally Posted by joplin

I have a Fralin '51 P-Bass Single coil on the way for a Squier 50s bass (which is also on the way). Can't wait to hear the Fralin in there...

Yes, let us know how it sounds compared to the original, which isn't half bad.

[Rugaar]

Originally Posted by 62bass

Yes, let us know how it sounds compared to the original, which isn't half bad.

+1

Give the original a fair chance before automatically replacing it.

And in case anyone hasn't seen it yet, check out THIS VIDEO that compares the Squier CV to the MIJ Fender '51 RI. I'd love to see more of these direct comparisons.

[allexcosta]

I have a Fralin single-coil in case you wanna hear it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoefIbepkvo

[koobie]

Originally Posted by joplin

I have a Fralin '51 P-Bass Single coil on the way for a Squier 50s bass (which is also on the way). Can't wait to hear the Fralin in there...

I've got a Sting and recently installed a Fralin '51 P bass split coil. To cut to the chase, I feel this could be the single biggest upgrade any '51 P reissue, Sting or Squier CV50's P owner can do. This is now my quietest bass; the first time I plugged it in I thought I had mis-wired it because there wasn't a trace of hum or buzz. I started playing and broke into a grin; the tone is rich & full with a clear top end, I'd swear it it's a single-coil.

I bought my Sting second-hand and it came with a Duncan SCPB2, sounded good. I was curious about how other pickups would sound so I then put in a Lollar single-coil, also sounded nice, a bit lower output, perhaps more polite than the Duncan. But after getting used to the low noise floor of DiMarzio Ultra J's in another bass, I didn't want to put up with single-coil noise anymore.

With the Fralin & roundwounds on my Sting, the tone is pretty much what I'd hoped for, though I do cut the highs about 4-5 dB. And ideally I'd like the mids to be more forward. I called Zack at Fralin and he said to send it in for a 5% overwind, says it should accomplish both goals. There is no charge for this, I'm very impressed with that level of service.

Somebody else here already wrote up a favorable review of the Fralin '51 split pickup and he pointed out two shortcomings which I also found to be true: the bottom bobbin will not fit into the standard size pickup cavity without being filed down a bit. I told this to Zack and he said they'd check into it straight away. Two minutes with the the Dremel took care of the bobbin. The second thing (and this is very minor) is that the leads are too short, but I just soldered on 5" wire extensions and problem solved.

I wasn't going to post until I'd completed the journey & received the overwound version, but thought somebody else sitting on the fence might find this info useful. Again, I don't want to imply that the top end is at all harsh, but if overwinding the pickup will push the mids more forward and darken the top end just a bit, I figure why not. If you're using flats, you might prefer the stock winding.

[62bass]

Originally Posted by koobie

I've got a Sting and recently installed a Fralin '51 P bass split coil. To cut to the chase, I feel this could be the single biggest upgrade any '51 P reissue, Sting or Squier CV50's P owner can do. This is now my quietest bass; the first time I plugged it in I thought I had mis-wired it because there wasn't a trace of hum or buzz. I started playing and broke into a grin; the tone is rich & full with a clear top end, I'd swear it it's a single-coil.

I bought my Sting second-hand and it came with a Duncan SCPB2, sounded good. I was curious about how other pickups would sound so I then put in a Lollar single-coil, also sounded nice, a bit lower output, perhaps more polite than the Duncan. But after getting used to the low noise floor of DiMarzio Ultra J's in another bass, I didn't want to put up with single-coil noise anymore.

With the Fralin & roundwounds on my Sting, the tone is pretty much what I'd hoped for, though I do cut the highs about 4-5 dB. And ideally I'd like the mids to be more forward. I called Zack at Fralin and he said to send it in for a 5% overwind, says it should accomplish both goals. There is no charge for this, I'm very impressed with that level of service.

Somebody else here already wrote up a favorable review of the Fralin '51 split pickup and he pointed out two shortcomings which I also found to be true: the bottom bobbin will not fit into the standard size pickup cavity without being filed down a bit. I told this to Zack and he said they'd check into it straight away. Two minutes with the the Dremel took care of the bobbin. The second thing (and this is very minor) is that the leads are too short, but I just soldered on 5" wire extensions and problem solved.

I wasn't going to post until I'd completed the journey & received the overwound version, but thought somebody else sitting on the fence might find this info useful. Again, I don't want to imply that the top end is at all harsh, but if overwinding the pickup will push the mids more forward and darken the top end just a bit, I figure why not. If you're using flats, you might prefer the stock winding.

Thanks for the review. That sounds like a very nice pickup. I wasn't aware that Fralin made a split coil. I think that since I use Thomastic flats, the overwound version might be perfect. I always have to cut treble.

Let us know how you like the overwound version.

[enor]

I had a Duncan SCPB1 in my home made "flame maple top '53" at first, but it seemed very uneven to me - I hated it. Switched it out for a SCPB3 - the quarter pounder - and it is wonderful. I highly recommend it!