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A Poll - Stock Pickups vs. Replacement Pickups....

Do you keep and use the stock pickups that were in the bass when it was manufactured?

  • I always keep the original pickups in all my basses

    Votes: 44 29.5%

  • I always replace the original pickups in all my basses

    Votes: 15 10.1%

  • I keep the original pickups in my basses about a third of the time

    Votes: 21 14.1%

  • I keep the original pickups in my basses about half the time

    Votes: 24 16.1%

  • I keep the original pickups in my basses about two-thirds of the time

    Votes: 23 15.4%

  • Geeeeeez, another studid poll - leave me alone - I could care less

    Votes: 22 14.8%
  • Total voters
    149
  • Poll closed .
#41
bdwgml said:
I sometimes see guys post that they haven't even received the bass yet, but are already planning to put new pickups in it. I think "What!?!".
Click to expand...

I dont get that either, although there must be a reason behind it, as i said earlier I may have lost some of my hearing and may not be able to hear the subtle differences in this pickup or that one, but deciding to change the pickups in a bass without hearing them at all makes me think that maybe the name on the pup is what's really important, ... I guess there's still hope for really deaf people after all . ( that last part is a joke folks eh! )
 
#42
ZenG said:
A Corvette with a Ford engine is a Corvette with a Ford engine. You can't go gloating about how good your Corvette is performancewise if it's powered by another maker's engine.

One could easily say that the pups are the engine of a bass.....

And on this site the tone of the Fender P is exalted to the heavens....

Too bad , it seems, that in a lot of cases we're not talking about the sound of a stock Fender P.....we're being told the legendary tone is ...wait for it...an aftermarket pickup.

So the legendary Fender P sound ain't so legendary after all?

If it was , you wouldn't be buying new pups for it.......
Click to expand...
So if you get a heart transplant, you cease to be ZenG and you're now just a cadaver being used as a display case for someone else's heart?
 
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#43
ZenG said:
A Corvette with a Ford engine is a Corvette with a Ford engine. You can't go gloating about how good your Corvette is performancewise if it's powered by another maker's engine.

One could easily say that the pups are the engine of a bass.....

And on this site the tone of the Fender P is exalted to the heavens....

Too bad , it seems, that in a lot of cases we're not talking about the sound of a stock Fender P.....we're being told the legendary tone is ...wait for it...an aftermarket pickup.

So the legendary Fender P sound ain't so legendary after all?

If it was , you wouldn't be buying new pups for it.......
Click to expand...
You're not getting it....most of the Fender aftermarket are takes on the vintage Fender pickups in the 1st place.

Look.....there is a reason why all of these companies build copies of vintage Fender basses and the pickups that came in these basses.

The Corvette w/ a Ford engine has nothing to do with a bass guitar such as a Fender P or J bass.....its still likely some kind of V8 motor LOL!

Folks put modern engines in vintage cars all of the time nowadays.

The Fender P & J bass are the most copied and inspired by electric basses of all time.

I have no issue playing my USA Peavey Fury w/ a Duncan vintage p pickup...its basically a Fender P w/ a J neck....its that and nothing more really.
 
#44
ZenG said:
A Corvette with a Ford engine is a Corvette with a Ford engine. You can't go gloating about how good your Corvette is performancewise if it's powered by another maker's engine.

One could easily say that the pups are the engine of a bass.....

And on this site the tone of the Fender P is exalted to the heavens....

Too bad , it seems, that in a lot of cases we're not talking about the sound of a stock Fender P.....we're being told the legendary tone is ...wait for it...an aftermarket pickup.

So the legendary Fender P sound ain't so legendary after all?

If it was , you wouldn't be buying new pups for it.......
Click to expand...

Once again, tone is not the only aspect of a bass. Not everyone buys a P bass because of its tone. Sometimes it is all about the playability, or the price point, or even the aesthetic. If you want to dismiss a particular aspect of a review, because the pickup has been swapped out, then that is fine, but don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.
 
#45
I usually leave the original pickups in a bass (tho I may build a different concept), only swapped EMGs back and forth 'cause they were the same size, 'til I got the balance I wanted. 10%.
I'm more likely to swap preamps (30%) and strings (100% 'til I find a match) than pickups.
No Fenders, tho.
 
#46
Depends. My MIJ E-Series P is going to have the original pickup til the end of time. Nothing quite like it to my ears. Same with my VM Jazz V. Lovely vintage growl. Squier shorty Jag, only the J needed swapped since the stock was thin and watery. Custom build? Geezer time!
 
#48
bdwgml said:
I sometimes see guys post that they haven't even received the bass yet, but are already planning to put new pickups in it. I think "What!?!".
Click to expand...

