Gonna switch out the EMG's on my Fodera. Thoughts appreciated!

[phishaholik]

I'm finally going to switch out the EMG PJ's on my Fodera Monarch. I've never really been happy with them and I know the bass can sound so much better than it does now. The EMG's are seriously over compressed and I'm missing that P-bass punch, since the pickups are wired in parallel instead of series.

I picked up a bridge pickup from Best Bass Gear. It's a 5% over Lindy Fralin Split Coil. They have a great price on it right now and I couldn't pass it up. This also seems to be the best bridge pickup available for a PJ setup as it's both hum cancelling and overwound, which will help with volume disparity often found in the PJ setup. I was going to get a Fralin Precision pickup, but all the clips I hear make it sound like it has very little low mids and a ton of upper mids. Very grindy and not nearly as punchy as other P pickups I've had.

I was looking at the Bill Lawrence Wylde pickups, but I was put off by a couple things. I didn't know how long it would take to get the pickups, I would have to order the flat radius which would take longer and I've heard that the P pickup is larger than most others and there is no way in hell I'm routing my bass. I am probably going to pick up a set at some point though.

I also tried the Nordstrand pickup in the past and I found it to be very scooped and modern sounding. I've heard a lot of people say the opposite, but that's definitely how it sounded to me.





So at this point, I'm trying to decide on which P pickup to get to go with the Fralin bridge pickup. I think I have it down to either the D. Allen pickup or the Lollar.





I'm happy to hear an ideas or thoughts.


Thanks!

Michael

[ugly_bassplayer]

I love my Fralin P, sounds awesome in any band setting. Vintage P at it's best.

[phishaholik]

Originally Posted by ugly_bassplayer

I love my Fralin P, sounds awesome in any band setting. Vintage P at it's best.

Thanks for the feedback!

How do feel about the low mids on that pickup? Would you call it more punchy or grindy? It's really hard to tell with online clips. I used to have a Lakland Glaub with Fralins, but I hated that bass so much and it was so long ago that I barely remember what the pickups were like.


Michael

[ugly_bassplayer]

Originally Posted by phishaholik

Thanks for the feedback!

How do feel about the low mids on that pickup? Would you call it more punchy or grindy? It's really hard to tell with online clips. I used to have a Lakland Glaub with Fralins, but I hated that bass so much and it was so long ago that I barely remember what the pickups were like.


Michael

IMO it's just a good vintage sounding P pickup. The many words like punchy & grindy can mean different things to different people.

If by grindy you mean harsh or to agressive I would say no.
If by punchy you mean , low mid presence that supports the band like any good p bass I would say yes.

My Fralin is installed in a vintage Yamaha Pulser lawsuit P bass, it sounds better than many others Fenders I've tried believe me. The other P I have is a Valenti VP5 with Nordstrand pups.

[ugly_bassplayer]

worst case scenario, you dont like the PU and sell it on TB.
You can even try to trade for another one you would like to try.
IMO you don't have much to lose to try it out.

[phishaholik]

Thanks man, I went back to youtube with good headphones and realized that the clip I was listening to was recorded like crap. I actually found good clips on Basstasters.com and the Fralin is definitely back in the running.

It sounded waaaaaay smoother and less harsh in their recordings.


Michael

[ugly_bassplayer]

No problem.