Pickups on a budget?

oleskool · #1 11-29-2011, 12:15 PM

Hello all. I purchased a samick bass at a garage sale ($20). I had to install a new jack, a new tuning peg, and a set of strings. It is passive. When i plug it in i must turn my amp (a 90 watt Behringer combo) all the up, full blast to get any sort of volume. My Ibanez, which is active gets me 10 x's the volume. Is that normal? Don't want to put a pre amp in the Samick. So are there any budget pickups out there that are really good? I have been doing this bass stuff for about four months now, and I like it a lot. I don't want to put a lot of cash into this samick and it's not going to be any better for it. So tell me about pickups that out perform the price range they are in.

**ronaldpdbrandt** · #2 11-29-2011, 12:27 PM

It is possible that you just need a good setup. Have you tried raising the pickup closer to the strings?

If you do need new pickups, check the Accessories classifieds here on TB. You can get some good deals on well-regarded pickups there.

oleskool · #3 11-29-2011, 07:56 PM

Well the action is high. That is because I had to take almost everything off this bass just to clean it up. It was in the guys basment for a few years. After I put it all back together I pluged it in just to see if it would operate, that is when I discovered the super low volume. I will finish the setup to see if you are correct. I would still like to to know if there are budget pickups that perform like much more pricey ones or that come close?

LAPetrarca · #4 11-30-2011, 05:12 AM

Similar but different.......

I recently acquired a Les Paul Standard Plus Top that had been sitting in the case in a closet for about 10 years. Structurally it's perfect but, when I first got it, I took it apart to clean it up and noted that the electronics hardware was quite corroded. The pots were OK so I cleaned them with electronics cleaner but body of the pickup selector switch was actually rusty and the ground on the input jack was hanging on by one strand. The output was low, scratchy and just generally noisy. Replaced them with new Switchcraft parts and solved the problem. I think the parts cost me a total of $15.

I know they don't get alot of love around here but, I bought an EMG Select p/u for cheap money on eBay and installed it in my Squier P-Bass project. I can't really say anything bad about it. It's adequate, does the job and sounds like a P-Bass and it was cheap.