Who here prefers their stock PUs?

[BrandonBass]

Anyone here tried aftermarkets but went back to their stock ones? State the PUs and your reason for doing so

[staindbass]

i tried a normal fender standard p bass pickup instead of emg, and i like it better so far. more rich in the mids.

[mowburger]

I like stock split P's , tried a P with Duncan QP's but it had too much snot for my taste.

[bassgod0dmw]

Every one of my basses came stock with pickups that most people would consider aftermarket...except for my Stingray that is. I'm happy with all of them.

I will be getting a P bass in the future and will be experimenting with different pickups.

[kevteop]

I've only ever once replaced a stock set of pickups, because the hum from a Jazz was driving me nuts I put some EMGs in it instead. But apart from that I've never been so dissatisfied with the sound of a bass that I bought new electronics.

The trick is to not buy basses that sound bad. You can save a lot of money simply by doing this one thing.

[C.Linton]

I've never replaced pickups on any of my basses yet (an MIA Jazz, Squier VM J and VM P, SX Ursa-1), as I like the sound of the stock pickups on all of them just fine. The only thing I am considering is replacing the SX's pickup with a Squier Duncan Designed pickup, same as on my VM P, as I like the sound of it, and not because I dislike the SX's pickup, I don't (dislike it, that is.). I'm mostly doing it as practice, and I am using the Squier Pickup as it's a known quantity to me. That is also why I likely won't change out the pickups on the rest, as I like the way they all sound now, and I really don't want to risk taking a chance on some aftermarket pickup that it "might" make it sound better.

[Melvin7822]

The only basses I've been happy with pickup replacements on were Fenders. I would never dream of touching my Music Man basses. When I had an MTD Kingston Heir, I had changed the pickups to Bartolinis and never really grew to like them.

[ctmullins]

The stock Gibson TB+ humbuckers in my Tobias are completely awesome, and I cannot foresee ever needing to change them.

[jnewmark]

I have a '95 MIA fender passive Jazz that has the sweetest Jazz tone I've ever heard, in at least 4 other Jazz basses I have ever owned. It is a freak of a bass because the neck never needs adjustment, or, for that matter, the bridge. I would nevver change the pups on this one. I have had other Jazz basses that I have tried with other pups, but really did'nt notice that much of a difference. Right now, I have a Geddy Lee that is the least sounding Jazz I've ever owned, so I am looking for replacements. But, that '95 must have been built by God !

[tdub0199]

I replaced the EMG HZ's in my Schecter Stiletto Custom with some active EMG 35P4's and the HZ's will never go back in anything......

[FunkMetalBass]

Ritter's stock Triplebuckers sound fantastic. I'd never replace them if I had a Ritter.

[birminghambass]

I like the stock Geddy pickups. Very close to my '72 Jazz.

[iiipopes]

Between both electric guitars and electric basses, I've probably changed or modified more pickups than anyone else on this forum over the last 30 years, starting with changing out the pickups on a 1975 Fender Jazz with Dimarzio J's when I couldn't get a factory replacement in 1981. I've even unwound overwound Rickenbacker high gains to get clarity, drive and jangle.

That said, I won't touch the pickups on my Rickenbacker 4002. If I have to explain, you wouldn't understand anyway.

[3l3phantstomp]

Originally Posted by ctmullins

The stock Gibson TB+ humbuckers in my Tobias are completely awesome, and I cannot foresee ever needing to change them.

I completely agree, the TB+ humbuckers in my '07 Epi Thunderbird are astounding. These things contain chips from thor's hammer itself. The best part is you can get these basses off Ebay for almost the same price as new EMG/SD pickup for your current bass! I believe you can get the pickups themselves fairly easy off of that site too as parts.

Now, I've replaced the pickups in my Squire Pbass (indonesian special/pawn shop princess), but that was more in the spirit of making a sneaky pete for shady gigs.

[sanderic]

The pickup replacement industry started in the 1970's as a direct reaction to the low quality of stock pickups from Gibson and Fender. If you upgraded in the late 70's or early 80's to a set of Duncan 1/4 pound jazz pickups, you were in hog heaven with the increased volume and clarity. Today there is not much difference between that set and factory stock pickups. I speak from direct comparison of my stock 1997 Fender American Standard Jazz Bass, and my 1992 Fender Jazz Bass (American made, 22 fret model, some call it the "boner" bass) with Duncan Quarter Pounders. But I repeat, the Duncans are a huge improvement over the stock pickups in my 1977 jazz bass.
Also the Dimarzio Model One was a large sonic improvement over the stock "mudbucker" of my 1969 Gibson EB-1, although the overdrive characteristics of the origional pickup are lost. I will probably go back to the stock PU in the Gibson.

[Mike M.]

Got a Squire Affinity P bass. Can't compare it to this or that seeing how it's the first "P" bass I've ever owned. But I have no complaints with it. Got old Fender flats on it and it's great.

Got an Ibanez SR505. Sorry, I can't see the complaints a lot of folks have about the pickups (and pre amp) in this bass. I've gotten nothing but compliments on how good it sounds.

Got a '72 Fender Jazz and I had no choice but to replace the pickups after the neck pickup went bad in '92. Tried EMG's upon the tech's recommendation and while they served me well I find I'd like to try something differant. Nothing against the EMG's at all. Just want to experiment a bit with something that's passive with a moderate output.

[TimB 619]

I have two Peavey Millenium BXP 4's. Some would call these "cheap, budget, whatever."

I see no need to change the pickups on these basses. Recently, I did some studio recording with both of them, and IMHO the results were excellent. As good as my Pbass deluxe with Nordstrands, or my MIM jazz with DiMarzio Model J's.

Everybody I've played with likes the tone of these. In fact, one friend of mine, who plays professionally, asked how much did it cost me to have Peavey custom build a bass! He couldn't believe it was $199.00 at the local music store!

To each his own of course. I would never tell somebody not to swap, if they're unhappy with their instruments tone. I'm just saying that if you are happy with it, enjoy!