Warm P bass pickups

[phaneo]

Ok, I did a search and there is so much out there, so I'm going to ask again.

I'm looking for a pickup that will make my P a little warmer. It's an 08 MIA P with maple board all stock at the moment. If I don't get it traded I'm going to try flats and new pups.

I'm a huge fan of Nordstrands on Jazzes, but not sure they are going to do what I want on a P.

Thanks

[TrevorOfDoom]

Nordie NP4

/thread.

[fourstringdrums]

+1 Nordie or a Fralin

[Luckie]

Im not sure if warm= vintage, but I hear that the seymour Duncan spb-1 sounds closest to the '60s p tone.

[BassBandit]

Not sure what Nordstrand split p/us will do, but my uncle had a Sadowsky "Original" P, he put a Nordy in that and it made it even more booming then the original p/u, definitely not warm

[phaneo]

Originally Posted by BassBandit

Not sure what Nordstrand split p/us will do, but my uncle had a Sadowsky "Original" P, he put a Nordy in that and it made it even more booming then the original p/u, definitely not warm

Yeah I listened to a clip somewhere here on TB and the Nordies sounded pretty bright. Who knows, they can always be swapped out. With TB you can always find someone who wants to try them out.

[SurferJoe46]

I'm so old I remember when dirt was new and Precisions had a great thump and fantastic boom.

I have found that the Guitar Fetish TO3 Antiquities p'ups are super warm and moody for just the kind of music I want. They make two types - standard wound and over-wounds. I got the standards and like them very much.

Oh yeah - they are very inexpensive for an experiment.

[Ninja>Pirate]

I came to the conclusion of Nordstrand NP4 when I was looking and I currently have one in my pbass and it is the warmest sounding pickup I've ever heard.

[Nedmundo]

The warmest I've owned is Duncan's SPB-2 Hot, which is a heavily overwound version of the vintage voiced SPB-1. It's thick, warm, fat, and punchy, with reduced treble. Bartolini might be a good bet too. I've only tried them in a couple of active Pedullas, but they sounded really warm.

[knigel]

I put my DiMarzios in the microwave for about 30 seconds. Nice and toasty.

[B String]

I've checked out a number of Nordy P basses. I've found the Nordy P pickups to sound big and warm with a nice edge. Still very much in the "vintage universe".

[treekiller]

Try the flats first!!! I have Chromes on mine, maple board with stock p-up. Sounds pretty good as is.

[joelb79]

Originally Posted by knigel

I put my DiMarzios in the microwave for about 30 seconds. Nice and toasty.

Hehehehehehehe this was too funny.


I tried the NP4 thinking it was going to be vintage sounding. I found the highs were way too accentuated to be "warm" it was "edgy". Not what I would call vintage.

Try a Fender Original 62' P-Bass Pickup with dual 250K pots and a .1 cap for that warm vintage thing.

[BassBandit]

Originally Posted by joelb79

Hehehehehehehe this was too funny.


I tried the NP4 thinking it was going to be vintage sounding. I found the highs were way too accentuated to be "warm" it was "edgy". Not what I would call vintage.

Try a Fender Original 62' P-Bass Pickup with dual 250K pots and a .1 cap for that warm vintage thing.

hmmm Original 62' P-Bass Pickup, who played with that setup and had a Very warm sound...oh yeah, a guy named Jamerson lol..honestly, start off with a set of flats even if you go with probably the most expensive flats out there, Tomastik's they're $49.93 a set at juststrings.com, I ran them on my Oly White P, before I put a set of Duncan 1/4 pounders in, but now it's just a Booming beast of pure thump lol, and is probably the Only Fender P-Bass in Existence that weighs 7.5 lbs exactly,I built it buying one piece at a time, However there's tons of other brands of flats, Way cheaper than the Tomastiks...however going with a set of flats, is gonna be a much cheaper thing to swap out if you don't like them, as compared to swapping out the pick up, especially if you're trying to sell it

[the mojo hobo]

Originally Posted by joelb79

Try a Fender Original 62' P-Bass Pickup with dual 250K pots and a .1 cap for that warm vintage thing.

This is it. Add a set of La Bella Original 1954 flats and you will be in P bass heaven.

[Nedmundo]

Yeah, you probably should just try flats first. I think stock MIA pickups are on the warm side, especially with the treble rolled off a bit, so you may as well try to work with it. Chromes are an excellent match for that pickup IMO, but GHS Precision flats really bring the warm old school thump. I love those strings for pure vintage goodness.

[timber22]

Originally Posted by treekiller

Try the flats first!!! I have Chromes on mine, maple board with stock p-up. Sounds pretty good as is.

+1 If you want "warm" and aren't using flats yet, I'd try that route before changing the PU's.

[StrangerDanger]

I can wholeheartedly recommend the Rio Grande Vintage P-bass pick up.

[phaneo]

Thanks everyone for the input!

[4Mal]

Vintage Vibe spec'ed with Alnico 3 mag's and a very slight overwind.

Next in line would be Jason Lollar.

With Vintage Vibe, you really should talk to Pete and give him a sense of what you're after. He does a very good job of translating concepts like warm, punchy, articulate and bright into pickups. Pete's stuff is built to order, not sitting on the shelf. That is a major advantage as you can influence the build, not just take whatever is in the box.

The SPB-1 is very good but it and the 62 RI / CS62 are pretty full range. I like 'em both and while they aren't brittle sounding I wouldn't characterize them as warm. More full range. Very punchy. I would think they would be brighter than you might want.

FWIW - my P bass tonal references - the guys whose tone I try for would be Conrad Lozano and Paul Jackson first. After that it's Duck and Jamerson.