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Are pickup upgrades really worth it?

#21
Old MIM strats were sold on the basis of two things.. the price, and the name "Fender"... poor fit, bad finish, terrible pickups, unstable tuners, unfinished frets and fingerboard edges...the maple versions could redefine "shredding".. of your fingers..but they were cheap, and that was 20 years ago.

I have always advocated buying MIA when funds allow, but there is nothing fundamentally wrong or unplayable with MIM basses today, and i see plenty on the local circuit...so i will just shout out "elitist" and let it rest.



bassfreakah said:
I have alot of students with mim jazz basses and i dont think any amount of mods would make the bass usable in a live setting.
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#23
bassfreakah said:
I have alot of students with mim jazz basses and i dont think any amount of mods would make the bass usable in a live setting.
Click to expand...

In Germany we say that the Europeans get the MIM crap and the better instruments stay in America (the USA) ... :D

I have a MIM Nashville Telecaster myself and can't say that this instrument is "usable in a live setting" ...
Maybe we have different standards???

At the Musikmesse 2011 (the German NAMM) I could compare a Fender 60th Anniversary P-Bass to a Squier Matt Freeman bass and my favorite was clear: The Matt Freeman! Better feeling, better adjustment, higher quality ...

I met others later who made the same experience with the Matt Freeman bass (at other locations).

By the way ...
PUs like the "new" SD Antiquity PUs are (or should be) for a small group of vintage fans who know that they get "no standard PUs". Maybe I am wrong and SD "did the wrong thing" ...
For someone who wants a real 60s Strat sound (like RHCP in "Can't Stop") I recommend the Rockinger PUs. They have this 60s Fender PU touch - but they also have the same problems (Stratitis +++). That's what I call a real vintage PU - because people in the 50s and 60s also had their PU problems. If I buy an olf VW Beetle (Käfer), I don't want a car with central heating or 150 mph. It's the same with pickups ...
 
#24
sorry guys I was talking about mim Jazz basses mostly 5 strings, I am aware of strats and mex tele's, and the Matt freeman bass are all great instruments and a lot more I was just talking about fender Mexican 5 string basses are very unpleasant to play and generally suck ass and i personally would not waist the time on them.
 
#25
Lot's of good info here. I think in some cases a pickup mod could be a good move but just to change out pups to do it is foolish.

I changed out the pups in this MIK Squier P since it feels and plays like a MIA. The pups were good but someone had hacked into the wiring and the wiring was very thin unlike any i have seen in any pups before.
The Duncans are nice an improvement with tighter more clear notes but it was not a huge improvement. In a live setting I might change my mind..we shall see.
 
#26
bassfreakah said:
I have alot of students with mim jazz basses and i dont think any amount of mods would make the bass usable in a live setting.
Click to expand...

I had a big response to the topic of the thread, and this statement has absolutely floored me. I'm far from being a Fender fanboy, but the above is in top five of most ridiculous things I've ever read on TB.
 
#27
bassfreakah said:
I have alot of students with mim jazz basses and i dont think any amount of mods would make the bass usable in a live setting.
Click to expand...

Why do you feel that way about them? They aren't really made any differently from the US Fenders. The only difference is the hardware/electronics.

Ben Shepherd from Soundgarden only plays MiM P basses.
 
#28
I used to believe pickups didn't matter until I bought a 79 Precision and a 2007 SX P within a month of each other. The SX pickup blew away the 79 pickup IMHO, except for the polepieces being super high. That was my first example of a pickup making a positive difference.

The big example was with my P Lyte. The stock pickups were horrible, and the preamp even worse. So I pulled them out and stuck in a 62 Fender CS P and an Ultrajazz. The same pickups now kill in my 76 Precision but sounded weak and sterile in the P Lyte. So I switched to Quarter Pounders...much better, but not quite bright enough for my tastes. Now I have EMG PJ's and a BQC in it, and I'm getting exactly what I wanted out of it that the other pickups couldn't quite deliver.

And them a month ago I bought an 09 AmStd P that sounded great till I got to a gig and it was totally midscooped and the high notes sounded washed out no matter what I did. I put in a 62 Original, and now that bass completely cranks.

So now I have become a "pickups matter" convert because I've seen it matter. What DOESN'T matter is the price. The SX bass' pickup couldn't cost more than $20 new if they sold it. I love lipsticks but they're literally made out of lipstick tube covers. Just to name a couple examples.
 
