Pick up for 78 P Bass, what's a good....

[PJRL]

I have a 78 P Bass, the original p-up has been replaced with a Dimarzio. Wish I had the original but........

If I want the vintage P sound what would be a good new or newer replacement Pup ?

Thanks.

[acebase62]

I like the Seymour Duncan SPB-1 in my P-J bass.

[darkstorm]

The dimarzio P pups where very common upgrade for fender P basses back then by both pros and hobby players. If you like the sound Id say keep it since it was the pup used on fender P's in the 70's by many recording pros with albums out worldwide in the 70's.

[62bass]

The SPB 1 is probably closest. My 78 P had a Dimarzio. I didn't like it and switched to a Duncan Quarter Pounder. I love it although the sound is not as "vintage", if you care about that sort of thing. I just really like the sound now. The Duncan Antiquities is a good pickup too.

[StrangerDanger]

I just put a DiMarzio Model P in mine and love it. Its got the growl. I would keep it.

[depalm]

I have three Pbasses, one is 78 with Nordstrand NP4, a franken P with a Quarter Pound and another P copy with SBP-1.

Love the nords for vintage tone. Best P PU I ever played. Much better than the original, it is even and balanced, tight lows, smooth highs.

SPB-1 sounds very, very good, but less even and balanced than the NP4.

Quarter Pound is awesome for classic rock, lots of output, it feels like you have a great compressor plugged in.

Not that vintage but I can play many styles with it, Rock, Pop, Motown, R&B etc… In the end it's a P PU. Sounds just like it should.

[9mmMike]

The NP4 is my front-runner right now but I am also looking into the Novaks....

[depalm]

Check out Lollar Pickups, they're awesome!

[johnk_10]

Duncan SPB-1. IMO, no other sounds more like a vintage p bass, and i've tried them all.

[PJRL]

Originally Posted by johnk_10

Duncan SPB-1. IMO, no other sounds more like a vintage p bass, and i've tried them all.

Thanks, that sounds like what I'm after.

[SGD Lutherie]

Originally Posted by darkstorm

The dimarzio P pups where very common upgrade for fender P basses back then by both pros and hobby players. If you like the sound Id say keep it since it was the pup used on fender P's in the 70's by many recording pros with albums out worldwide in the 70's.

That's true. EVERYONE used DiMarzio P pickups back in the day. People didn't play Jazz basses back then so much. P basses were pretty much the standard, so the Model P gave a brighter bigger tone. People switched to them because they sounded better.

Now people want a "vintage" tone, even though a lot of the recordings back then were tone with DiMarzio Ps.

I always say if the original pickups were so good, why was everyone in a rush to replace them. I like the stock pickups though.

[Baird6869]

I agree.

I have a 2008 American Standard P and I installed a NP4 for fun... and it blows away the original factory PU. The only downside is thay the output is huge. Great vintage tone in any case.

I have a QP in my 1978 Fretless P and it sounds good, but I like the Nordy better. Again, huge output but very modern sounding.

A/B a Steve Harris P (or anything else with a QP) and a MIA Fender at a local store. This should give you a good idea of the tonal differences. Might be harder to find a bass with a Nordy installed.

Originally Posted by depalm

I have three Pbasses, one is 78 with Nordstrand NP4, a franken P with a Quarter Pound and another P copy with SBP-1.

Love the nords for vintage tone. Best P PU I ever played. Much better than the original, it is even and balanced, tight lows, smooth highs.

SPB-1 sounds very, very good, but less even and balanced than the NP4.

Quarter Pound is awesome for classic rock, lots of output, it feels like you have a great compressor plugged in.

Not that vintage but I can play many styles with it, Rock, Pop, Motown, R&B etc… In the end it's a P PU. Sounds just like it should.

[anonymous02282011]

Originally Posted by johnk_10

Duncan SPB-1. IMO, no other sounds more like a vintage p bass, and i've tried them all.

Hey JohnK

Have you tried Lindy Fralin's p-replacements?

[johnk_10]

Originally Posted by SGD Lutherie

That's true. EVERYONE used DiMarzio P pickups back in the day.

correction: ALOT of people used them back in the day, but i certainly didn't. IMO, they're not a bad pickup, but i prefer the stock fender pickup's tone.

Originally Posted by SGD Lutherie

People didn't play Jazz basses back then so much. P basses were pretty much the standard, so the Model P gave a brighter bigger tone. People switched to them because they sounded better.

more like, people were 'told' that they sounded better. i didn't find them to be brighter, but they did have a higher output. alot of people thought that more output=better, and still do.

Originally Posted by SGD Lutherie

Now people want a "vintage" tone, even though a lot of the recordings back then were tone with DiMarzio Ps.

but i'd be willing to bet that more recordings back then were done with stock pickups.

