baddest mutha Precision pup for metal?

[4stringsofdoom]

Hello,

I was just curious on the opinions of what is the meanest, baddest, and growliest Precision pickup for old-school metal bass? I'm talking the old bands like Megadeth, Accept, Judas Priest, Slayer, Venom, Mercyful Fate, Possessed, Metallica, Exodus, etc.

This would be for a '71 P-Bass with a maple fretboard and Badass II bridge, strung with Rotosound steels, and played with a pick.

Also, does pick or fingers play a role? in other words, are some Precision pickups better suited for playing with a pick vs fingers?

thanks

[Nedmundo]

Find your nearest G&L dealer, or contact www.guitarmannyc.com, and order a G&L MFD split-coil, as used in the SB-1 and SB-2. The DiMarzio Model P is close, but has less character/warmth than the G&L IMO.

[4stringsofdoom]

Originally Posted by Nedmundo

Find your nearest G&L dealer, or contact www.guitarmannyc.com, and order a G&L MFD split-coil, as used in the SB-1 and SB-2. The DiMarzio Model P is close, but has less character/warmth than the G&L IMO.

thanks bro, I'll check it out!

[kimokeo]

Leave it original and buy an Ibanez. Worth much more in the long run!

[4stringsofdoom]

Does anyone have experience with the Delano PMVC 4 FE/M2?

the product description/hype from the website:

"Just imagine meaty P-Bass tone with in-your-face Stingray style grind and attack, then you got at least the frame of the picture. Due to its tight broad frequency range, this is a GREAT pickup for nu-school funk and rock players, it loves droptuned basses and massive tone tweaking."

that first sentence...too good to be true?

[Rawkabilly]

Originally Posted by kimokeo

Leave it original and buy an Ibanez. Worth much more in the long run!

+1
Especially if it has the original pickups/wiring.

Personally, I like EMG's for the heavy stuff.

[4stringsofdoom]

Originally Posted by kimokeo

Leave it original and buy an Ibanez. Worth much more in the long run!

well, this is a beater bass...I can't see it being a collectible. I bought it from a pawn shop for $650. it already had the Badass on it along with a bunch of punk rock stickers on the front and back of the body. and the whole pickguard assembly is not the original.

I was able to remove these and the residue and the resulting black finish looks like one of those $8000 relic jobs that Fender is pimping I did replace the pickguard (black), wiring, pots, and jack. the pickup the guy had in here was an EMG Select. I didn't care for it.

[tubby.twins]

Originally Posted by 4stringsofdoom

Does anyone have experience with the Delano PMVC 4 FE/M2?

the product description/hype from the website:

"Just imagine meaty P-Bass tone with in-your-face Stingray style grind and attack, then you got at least the frame of the picture. Due to its tight broad frequency range, this is a GREAT pickup for nu-school funk and rock players, it loves droptuned basses and massive tone tweaking."

that first sentence...too good to be true?

It's true. I tried the 5-string version of this pickup (model "PMVC 5 FE/M2") and it's that good. I just sold this pickup due to a mismatch in string spacing, but it was very nice and meaty.

[Diogenes]

Originally Posted by 4stringsofdoom

... what is the meanest, baddest, and growliest Precision pickup for old-school metal bass? ... This would be for a '71 P-Bass with a maple fretboard and Badass II bridge, strung with Rotosound steels, and played with a pick.

For hard driving rock I really like DiMarzio Split P™ DP127 pickups. They just seem to open up a wide spectrum of tone for the P and then gives it the power of a Thomas Hearns right cross. Another effective way to make a P growl is to go with the lightest tension strings you can tolerate. I usually use 90-30 gauge roundwounds (did anyone say Rotosound FM66?) tuned EADG for serious growl that I can normally only get by digging in really hard with my fingers or attacking abusively with a pick on standard gauge strings. To see what it's like, tune your Precision to BEAD and play the E, A and D strings. The dynamics are reduced a little, like hooking up to a compressor/limiter, but the overall tone is really tasty, IMHO.