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A Poll - Stock Pickups vs. Replacement Pickups....
- Thread starter BassHappy
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- pickups replacement stock vs
BTW, I've seen P's hacked with humbuckers, Dark Stars, Ric pickups, EMG and Bart active soapbars, and pretty much any pickup style you can think of. These days I'm content to let a P be a P, but many have, indeed, been hacked.
Honestly, I've never seen nearly as many hacked P basses other than J bridge added.
I've been to lots of guitar shows in my 56 years....the thing is many were probably returned to stock eventually, which is super easy to cover up with a new pickguard on a P bass...so I probably did see many hacked P basses afterall!
Lets be honest though, if you were to install ANY pickup into a P bass besides a drop in P style pickup, what would it be?
I have to say I really like my early 80's Fury w/ the slant Super Ferrite...its basically a P bass w/ J neck and the slant SF pickup.
I might consider the Darkstar pickup in a P bass.
For the most part, the P pup is what that position calls for. The only other option I would consider for that position is one of Novak's BiSonic/DarkStars. But that's for a classic single pup P. Once you add a J bridge pickup, anything goes.
I have four basses, and I have only replaced the pickup on one of them. Even there, it was to address an obvious issue: Wishbass with single J set right by the bridge, so low output, little bass and lots of hum. I replaced it with a humbucking J, not seeking a tonal difference but to silence the hum, since a lot of gain and eq is needed on that signal. Big surprise: it worked!
No way will I replace pickups on the Ripper, unless they stop working, nor on the import Sterling (SB14). Even on the cheapo SX P, I am still using the stock pickup, though I added the same kind of Q-filter midrange cut I've grown used to over the years with the Ripper. That change was all it took to give me the sounds I wanted. I'm going to try the Q-filter on the Wishbass too, to see if I can get the basic sound I want without requiring the additional, active eq stage I currently use.
Just for fun, I might eventually consider replacing the pickup in the P and in the Wishbass with ones from Wilde Pickups. That would mean that three of four basses would have Bill's pickup and eq designs, since the Ripper does also.
Otto
No way will I replace pickups on the Ripper, unless they stop working, nor on the import Sterling (SB14). Even on the cheapo SX P, I am still using the stock pickup, though I added the same kind of Q-filter midrange cut I've grown used to over the years with the Ripper. That change was all it took to give me the sounds I wanted. I'm going to try the Q-filter on the Wishbass too, to see if I can get the basic sound I want without requiring the additional, active eq stage I currently use.
Just for fun, I might eventually consider replacing the pickup in the P and in the Wishbass with ones from Wilde Pickups. That would mean that three of four basses would have Bill's pickup and eq designs, since the Ripper does also.
Otto
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My rule is: bass sounds good, stock pickup. Bass sounds bad, replace pickup.
Eventually, I come to this situation: Bass sounds good but I think it could sound even better, replace pickup. Or, Bass sounds really bad but I like it, stock pickup.
Hope that helps.
I haven't gotten around to modding any of my basses. They all get sold for construction deficiency reasons before I can even care about toannnn. If I get around to getting this weird sc Godin pj that's been sitting in the shop for years, it WILL get a/m pups immediately as the stock ones are possibly the most worthless #!$$#^&&(()&^/#$$!*(. F those stock pups.
Most stock <$1,500 geetar pups are abysmally middle of the road. All of my bridgebucker guitars get bl l500xl's and all of my strats get lace sensors. One guitar, a late 80's/early 90's import set hog neck Dean ML, had a SPECTACULAR neck pup that I stole and am saving for just the right chassis.
I'd have no qualms with dropping a Ford ecoboost 2.0 into a base 5sp vert c4 Corvette, lifting it four inches, fitting truck tires on it and declaring mine the best utility-road burning vette on the planet. I have plans to eventually do the ls1 swap on my two door e36. Rednecks, dentists, and fratbros nationwide will give the nod of approval which will really be worth nearly nothing compared to the thrill of having effortless torque, effortless handling, and classy, low-key two-door sedan looks to dd and tour with.
Most stock <$1,500 geetar pups are abysmally middle of the road. All of my bridgebucker guitars get bl l500xl's and all of my strats get lace sensors. One guitar, a late 80's/early 90's import set hog neck Dean ML, had a SPECTACULAR neck pup that I stole and am saving for just the right chassis.
I'd have no qualms with dropping a Ford ecoboost 2.0 into a base 5sp vert c4 Corvette, lifting it four inches, fitting truck tires on it and declaring mine the best utility-road burning vette on the planet. I have plans to eventually do the ls1 swap on my two door e36. Rednecks, dentists, and fratbros nationwide will give the nod of approval which will really be worth nearly nothing compared to the thrill of having effortless torque, effortless handling, and classy, low-key two-door sedan looks to dd and tour with.
Basically, there's usually so much I put on the list to address before thinking about changing pickups that I'm happy before I get to that point.
It starts with what I want from the bass and how I play it, then to proper set up and string choice. Then there is my predilection for expanding the passive eq to include the Q-filter which opens up a whole extra space of possible sounds and I seem to get lost in doing music before I get to concerns over the pickup (the hum issue from the Wishbass being the one exception.)
Otto
It starts with what I want from the bass and how I play it, then to proper set up and string choice. Then there is my predilection for expanding the passive eq to include the Q-filter which opens up a whole extra space of possible sounds and I seem to get lost in doing music before I get to concerns over the pickup (the hum issue from the Wishbass being the one exception.)
Otto
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I voted "always stock" but that's because I have very little idea which pups and pre-amp to get!
I have one ancient bass ( 6-string fretless Aria Pro II Steve Bailey model - pre-Basslines) where the neck hasn't budged in 20 years and it didn't even go out of tune when dropped face down on a patch of rough road! Yet the electronics are bland. I tried to get Seymour Duncan to make custom pups for me because I found evidence on TB that as recently as 2007 they had a retrofit for my bass but that offer is no more. So even today I found a set of G6 Bartolini pups that look like they'd fit my scrawny rout ( .96" x 5.57") and I still don't know what preamp to partner them with.
So I'm paralyzed by a lack of knowledge and a lack of good advice (guitar shop owners are not always knowledgable about bass needs for specialty instruments). It's frustrating trying to research a topic without being able to hear differences so most of my gear is stock. I'm sure I'm not the only one that shies away from investing in pups for this reason.
Speaking of hacks, I think you all will REALLY appreciate this hack. Roy Wood back in the days of The Move playing his Jazz Bass with two long and thin coils running diagonally under the strings. To this day I still have no idea what they are. Takes a while to get a good look at them but you can see them around 1:45 pretty well:
And yes, that's Jeff Lynne and Bev Bevan of ELO playing lead and drums, respectively.
And yes, that's Jeff Lynne and Bev Bevan of ELO playing lead and drums, respectively.
Googled it, and someone in another thread on here suspected Musicmaster pickups:
That bass was wired so each pickup would come out of another amp for stereo tricks and stuff, BTW. Really weird, but sounds great when he plays it so I can't argue.
That bass was wired so each pickup would come out of another amp for stereo tricks and stuff, BTW. Really weird, but sounds great when he plays it so I can't argue.
Bart pres are known to work very well with Bart pickups, maybe more so than others.
Are Musicmaster pups just Strat pups with covers? I feel like I read that on a thread here. Willing to be wrong, as always.
BTW-I pulled the trigger on a GZR because of you-I wait patiently...
with the g&ls i haven't replaced any pickups, with the mij fenders I always replace the pickups
however, if i found a 63 avri pickup on the sidewalk, i would try it in my LB100
however, if i found a 63 avri pickup on the sidewalk, i would try it in my LB100
