Dimarzio will power + SD quaterpounder?

[Filip Burdon]

Hi!
I was thinking about upgrading my mexico P bass, by putting an extra P pickup in the bridge position.
Now I use the dimarzio will power. It's a good pickup but it sometimes gets a bit muddy and too dark. That's why I was thinking of getting a pickup that has some extra higs.

I was thinking about putting the dimarzio in the bridge position and the spb-3 in the mid position...has anyone tried this setup?

Would you recomend any other P pickup, which I could put in the mid position (I'm rather sure that I want the will power to be in the bridge position).

Thanks for your opinions!

[NKBassman]

I do love the Dual P pickup config, but it's rare, and you probably won't get much input on this particular combination.

I have a bass right now with a Model P in the middle position and a Will Power P in the bridge, and it sounds pretty great, but I can't comment on how the WP will play together with the QP. I tried the reverse combo (WP Middle, Model P bridge) and didn't like it as much. You'd be better off doing the mod, and then swapping them around yourself to see which combo you like better.

[Atomic Al]

Interesting you find the Will Power too dark and muddy, I would say its the complete opposite.

[Filip Burdon]

Do you have any recordings of the will power + model P combo?
How does the model P sound compared with the will power?

I thought the QP will give me some extra highs to the sound. I was also thinking about putting a TBX Tone Control in my P bass (and jazz as well).

@Atomic Al, how would you describe your will power pup?

[NKBassman]

Originally Posted by Filip Burdon

Do you have any recordings of the will power + model P combo?
How does the model P sound compared with the will power?

I thought the QP will give me some extra highs to the sound. I was also thinking about putting a TBX Tone Control in my P bass (and jazz as well).

@Atomic Al, how would you describe your will power pup?

The bass they are in is in desperate need of a setup and there's a ton of dead spots, but I could probably throw something together. I don't have any clips with the Will Power in the middle position, though.

I find the Model P and the Will Power to be more similar than they are different, with the Will Power being a little hotter maybe. Overall I prefer the Model P though, because it's got a slightly more "classic P" voice than the WP does, so I prefer it in the middle position for that reason.

Used together with the WP in the bridge brings in a real deepness to the tone, with a sharp bite. It's a very aggressive sound which I like, I just wish that bass wasn't such a P.O.S. or I'd use it more.

[jamminology101]

They use this combo I believe in the attitude 2/3....but they use the will power in the neck position as a "woofer" pickup with the dimarzio p in the middle for the fundamental harmonic pickup. The will power pickup in the attitude has a high cut switch, which prolly is coil tapped and just cancels one of the humbucking coils. That bass would b killer if they stuck a single coil in the 70s bridge position .....I may buy the new attitude and do that ....with the maple board and an aggresive bridge pickup that thing would b the ultimate bass with say a 3 or 5 way switch wiring the 3 pickups...

[Filip Burdon]

What do you mean by "P.O.S"?

I don't want to have a pickup in the neck position cause' a pick in that position and if the pups to near the neck then I have an anoying tendecy of hitting it from time to time

So now I'm considering two options:

Will Power bridge, Model P neck. My only fear is that this combo can get too dark and muddy but I don't know if that's an reasonable fear :P

Will Power bridge, SPB-3 (QP) neck. I know I liked the soloed sound of the QP (I bought the WP, because I got a killer price on it and I was thinking about the model P in the past so I decided to take the risk), but I have no idea how they sound together :P

Plus I'd want to try the TBX Tone Control, don't know how much that will bring in too the sound (how brighter it could get).

[DiabolusInMusic]

If you are looking for killer highs I would suggest another P pickup, maybe the SPB-2's. The QP's are mid HEAVY. I liked them for a long time but lately they have almost been to middy for me.

Some folks will say I am nuts but if you want better highs try a bad@$$ II bridge, I thought it added lots of high end for me, more sustain too.

