Looking to upgrade P-bass

[floatmyboat]

I am looking to get new pickups of my Fender P-bass, and i dont now very much about pickups. Maybe you people out there can help me out and tell me what is good and what is not. Any help is appreciated.

[gweimer]

Put a Bartolini in it...and never look back. You won't regret it.

[Andy Daventry]

Or, perhaps you might regret it. I regretted the Bart I put on my MIJ Squier a year or so back.

Bartolinis are highly variable...I mean there are a lot of different models. Some are clean, some are powerful, some really need preamps.

To make suggestions, we need to know:

Whta kind of P bass do you hvae? Fender? MIM? MIA?

What sort of msic do you want to play and what kind of sound are you after?

And so on...

Andy

[sixandeightstringer]

I guess the real question is: Why do you think you need new pickups? Does it currently sound lame? Are you looking for a little more "something?"

If you want more of the P-bass tone, get something passive - maybe a Seymour Duncan Quarter-pounder. If you want a modern sound, get something active - Barts, EMGs, etc. I personally don't care for Bartolini p'ups, but that's my preference.

Go to your local store(s) and play some basses with P pickups. Play 'em all through the same amp (preferably one like yours) and see which ones you like best. Now, I know that sound has to do with a lot more than just pickups (wood type, construction, the person holding the bass) but it should give you a rough estimate of what you like. Find out what type of p'ups are in the basses you like and make an informed judgement based on YOUR preferences. Just 'cuz I like EMGs and Lane Poors doesn't mean you will.

------------------
Mark Gollihur
Bassist, Second Story
http://www.second-story.net
http://www.mp3.com/secondstory

[floatmyboat]

I have a MIM Fender P-bass, i play mostly rock and punk, adn i want a low sound. Thanks guys.

[gweimer]

I'll rephrase the answer - put the Bartolini passive P-bass pickup in...and don't look back. If you drop in on Miscellaneous, I just posted pics of the Green Lantern bass I whipped out; I basically say that the Bart made this project work, and it covered up a lot of little bugs.
sixandeightstringer has good advice; try them out, and let your ears make the call.

[Andy Daventry]

With all due respect to Gweimer, Bartolini make about 4 different passive P bass pickups. They vary in output level, EQ (whether they are bassier or treblier) warmth and clarity.

What's wrong with the MIM pickup?

I have a stock pickup on my MIA P bass and wouldn't change it...

Andy

[gweimer]

Sigh....ok, Andy. The box says Bartolini exact replacement pickup for P-Bass. There is a number (8S) in the corner. Man, you guys are killing me here, making me think and read and all that....Since you guys are beating me up, I know that they list the different models on the Bartolini site (www.bartolini.net), but can you tell me which models they are?

[Andy Daventry]

No, I don't know what they are. Bartolini's highly complex way of classifying its enormous number of products has always been completely impenetrable to me!

Not meaning to beat up on you! But I made the mistake of buying the wrong bart on the assumption that a bart is a bart....



Andy

[gweimer]

I decided to look over there, and you must not be the only one who has this problem. They now have descriptions for each model. The 8S is listed as a standard replacement - deep tone, high output. They don't list any descriptions for the variations on any other bass besides Fender, however. You're right; it sure would help people out.

[Old Blue]

The 8S is the Bartolini that I put in my MIM P Bass a few months back. It has wonderful tone (I suppose you could consider it "vintage"; heavy on the lows) and very high output for passive pups. I use flatwounds on this particular bass, and it's super.

[DW]

Does the Bart 8S have polepieces (exposed or not) or does it have a bar magnet or blade? I might be interested in trying one in a particular bass which has non-standard (narrower) string spacing, where separate polepieces would never line up but a bar or blade would be fine.

[Old Blue]

The magnet in the 8S is covered, so I don't know if it's a bar or separate pole pieces. Try checking their website to see if they might have some of the info you're looking for. www.bartolini.net

[Rumblin' Man]

These are the current designations for the P pickup flavors from the Bart website.

8S - deep tone - high output
8ST - brighter tone - high output
8SU - brighter, near vintage tone - high output

add an "R" to the designation for P/J matching to their 9W4-L or 94J-L J pickups

[Munjibunga]

Our sound man put BassLines (Seymour Duncan) Quarter-pounders in his MIM P-Bass, and it really increased the output and fidelity a lot. I got them for him at GC for $46 ... I think they list at about $95. Shoot, pop 'em in there, if you don't like 'em, pop 'em out. But you'll like them, trust me.

[DaveB]

I put a set of Bartolini 9S's in my Jazz and it made a big difference. I would highly recommend them. I also have a newly acquired '75 Precision and I like the original pickups that are in it. But if I were to put new pickups in the P it would be Barts.