Hey guys. What's the most responsive passive pickup for a finger player like me? One that could get nice tone and clarity! Thanks
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Best Precison pups for finger playing?
- Thread starter Bass_Nishi
- Start date
Anything not stock. There are a TON of good ones out there. Heck, even stock fender pickups will do the job.
One of my P's has Kent Armstrong VPB installed. Tremendous bottom! Tone is close to an upright. I always only use my fingertips.
Fender's '62 reissue p'up gets a lot of love here on TB but, in truth, there aren't too many really bad P pickups out there - just varying degrees of good. It's a formula that's been so dialed in that even the cheap stuff sounds pretty decent. You won't go wrong with a '62 reissue for nice tone and clarity, but you're not likely to go too far wrong with nearly anything.
If you want responsiveness and a rich dynamic across the whole tone pot, it's tough to beat a Fralin stock wound. I've tried many and keep coming back to that and the 62RI. I play mostly finger style.
+1. It really depends on your tonal aspirations and budget. A Seymour Duncan Antiquity II and a Dimarzio model P will both be really nice with finger playing but will sound radically different. The pickup has to play nice with your instrument and your strings as well. It's not as simple as plug and play if you really want to dig into it.
I've always like the sound of QPs. But I would make the case that folks spend WAY too much time agonizing about correct tone from their gear and not nearly enough time focused on tone from their playing. How you play has a MUCH bigger impact on how you sound than any gear, provided you have at least decent kit to being with.
If you want a good punk/rock tone, go with QP's. If not go with a Fender '62. There's also the Geezer Butler signature pickup that has just been released a couple o'months ago and gets a lot of love. I personally don't have exp with it though.
Hopkins
Commercial User
I have played a few stock P basses with great sounding stock pickups, some of them even in cheaper basses.
Surprised no one has mentioned Bill Lawerence's P46 pickups, they're great!
Are you suggesting that bass players practice and use their ears? Nah. Gear will show us the way.
I get the case to be made for using more responsive pickups - what I don't get is the hair-splitting folks do over which exact flavor of which brand is just right for what type of music. I guess that's why I really liked the SD QPs - they were very responsive and quite strong - better harmonic output than stock Fenders (or at least every stock fender I've ever played). I'm sure the same can be said for any good pair of aftermarket pickups. But yes, the coolest aero/lindy fralin/unicorn drool pickups won't make as big of a difference of learning how to user those fingers better.
Some gear will still have the tone of a goblin fart, no matter who plays it. I'm no gear snob, and technique certainly plays a mega crucial role, but it just makes it that much better when it's done through something the player can feel good about using where there is an obvious difference in texture.
When I listen to a bass player live, I don't care what pickups he/she is using, I care only about what notes they are playing. I know that may bother some gear heads but that's me. The same goes for strings, active/passive, fretted/fretless, what brand of bass it is or how many strings the bass has. The musician, and music come first, not the equipment.
Well made point! Great players can make it happen on a Mattel ukelele. That having been said, most of us are trying to get the best gear to support our meager skills. I wonder why you even posted here in a gear thread? You already know the gear is unimportant, and talent is all one needs!
This, a thousand times this. Having said it, don't overlook Bartolini. I recently installed a Classic in my '08 USA Std. which is generally regarded as having a rather thin sounding stock pickup. Instant improvement. Styles? Finger style is punchy, warm and clean with excellent note definition. Slap is very loud and aggressive but is easily tamed with the tone knob, and with a pick it nails the classic 'P Bass with a pick' sound. Zero noise. Excellent pickup, but again, there are many.