[Filip Burdon]

QP to middy?!
Everybody's complaining they've got scooped mids :P
In the SD tone charts they've got
Highs:7
Mids:4
Lows:6

I've tried them in the Roger Waters bass, and they were all but too middy :P

I use the sjb-2 in my J bass (I don't know how they're compared to the P version) but they've got a lot of low mids (which tend to get muddy) and mids.

I was also thinking about better bridges in my mexico P bass and US J bass, but it's a next step after gettin' an extra pup in the P bass.

[iiipopes]

The DiMarzio UltraJazz is an end-to-end humbucker that actually has a broader tone than the average Jazz pickup, including more highs, and is a better match to a strong P pickup like the Will Power. That's what I use, after trying several. Plus being a DiMarzio product, the wiring is the same so you don't have to chase down different colored leads to make sure it is in phase with the Will Power. And another plus, the P-J configuration is more accepted than a P-P configuration, which with the offset so close to the bridge you will get a marked tonal difference between the E-A and D-G string pairs with a P pickup.

[NKBassman]

Originally Posted by Filip Burdon

What do you mean by "P.O.S"?

I don't want to have a pickup in the neck position cause' a pick in that position and if the pups to near the neck then I have an anoying tendecy of hitting it from time to time

So now I'm considering two options:

Will Power bridge, Model P neck. My only fear is that this combo can get too dark and muddy but I don't know if that's an reasonable fear :P

Will Power bridge, SPB-3 (QP) neck. I know I liked the soloed sound of the QP (I bought the WP, because I got a killer price on it and I was thinking about the model P in the past so I decided to take the risk), but I have no idea how they sound together :P

Plus I'd want to try the TBX Tone Control, don't know how much that will bring in too the sound (how brighter it could get).

P.O.S. = Piece Of ****.

Adding a bridge pickup of any kind will almost automatically give you more top end grind. Luckily there's all kinds of cheap-ish P pickups out there for you to swap to your hearts content, until you find the tone you're looking for.

If you like the way the QP sounds, then start with that in the standard position and add the WP at the bridge. If you don't like it, Model Ps can be found in the classifieds here for like $60.

[Filip Burdon]

I'll think about the ultra jazz and the QP. I think one of those would satisfy me most.

Yeah but I live in Poland and most of the classifieds stuff is in the US so I'd have to pay for shipping ect, and in the end don't save any money xd

Mainly my idea is to have my J bass which is an growly but universal sounding bass, and have the P bass, which I want to be a killer, agressive, growly, ugly beast used under special occasions when and ugly, dirty sound is needed

[walterw]

Originally Posted by Filip Burdon

Hi!
I was thinking about upgrading my mexico P bass, by putting an extra P pickup in the bridge position.
Now I use the dimarzio will power. It's a good pickup but it sometimes gets a bit muddy and too dark.

then for you it's not a good pickup!

instead of carving up your bass, swap the pickup for something that you actually like the sound of.

i myself like regular vintage-type P pickups with 500k pots; that'll be plenty clear, not muddy at all.

(you could try the interim step of putting 500k pots in there, which will make the will power brighter. use a linear taper volume and an audio tone for the most even control.)

[NKBassman]

Walter makes a good point. 500k pots may be just what you need.

[Filip Burdon]

But 500K tone pots, volume pots or both?
Won't the TBX be enogh to brighten up the sound?

[walterw]

a TBX is just a fancy 1MΩ pot, so yeah, that would be more than enough for the tone (on "10" it would essentially sound like no tone pot was connected at all).

a 500k linear taper volume to go with it and you should hear more brightness out of the pickup.

[Filip Burdon]

So you say I should use the TBX tone control with 500k volume pots or did I got you wrong?

[walterw]

Nope, that's right. 500k volume, and at least a 500k tone.

[Filip Burdon]

So 250k volume pots and TBX as the tone pot won't be enough to brighten the sound if I need to, in your opinion?

[StrangerDanger]

Pots are super cheap. Do it.