I know that does seem odd. People who were on the waiting list for the Squier VI when it was first announced and who were bemoaning the total lack of sound clips for it were nonetheless posting what pickups they were going to put in theirs as soon as they got it. And I am sure they were quite serious as a few of them ordered the pickups the same day they got on the waiting list! But, some people are really passionate about the sound of their pickups and so that makes perfect sense to them. I am in the camp of those, and we seem to be few in number unless we are a silent majority, who buy the bass, listen to the pickups it has, and figure out how to work with them. I only really have one pickup sound that I know that I dislike: the sound of a 60Hz drone note!
 
#49
line6man said:
Once again, tone is not the only aspect of a bass. Not everyone buys a P bass because of its tone. Sometimes it is all about the playability, or the price point, or even the aesthetic. If you want to dismiss a particular aspect of a review, because the pickup has been swapped out, then that is fine, but don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.
Click to expand...
Ever notice no one ever hacks the pickup space on a P bass?

You know by installing something total different than a drop in P pickup replacement by routing it out?

At least Billy Sheehan installed a Gibson mudbucker in the neck slot of a Fender bass.
 
#50
Of my main basses, only my Rickenbacker 4001 still has the original pickups... and I've replaced the original weak magnet underneath the neck pickup with neodymium discs. My Hamer Chaparral 12-string came with EMG 35Ps, which I swapped with EMG DCs, before finally installing a pair of Lane Poor M3.5W wide apertures. The EMGs were rather harsh and unmusical, and the Lane Poors do a much better job of reproducing the, natural, acoustic sound of the instrument. My Pedulla Rapture 5 has a Q-tuner because the original Bartolini humbucker was rather dark sounding and low-midrange focused, and I like to hear more of the harmonic overtones along with deep fundamentals... the whole spectrum. The gist is that stock pickups are often a compromise based upon economic considerations and other factors. Replacing stock pickups is an easy way to give an instrument a new voice, especially if the original pickups are substandard.
 
#52
line6man said:
What does that have to do with anything?
Click to expand...
It has to do with a bass being modded for a pickup completely different than the stock configuration.....not just a drop in replacement.

In the guitar world, Eddie Van Halen did the unthinkable and installed a Gibson PAF in the bridge of a basically a Fender Stratocaster.

In the bass world, installing a J pickup in the bridge of P bass is a common mod done for years.

I was responding to a poster stating that maybe folks like P basses "not necessarily for their tone, but for playability or aesthetic".
 
#54
micque said:
I dont get that either, although there must be a reason behind it, as i said earlier I may have lost some of my hearing and may not be able to hear the subtle differences in this pickup or that one, but deciding to change the pickups in a bass without hearing them at all makes me think that maybe the name on the pup is what's really important, ... I guess there's still hope for really deaf people after all . ( that last part is a joke folks eh! )
Click to expand...
I'll say this much...I have my eye on a used MIM P bass...if it has the stock pickup, which is a ceramic P style, I WILL switch it to an alnico P bass vintage copy like a Duncan SPB1.

The reason being as a whole, I prefer the vintage P sound which was an alnico pickup....even though the ceramic MIM might sound fine, I will at least install the vintage P copy (in my case a Duncan SPB1) because I know how this pickup sounds in various basses I have used it in.

When I bought my 87 Peavey Fury, I measured the pickup output before I even plugged it in.....I knew from the resistance reading & the shape of the poles it was LIKELY a hot Duncan SPB2.....plus it said Seymour Duncan on one of the 2 pickups!

The SPB2 pickup in this particular bass was WAY too middy and slightly dark and too gainy.....I definitely see why some folks like this pickup though, especially for rock.

I will try the SPB 2 in a few other basses....one is a maple/ash body 70's Japan 'Masada' bass....might like it there.
 
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#58
I voted 50% replacement rate, because two of my four basses have replacement pickups, and one of my two Strats does as well. I decided to vote based on the keepers instead of the ill-fated flings, but when I consider every bass I've owned, I've replaced the pickups about a third of the time. Some just don't call for it, like G&L basses with MFD's. If you don't want MFD's, why even buy the bass?

In some cases, I've tried more than one replacement, so it feels like more than even a 50% rate. My Jazz V got Nordstrands, then Bardens. My 2004 MIA Precision went to DiMarzio, Duncan, and finally Fralin. My G&L GB went to DiMarzio Area J's, then to Lace Man O' Wars. (I've sold those two Fenders, but the G&L is a keeper.)
 
#60
Hmm, this is sort of tricky to answer. I have 5 basses.

2 Carvins- Stock
1 Stingray- Stock
1 MIJ P copy- Replaced
1 Warmoth- has the pickups I picked, but they are fancy pants boutiquey things that lots of people use as replacements.
 

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