| There are a lot of questions you raise here.
Is it heavy compared to what? I have it's Jazz-bodied brother. That's the closest I can get to it. Weight is about 9 pounds, a half-pound less than my MIM Fender Jazz.
It plays differently, mostly due to it's youth, but the sound of it is pretty good, and the Duncan-Designed pickups are actually very nice. They have good output for the price of the bass. I doubt you'll need to change them on the P-bass unless they don't conform to the type of sound you want.
I will say this, you may (MAAAAAY - not definitely) want to look into a pre-amp for it if you want to get a broader tonal representation out of this bass.
Overall, it's a good bass for a great price. If you buy it big-box, though, get it set up through a reputable luthier if you don't know how to do it yourself.
Best of luck! | 
