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Add PU to fretless P (pics & poll)?

Adding a pickup to a fretless P bass?

  • None - Just leave it as a P

    Votes: 2 11.8%

  • Model J 70's position

    Votes: 3 17.6%

  • Model J 60's position

    Votes: 3 17.6%

  • Model J close to the P

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • MM close to the P

    Votes: 2 11.8%

  • Convert to MM @ the sweet spot.

    Votes: 3 17.6%

  • Other (specify in your response)

    Votes: 4 23.5%
  • Total voters
    17
darwin-bass

darwin-bass

Supporting Member
Mar 29, 2013
5,451
9,144
Salem OR
#1
I have this fretless P bass with a Wilde P46 pickup. While I love most things about it, I find the tone to be rather thick & muddy. Using GHS groundwound or TI Jazz Flats (my choice) probably doesn't help, but I'm not really wanting to run rounds.

I'm wanting a tone something like a J bridge sound but with more lows and meat. I find fretless J basses to be too thin on the bridge PU. I suspect a fretless Stingray would be ideal.

I've tried to thin out my P bass via EQ and it is better but still doesn't hit the mark.

If I add a pickup I'd play with that pickup soloed. What follows is a picture prototype of the choices I'm considering:
  • Nothing (Leave the P as a P and EQ to taste)
  • Model J at the 70's position
  • Model J at the 60's position
  • Model J close to the P pickup
  • MM pickup close to the P pickup
  • Convert to MM pickup at the sweet spot (new PG needed)
How these mods affect resale value and how they change the way the bass looks is of some consideration.

So, TB, what wisdom / ideas do you have for me?

P-only.jpg
PJ-70.jpg
PJ-60.jpg
PJ-sweet.jpg
P-MM.jpg
MM.jpg
 
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#6
I would definitely add a pickup. In a perfect world, I'd contact Carey Nordstrand about getting a Big SplitMan that will pair with the P46, then have a coil tap on it to give me a choice of 2 J positions at the bridge. But I would absolutely wire it in with a blend or separate volume pot, not an all-or-nothing switch. I tend to dial in the neck pickup a little on my fretless to give a little heft to the sound while still retaining some of the bridge-y tone.
 
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#8
I voted "MM close to the P". But for what you are describing it would he best if it were literally touching the P bass pickup. That would he closest to tue sweet spot.

Bridge J pickups are very burpy like Jaco. For as talented as he was, his tone was fingernails on a chalkboard to me.
 
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#9
two fingers said:
I voted "MM close to the P". But for what you are describing it would he best if it were literally touching the P bass pickup. That would he closest to tue sweet spot.

Bridge J pickups are very burpy like Jaco. For as talented as he was, his tone was fingernails on a chalkboard to me.
Click to expand...
So, that makes 2 of us (wrt Jaco's tone). What a player :-) What tone :-(.

Yes, the best MM sound would have the MM touching the P pickup but I'm not sure I love the aesthetics of having 2 pickups touching and I wonder about the influence of the magnetic field from one on the other.

I think the fretless tone I'm chasing is like Elton John's Nikita or maybe Pino on Paul Young's "Wherever I Lay My Hat". Something with a mid bump but full and rich enough to still sound like a bass and nail the supporting role which is where the bass is most of the time.

The tone I'm trying to escape is the sound of Frampton Comes Alive. The bass is fretless but 99% of the time it just sounds like a bass. Here the tone is 100% supporting role but with not enough fretless voice.
 
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#11
I’d exhaust all other options before routing that body. It looks nice, and there’s the resale value consideration…

Parallel wiring for sure; but you don’t have to stop there - add a very small capacitor in parallel, or a few (on a switch, like Tonestyler). That will allow you to fine tune the resonant peak. I have a P bass with the Wilde P46 and I mainly just use it in parallel + switch caps for flavoring. This works better than any PJ or MM bass I ever tried. Oh, and I only use one 500K pot - using fewer and/or higher resistance pot reduces loading and gives a brighter sound.

Also strings: if you don’t want to try rounds, consider tape wounds, like Labella copper whites (or something, I forget their exact name). Brighter than flats, easy on the FB… Might do just the trick…

Other than that, I don’t have strong favorites in terms of a second pickup, but I would consider just getting a new body with exact pickup configuration you want. My guess is you’re probably best served with the MM sweet spot, and then audition a few type of pickups.

oh, btw, the pictures you posted: what you have for the “60s” position is more like the “70” position. It’s about right in middle between the pickguard and the bridge. The rest are off by the same amount…
 
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