I have a 50's Reissue P-Bass that came pre-modded with a Seymour Duncan SPB-3 pickup, Badass II, and a Dunlop straplock set. I felt that it needed something different. I bought the DiMarzio DP122 (Creme color) and a Fender '62 Original pickup to tryout against the SPB-3. Below is my review.
Seymour Duncan SPB-3
The Seymour Duncan is a good pickup, but it doesn't do the gritty/ballsy thing as well as the DiMarzio and it's not very vintage sounding either. I felt the string balance was below average and the overall output was not very punchy. This pickup has a massive bottom end, but it can be a bit boomy. It lacks a lot of midrange and is a bit bright. It doesn't have much tone that I would consider tight, but it is smooth like a baby's butt, that's for sure. It's just not the right tone for me, I think
DiMarzio DP122 (Creme)
First off, this pickup is not as good as the Fender '62 if all you want is the finger tone. If you are in to strictly using your P-Bass for blues and motown covers, the '62 is your pickup. The DP122 is certainly worth your while and has a great and distinctively p tone. The difference with this pickup is that it does everything really well. It's got the punch that the SPB-3 lacked, but also has a great slap tone. This is a 4 wire pickup and I ended up installing a DPDT switch for Series/Parallel operation. I find the Series to be much better suited to most styles, but the Parallel can be better for Slap with the right EQ'ing. It's got a lot more mid range, in general, with certainly more high-mids than I was expecting. It's a very cutting tone and I find it to be better at rock, pick, and "The Who" style stuff, rather than Motown. It can do Motown and Blues stuff, but it's easier to remove edge than to add it, which is why I stuck with this pickup in the end.
Fender '62 Original
This pickup is arguably better than the DP122. I liked the tone only a hair better, but the tone was a bit uneven across the strings. It had a decent amount of punch, but the output overall was less than the SD or DiMarzio. This pickup lacks the midrange I was looking for, but it I also have a GK rig that is a bit more neutral and crisp, rather than gritty or midrangy like an SVT. The slap tone wasn't very good and it lacked the grit and overall character of tone that the DiMarzio had. It did the Motown thing better overall than any of the others. If that's all you want a P-Bass for, go for this pickup.
Sound Clips
The sound clips that are included are in the format.
1st Section: It's like "Ain't To Proud To Beg", but I improvise a bit so that all the strings are touched. Tone set at 0%.
2nd Section: Pick style with tone at roughly 20-25% where I thought it sounded good for each pickup. A quick riff that touches all strings.
3rd Section: Slap style with tone at roughly 40-50% depending on the pickup. "Forget Me Nots".
Seymour Duncan SPB-3
The Seymour Duncan is a good pickup, but it doesn't do the gritty/ballsy thing as well as the DiMarzio and it's not very vintage sounding either. I felt the string balance was below average and the overall output was not very punchy. This pickup has a massive bottom end, but it can be a bit boomy. It lacks a lot of midrange and is a bit bright. It doesn't have much tone that I would consider tight, but it is smooth like a baby's butt, that's for sure. It's just not the right tone for me, I think
DiMarzio DP122 (Creme)
First off, this pickup is not as good as the Fender '62 if all you want is the finger tone. If you are in to strictly using your P-Bass for blues and motown covers, the '62 is your pickup. The DP122 is certainly worth your while and has a great and distinctively p tone. The difference with this pickup is that it does everything really well. It's got the punch that the SPB-3 lacked, but also has a great slap tone. This is a 4 wire pickup and I ended up installing a DPDT switch for Series/Parallel operation. I find the Series to be much better suited to most styles, but the Parallel can be better for Slap with the right EQ'ing. It's got a lot more mid range, in general, with certainly more high-mids than I was expecting. It's a very cutting tone and I find it to be better at rock, pick, and "The Who" style stuff, rather than Motown. It can do Motown and Blues stuff, but it's easier to remove edge than to add it, which is why I stuck with this pickup in the end.
Fender '62 Original
This pickup is arguably better than the DP122. I liked the tone only a hair better, but the tone was a bit uneven across the strings. It had a decent amount of punch, but the output overall was less than the SD or DiMarzio. This pickup lacks the midrange I was looking for, but it I also have a GK rig that is a bit more neutral and crisp, rather than gritty or midrangy like an SVT. The slap tone wasn't very good and it lacked the grit and overall character of tone that the DiMarzio had. It did the Motown thing better overall than any of the others. If that's all you want a P-Bass for, go for this pickup.
Sound Clips
The sound clips that are included are in the format.
1st Section: It's like "Ain't To Proud To Beg", but I improvise a bit so that all the strings are touched. Tone set at 0%.
2nd Section: Pick style with tone at roughly 20-25% where I thought it sounded good for each pickup. A quick riff that touches all strings.
3rd Section: Slap style with tone at roughly 40-50% depending on the pickup. "Forget Me Nots".
I put a lot of time and a heck of a lot of solder in to the last couple of days to get this up and running.
