pickup change, any advice?

therex · #1 03-30-2008, 06:35 PM

i am going to change the pickups in my bass(squier VM p bass) for the Quarter Pounder pups
but i read in a thread a while ago that if you replace pots and somethin else (not sure what) you get an awesome tone
and some people even said they liked their squier more than MIA fenders
so what should i change other than the pickup and what kind of pots should i buy
BTW any idea of what thread it was? i cant find it but it was about squier being good and it has some pics of squiers moded

Parabolic Box · #2 03-30-2008, 06:36 PM

Well, the idea is that you're replacing the pots and cap with higher quality versions of them. Most people will probably respond with something like CTS pots and Sprague caps. Of course, wire, and quality of your solder, and soldering will also have an effect.

In short, everything has an effect.

therex · #3 03-30-2008, 06:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Parabolic Box

Well, the idea is that you're replacing the pots and cap with higher quality versions of them. Most people will probably respond with something like CTS pots and Sprague caps.

the cap? sorry but i need to know what is a cap?
i dont know all the words in english also tell hos does it look and what new cap should i buy?

Parabolic Box · #4 03-30-2008, 07:34 PM

Capacitor. The little thing that bridges legs on tone pots.

jtc_hunter · #5 03-31-2008, 08:52 PM

I just did what you are asking about. This is what you should do. Go to www.bayoucables.com and just order a new wiring harness. It will have the best pots, jack and cap you can get. It will be already soldered perfectly by a pro. The cost is only about $10 more than if you bought the parts and soldered it yourself. To me, that is well worth the extra $10 to know that it is perfect. I kept my stock MIM P bass pickup, and I cannot believe how much better it sounds. After doing this, i have no interest in changing pickups at all.

therex · #6 04-01-2008, 03:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jtc_hunter

I just did what you are asking about. This is what you should do. Go to www.bayoucables.com and just order a new wiring harness. It will have the best pots, jack and cap you can get. It will be already soldered perfectly by a pro. The cost is only about $10 more than if you bought the parts and soldered it yourself. To me, that is well worth the extra $10 to know that it is perfect. I kept my stock MIM P bass pickup, and I cannot believe how much better it sounds. After doing this, i have no interest in changing pickups at all.

sadly no peru shiping(i think so)

DavePlaysBass · #7 04-02-2008, 04:46 AM

It seems hard to believe that changing pots would have a noticable impact unless changing from 250k to 500k. That assumes wiring is correct and solder joints are good. The tone capacitor might be noticable if you roll your tone a lot. Ceramic capacitors are cheap and compact but are not a precision part. Being the lazy guy I am, I would leave the pots as are and maybe change the capacitor if you want something new.

You can pick up a FILM caps at Radio shack. Stay away from ceramic. 47nF (0.047uF) should be the stock value. If you want more roll off, you could change the tone cap to a 100nF (0.1uF or 0.1mfd). I think the 50's P basses were 0.1uF but I could be wrong.

47nF

100nF

Mr M · #8 04-03-2008, 02:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by therex

sadly no peru shiping(i think so)

Butch (bayou cables) is the man. Bayoucables is shipping international. So just go to the webpage and check it.

BTW, I'll suggest to buy a cable or two with the wiring harness as well, the shipping price won't change and you'll have a very nice, top quality instrument cable. I have not tried the wiring harness but I'm pretty happy with the cables I've got.