1970's Fender Precision pickups - so-so E-string

[Davo-LON]

Folks

I have a 1976 ash/maple Fender Precision, which I have owned from new!

I also have a 1964 alder/rosewood pre-CBS Precision, which I relatively recently acquired.

I prefer just about everything on the 1964 than the 1976. The weight, the feel, the neck and the sound. However, this isn't about slagging off the 70's Fenders. I played that 1976 for years and years and the one thing that annoyed me, and that I couldn't fix with different strings, was the dull sounding E-string. The G, D and A strings would all sound consistent and good but the E-string would always sound duller and woolier.

So my question is this, if I replace the pickups with say a Fender custom shop '62 pickups, sacrilegious as it is, would it make any difference? i.e. is it an issue with the whole bass or just the pickups?

Regards
Davo

 

[hsech]

I wouldn't change anything on a 1976 or a 1964 Fender Precision. I would just adjust the pickup height or have a luthier check out the offending pickup.

 

[Spinal Tapper]

my 1975 Precision sounds way different than either of my 1962 Precisions. Not as round, if I had to describe it.

The low E on a pre-CBS Fender Precision is unmatched IMO. You probably won't duplicate it with reissue pickups, you're better off messing with the pickup height on the 76 and living with it. Just think of it as "different"

 

[bassclef112]

When I bought my 76 Precision over a dozen years ago that was also the first thing I noticed after gigging it that really bugged me (on an otherwise killer bass). I tried all the usual adjustments, various strings etc - the pickup was just sub-par. It happens. The mid 70's were not exactly Fender's glory years. The problem was consistency.

I went through several replacements and found my answer with a new Fender 62RI pickup. Totally awesome using a 1 Meg cap. It's a different bass and very much to my liking.

I would suggest getting something that makes you happy, just save the original.

P.S. Do not compare it to or expect it to equal the '64. You can definitely make it much better, but you won't make it that. It will always be different.

 

[Davo-LON]

Yeah, I had come to the assumption that it was the pickup. I don't expect them to be the same, nor is that desirable. But a simple pickup swap would be possible and could solve the issue!

Davo

 

[Tbone76]

I swapped the Custom 60's pup in my 2012 American Standard P because the low E sounded noticably lower than the other strings. I swapped it for an EMG Geezer P pup, and it's head and shoulders better. The nice thing is that it's also passive, and comes with volume and tone pots and an output jack. All of the connections are solderless, and I just had to snip the ground wire and reconnect it to the EMG's. You can actually pull everything out intact (including the bridge ground wire) and drop in the EMG's with a new ground wire, making it completely reversible if you want to preserve the originality for resale. You'll also need new foam for under the pups.