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80's JV series Squire Precision bass.

Zanderwestcoast

Zanderwestcoast

Supporting Member
Oct 3, 2010
418
269
Victoria, BC
#1
I have an early 80's JV series Precision bass with rosewood fb over alder body. The bass plays very nicely in the hand and has a nice slimmer neck than most P's, which I like. The bass has original pickups installed and while the tone of the bass is decent, I feel it lacks a little definition, punch and output, compared to other P's I have played. (mostly early 60's and mid 70's P's).

I am considering changing out pickups for other vintage hand wound pickups and looking for feedback. A few descriptions on what I am looking for out of the pickups would be as follows.

detailed
articulate midrange
responsive
even frequency response
punchy output

I love the sound of early 60's Fender P's as they tend to have a beautiful mid range that I love, but I also like the sound of the Custom shop Pino Paladino as another reference as to my sound preference. I guess I am looking for that smooth mid focused P tone that works well with tone rolled off on rosewood/alder combinations, great for funk/r&b etc etc, rather than the wide open aggressive rock sound also associated with the P bass sound.

So far I am thinking Alleva Coppolo or Bill Lawrence pickups....

Any thoughts?
 
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#9
+3 on the Duncan Antiquities. :cool: John Kallas re-worked this Squier for me and put a set in it. Fantastic...

WnRsT4d.jpg
 
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#15
The sound of the Aguilar AG 4P-60 pickup matches your list of desired qualities to a tee IMO. This is my goto whenever I'm replacing a PB pickup most times. Aguilar makes a good pup.

Another good choice would be a Klein 1962 Epic Series pickup. I just installed one in my own Fender yesterday and I'm very impressed by the tone. To me it comes across as having the sound (i.e. solid bottom and really good mids) of a PBass from that era. But better in that it's just a touch clearer sounding than I remember them being.
 
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#16
40Hz said:
The sound of the Aguilar AG 4P-60 pickup matches your list of desired qualities to a tee IMO. This is my goto whenever I'm replacing a PB pickup most times. Aguilar makes a good pup.

Another good choice would be a Klein 1962 Epic Series pickup. I just installed one in my own Fender yesterday and I'm very impressed by the tone. To me it comes across as having the sound (i.e. solid bottom and really good mids) of a PBass from that era. But better in that it's just a touch clearer sounding than I remember them being.
Click to expand...

Between these two, what do you prefer? After reading the specs of the Klein, they definitely look like they are worth checking out, as well as the Aguilar...
 
#17
Zanderwestcoast said:
Between these two, what do you prefer? After reading the specs of the Klein, they definitely look like they are worth checking out, as well as the Aguilar...
Click to expand...

Hard to say. I like them both.

The Klein has a little more complex a midrange quality to my ears. The Aguilar is maybe a little cleaner and clearer overall - and has a broader range.

The Aguilar sounds particularly good paired with D'Addario Chromes on my Matt Freeman Squier. Nice semi-modern (i.e. clear) sound but still with a strong nod towards that traditional sonic quality the old PBs had. The special wind pups the Freeman came with were fine. But they were a little too aggressive for my tastes when it comes to a PB. But that's their big selling point so it's unfair to criticize them for sounding the way they're designed to sound. (I'll probably sell them eventually.)

The Klein is a flat out copy of a typical '62 era PB pup. But it's better made than the old ones were. Even my blues guitarist GF (who is notoriously fussy about bass tone) thought the Klein had an excellent vibe to it.

Right now I've got rounds on this particular bass. And it sounds really good. But I think I'm going to pull them and go with either a set of TI flats or some LaBella White Nylon Coppers. Haven't decided which yet.


As you may have guessed, I like my Precisions to sound round, warm, and vintage. I've got other stuff to play when I want a bass that sounds more modern.

I did a post about my Klein pickup. You can take a look at it here if you like.
 
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