#29
JimmyM said:
And them a month ago I bought an 09 AmStd P that sounded great till I got to a gig and it was totally midscooped and the high notes sounded washed out no matter what I did. I put in a 62 Original, and now that bass completely cranks.
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Huh. I have that bass and mine sounds, well, pretty damned good on the gig. Maybe I'll try a 62. Or maybe that will ruin it, lol. Ya never know, huh?
 
#30
Well Fender did start using the 62 Original in their AmStd basses last year so I don't think I'm the only one who felt that way. But if it's working for you, it's working for you, and that's all that matters.
 
#31
JimmyM said:
I used to believe pickups didn't matter until I bought a 79 Precision and a 2007 SX P within a month of each other. The SX pickup blew away the 79 pickup IMHO, except for the polepieces being super high. That was my first example of a pickup making a positive difference.

The big example was with my P Lyte. The stock pickups were horrible, and the preamp even worse. So I pulled them out and stuck in a 62 Fender CS P and an Ultrajazz. The same pickups now kill in my 76 Precision but sounded weak and sterile in the P Lyte. So I switched to Quarter Pounders...much better, but not quite bright enough for my tastes. Now I have EMG PJ's and a BQC in it, and I'm getting exactly what I wanted out of it that the other pickups couldn't quite deliver.

And them a month ago I bought an 09 AmStd P that sounded great till I got to a gig and it was totally midscooped and the high notes sounded washed out no matter what I did. I put in a 62 Original, and now that bass completely cranks.

So now I have become a "pickups matter" convert because I've seen it matter. What DOESN'T matter is the price. The SX bass' pickup couldn't cost more than $20 new if they sold it. I love lipsticks but they're literally made out of lipstick tube covers. Just to name a couple examples.
Click to expand...

Those are some good examples of where changing out a pup can make a huge difference. My best change in a bass was with a 62 Fender pup I put in a stale sounding MIM P bass. The bass came alive and I used it to track most of my bands recordings over my 70's P bass that was not bad itself. Sadly I needed to sell the MIM to get other equipment and it is one bass I miss in some ways today.
 
#32
"Most pickup upgrades"? It's such an incredibly broad query, and there are so many individual factors in play, that it makes the question downright nonsensical - and virtually impossible to answer in any meaningful way. :eyebrow:

I can say only that virtually every pickup upgrade in which I have invested has been well worth the money. In fact, IME it's hard to overestimate just how much a great set of new pickups can improve one's pre-existing sound...depending very much, of course, on the particulars involved.

MM
 
#33
I agree with Mystic Michael. There are SO many factors involved. I have an Ibanez SR 700 that has Bartoloni pu's and sounds awesome- wide variety of tonal qualities!
I just bought a Squire short scale bass yesterday. I had read many posts here on TB that (in many members' opinion) the J pu was a bit weak, if needed on it's own. As soon as I plugged the bass in, that proved to be true (at least for my liking) and I set out to upgrade the stock pickup with a DeMarzio pu. Finished the modification last night and noted a great improvement!

Again, it does depend on playing style, likes strings, etc.
 
#35
Nordstrand, Nordstrand, Nordstrand, Nordstrand, Nordstrand, Nordstrand, Nordstrand, Nordstrand, Nordstrand, Nordstrand, Nordstrand, Nordstrand, Nordstrand, Nordstrand, Nordstrand, Nordstrand, Nordstrand, Nordstrand, Nordstrand, Nordstrand, Nordstrand, Nordstrand, Nordstrand, Nordstrand, Nordstrand, Nordstrand, Nordstrand, Nordstrand, Nordstrand, Nordstrand...

Seriously.

I don't know what kind of pixie dust they are blowing over there, but I've had killer results using their pickups in 4-string J/J and P/J axes (replacing EMG and G&L alnico), and my Sadowsky P/J 5 came with with Nordstrand-sourced pickups . ..and I am deeply enmeshed with Nordstrand Big Singles on a Sadowsky Metro 5/24.

So I've seen a number of Nordstrand pickups work significant improvements, IMO, on mid-level and high-level axes.

I'm a believer. So, apparently, is Roger Sadowsky.

Check them out - you won't regret it.
 
#40
maturanesa said:
For me, there is only one variable: the pickup builder focus on pickups, the brand that produces instruments in a factory dont.
Maybe you can say you like the sound of the stock pup. Is subjetive. But replacements are better quality for sure...
Click to expand...

Like you said... it is subjective but i haven't found a Musicman replacement pickup that sounds better than a stock one.
Different maybe but not better.

OK back to topic ;)
 

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