vintage precision pickup - rewind?

[Whaaaapsh]

Hi -

I have a 73 p pickup in a mij fender that I really love. It has a very articulate vintage tone that sounds great, but isn't very loud and has all the punch of a wet sock.

Don't get me wrong - the coolest sounding wet sock you've ever heard, but not the smack to the guts that I've been able to get out of some old duncans that I've played in the local used shop.

Would I be able to improve the output and the punchiness if I had a rewind done - perhaps a 10% overwind? Or am I messing with a good thing (true untouched vintage mojo)?

Where do ya stand?

[i_got_a_mohawk]

Rewinding it would surely change the tonal character of the pickup?

Unless it was rewound the exact same way, but then it'd probably still sound like a wet sock, and overwinding it by 10% would again change the tone of it quite a lot id think?

[wpkg]

Id say get another bass, maybe a p copy, and put something like a quarter pounder or dimarzio P in it. dont mess with a vintage pup... OR you could get something like the bass exciter by Aphex. its a stomp box that really adds punch and warmth...

[Metal Mitch]

Raise the pickup as high as possible before getting mud or wolf tones. Then get a compressor.

[Searcy]

I would either swap the pickups or get a nice SansAmp or something to add a little punch.
If you re wind them the tone you love will change and, if you care about this sort of thing, the vintage vaule of the pickup will be shot.

[Nedmundo]

Seems like the pickup is not original to your bass, so I'm not sure I'd worry too much about its value. If you had an all original '73 P, this would be more of a concern, and I probably wouldn't mess with it. If you want to investigate a rewind, check with Lindy Fralin, who does this regularly. If you want to preserve the original and just get a new pickup, it's Fralin again. They're expensive, but a stock Fralin has similar punch to the heavily overwound Duncan SPB-2, with a more open vintage tone. I think you'd love it.

[vindy500]

if its the original pup, get a new pup and keep the old one in storage...

[tplyons]

Rewinding that pickup takes away the whole point of having a vintage pickup. If you don't like the tone, don't use it. Get something else.

[Whaaaapsh]

Thanks for the response, everyone: I think I was under the misunderstanding that tonal character lay more in the actual magnets, and that by rewinding (over or under) you could accentuate different aspects of the tone. As if it was like tweaking an eq.

I'll try and raise the pickups (I think the foam underneath has seen better days) because they're riding pretty low, and maybe try one of those boxes that were recommended.

Thanks!

[Searcy]

Originally Posted by Nedmundo

Seems like the pickup is not original to your bass, so I'm not sure I'd worry too much about its value. If you had an all original '73 P, this would be more of a concern, and I probably wouldn't mess with it. If you want to investigate a rewind, check with Lindy Fralin, who does this regularly. If you want to preserve the original and just get a new pickup, it's Fralin again. They're expensive, but a stock Fralin has similar punch to the heavily overwound Duncan SPB-2, with a more open vintage tone. I think you'd love it.

I wasn't refering to the bass. The pickups themselves have a vintage value.

[Nedmundo]

Originally Posted by Searcy

I wasn't refering to the bass. The pickups themselves have a vintage value.

Yeah, I understood that. I'm just not sure how much independent value the pickup has. Maybe it's substantial; I don't know. But I'd probably preserve it anyway, just to have an intact vintage Fender pickup.

Your understanding that over- and under-winding can influence the tone is correct. Keeping everything else constant, overwinding boosts lows and low mids, increases output, and reduces treble response.

But that's not to say high output and fatter lows/low-mids always come with reduced treble response, because many other factors come into play. For example Seymour Duncan's Quarter Pounder has very high output, but not the rolled off high end or boosted low-mids of the SPB-2 Hot for P-bass, which is a heavily overwound version of their vintage voiced SPB-1. The fundamental design is different from a vintage pickup, with larger polepieces and presumably different wire and magnet compositions. (I really don't know, though.) G&L's MFD pickups also have hot high end with high output, I think due to magnets that allow high output with relatively less winding. The Lindy Fralin P-bass pickup has the "ringing" high end of a good vintage pickup, and excellent vintage tone, but much more output than a stock Fender -- comparable to Duncan's SPB-2, in fact. Don't know how he does it, but it sure works.

[ScubaSteve]

Turn the gain knob on your amp up some ? Get an outboard preamp ? Replace the pickup ? Please dont destroy that vintage pickup!

[Whaaaapsh]

By Scubasteve... I do swear... to never destroy the pickup. Honest.

I think, if anything this will give me a chance to buy new pickups and practice my soldering. I had a really great experience rewinding a reissue mustang pickup and having it turn out way better than anticipated, but it probably isn't the best course of action with this oldie.

I'd really like to find something that is combines the punch of a Quarter Pounder with the articulation of the vintage pup. By chance I played a Mike Lull P4 which has a "custom wound" Fralin, which pretty much nailed it. That thing could knock your head off! Even with all the talk I had no idea how good those things sounded.

Anything else out there sound like it would be up my alley?

[PilbaraBass]

DON'T TOUCH THAT PICKUP!!!




Scuba's right...get thee an outboard preamp...

[Stan Hinesley]

I'd leave it as it is and try another pup. Most pickup guys won't rewind a vintage pup for a different tone...unless it is broken anyway.

~Stan