Originally Posted by SGD Lutherie

I always say if the original pickups were so good, why was everyone in a rush to replace them.

probably because my good friend Larry Dimarzio was so good at marketing. i've known him since the mid '70's and he's a really great guy, and IMO, among the first to offer quality aftermarket pickups as an alternative to stock pickups for Fender and Gibson guitars/basses. BC Rich was the first to use them as OEM pickups which they switched from using Guild humbuckers in their guitars and Hi-A's (Bartolini's) in their basses), in the mid '70's.

Originally Posted by SGD Lutherie

I like the stock pickups though.

me too!

[depalm]

Most of people back then wanted to mod just 'cause we got bored with traditional sound. Vintage fever wasn't that big. Even if you own a 60's bass, mod it wasn't a big question at all.
DiMarzio started to make good quality replacement parts and it become huge.

[depalm]

Originally Posted by Baird6869

I agree.

I have a 2008 American Standard P and I installed a NP4 for fun... and it blows away the original factory PU. The only downside is thay the output is huge. Great vintage tone in any case.

I have a QP in my 1978 Fretless P and it sounds good, but I like the Nordy better. Again, huge output but very modern sounding.

A/B a Steve Harris P (or anything else with a QP) and a MIA Fender at a local store. This should give you a good idea of the tonal differences. Might be harder to find a bass with a Nordy installed.

Funny, my NP4 hasn't that huge output comparing with the original 78 PU. Just slightly hotter.
QP does have a big output but SPB-1 and NP4 are very similar.

[SGD Lutherie]

Originally Posted by johnk_10

correction: ALOT of people used them back in the day, but i certainly didn't. IMO, they're not a bad pickup, but i prefer the stock fender pickup's tone.

Well every where I went I saw cream colored pickups in P basses, including on various TV shows. Certainly not everyone, but a lot of people.

more like, people were 'told' that they sounded better. i didn't find them to be brighter, but they did have a higher output. alot of people thought that more output=better, and still do.

They weren't just hotter, they have ceramic magnets and are wound with thinner wire so they are brighter. But that's what people were looking for especially after people started using round wounds.

but i'd be willing to bet that more recordings back then were done with stock pickups.

Sure, but in that time period when they were released, they were used a lot.

probably because my good friend Larry Dimarzio was so good at marketing. i've known him since the mid '70's and he's a really great guy, and IMO, among the first to offer quality aftermarket pickups as an alternative to stock pickups for Fender and Gibson guitars/basses. BC Rich was the first to use them as OEM pickups which they switched from using Guild humbuckers in their guitars and Hi-A's (Bartolini's) in their basses), in the mid '70's.

Yeah, Larry was really the first to make after market pickups. And he did do the very first P bass replacement. I added a P bass pickup to my '74 Rick in '76 and I had to buy a real Fender pickup, because that's all there was. I switched it to a Model P in '77 when they came out.

I installed a Hi-A in '76. I still have that pickup. It's one of the first humbuckers he made. All the previous bass pickups were quadraphonic.



The early BC Rich Eagle/Bodine basses had guitar sized humbuckers in the same double cream bobbins as DiMarzio. I assumed they made them, but I'm not sure. Some were made by a guy in CA. They didn't sound very good. I knew a guy that had an Eagle. Then they switched to the Model P. Spector also used Model Ps in a custom case.

I had a girlfriend with a one off single pickup Mockingbird bass in flip-flop pink pearl. That had a single P in a black cover near the bridge. I think it was done for a NAMM show. It was ridiculously neck heavy. I had to stick a lead weight in the body to get it to balance! We also added an EMG HB by the neck and EMG P to replace the DiMarzio, which I still have. Hey, it was the 80's...

I think the thing is back then I wanted to get a lot of tones from a bass, and these days I'm happy with a P bass that sounds like a P bass.

[johnk_10]

Hi,
you don't have to tell me that the Mock was neck heavy - i designed it in december of 1975, and received the prototype in january of '76. i immediately relocated the upper strap button location, but it still dived a bit.

it came with two Hi-A's in it and it actually sounded really good. shortly thereafter Bernie started using Dimarzios in all of his guitars/basses.

[Jefenator]

I haven't tried a bunch of different pickups for the P-bass. With the Lindy Fralin in there, I don't feel any urge to.

Lots of great options, though. If I had to budge from what I got, I'd look into Lollar or Bill Lawrence:

Bill Lawrence P-46 Pickup mini review (BEST P Pickup I've EVER tried)!

[SGD Lutherie]

Originally Posted by johnk_10

Hi,
you don't have to tell me that the Mock was neck heavy - i designed it in december of 1975, and received the prototype in january of '76. i immediately relocated the upper strap button location, but it still dived a bit.

Ah, you would be Johnny GoGo then! Nice to make your acquaintance. I always thought it was one of the nicest guitar shapes.

it came with two Hi-A's in it and it actually sounded really good. shortly thereafter Bernie started using Dimarzios in all of his guitars/basses.

The old Hi-A's were wonderful pickups.