Fender Precision Special P\J Replacements?

[rappa29]

Couldn't find much doing a search on 'Fender Precision Special' and got too many threads searching on 'Fender Precision'.

Can anyone who owns a Fender Precision Special (any year, active or passive) tell me what you've replaced your stock pups with (if you've replaced them).

I just bought one, 2002 MIM, passive, off Ebay and wondering what other players are using.

The only pre packaged sets that seem to pop up in searches are the DiMarzio DP126 and the EMG Active P\J set.

Would like to know what ya'll are using, whether they're pre packaged sets or if you 'mix and matched' P and J pups.

TIA.

[Nighttrain1127]

P/J pickups I had A set of seymour Duncan P/J s In an american PJ did not like them I was going for the old school sound and they were anything but. They were very Modern sounding not sterile But not really Deep and funky either. Then I had EMG's sterile no booty no soul . Now I have DiMarzios and thay are the real thing and if you want super phat leave the fender 250k pots in when you put in the DiMarzios. Dimarzio recomends 500k pots for best results. I guess they give you back the highs and a little less phat.

[MuzikMan]

I have active EMG's on my '94 Precision Special. Some people love them, some hate them. I like their ability to cut through a mix when needed. They have an extended high range when compared to most other pickups. Some people view this as a cold and sterile sound but I like the amount of control this gives to the tone. When I roll off the highs the sound warms right up so they are the best of both worlds for me (I should mention that this is my only good bass so versitility is important to me).

A while back I started to believe I was missing something after reading all of the negative comments about EMG's. These same people were praising various passive pickups as being more natural and full of character so I decided to give a set of Basslines a try. I picked up the SJB-1 and SPB-1. IMO the difference in tone wasn't dramatic but there was a slight gain in the lower midrange and a loss of high end when compared to the EMG's. To me it was easier to dial in a wider range of tones with the EMG's so they went back in.

I can easily recommend both the EMG active set or the Basslines SPB-1 SJB-1 combo. Neither left me dissapointed.

[steamthief]

I've got a '97 California P-Bass Special, it came with MIA Fender vintage spec pups that sound great. My only complaint is the output of the bridge pup isn't as loud as the neck, but that may be inherent in P/J sets. Or, maybe not.

I recall seeing on the classifeds a few weeks back a used set of Nordstrands for P/J. I'd assume they would have a nice vintagey sound, but probably wouldn't come cheap. Fralin also does this configuration, usually someone's got them in eBay stores.

If Reverend still has jazz-style pups in the blowout section of their website, you may want to consider getting a set, along with a replacement P. I haven't heard anything negative about them, and you may be able to upgrade your sound with new pups for under $50.