I like it too. I’m working with what I can get secondhand here, though.
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I like it too. I’m working with what I can get secondhand here, though.
Yeah, it may have been just badly matched to the bass it was in but I found it a very strange pickup, very little mids but also strangely quite dark sounding as well,one day I decided I wanted to try and get the pickup closer to the strings to try and get a bit more top end from it and when i unscrewed the pickup to put more foam under it one of the wires snapped off the pickup, I could have just soldered the wire back on but I decided that as I had always been unhappy with the pickup I would try something different, have tried both the SPB-2 and the QP and liked both of them but went with the QPfor the extra treble punch.
I don’t mean to be pushy...but would love to hear sound clips if you managed them.
Main reason - because I have now fiddled around with the reverse P layout for the front pickup and dislike it...the strings become balanced overall but the low strings lose some oomph and it just doesn’t sound like a Precision exactly to me when I do that...
...So, I’m probably going to do a pickup layout just like yours. (Despite the many folks saying reverse the bridge P pickup..)
My choice is to have the neck pickup in the standard placement and configuration to get the traditional sound and the bridge P pick up reversed; with the D and G coils close to the pickguard.
The clips I hear of that setup sound good, though both pickups mixed sound almost Stingray-ish on the upper strings. I haven’t heard a Precision with that setup; mostly Warwicks. And Aluen Audio basses have that setup but move the neck pickup towards the neck a touch, out of the classic P position. Do you have any sound clips?
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More proof and love for the dual reversed P setup. My Warmoth is very similar, except my neck pickup is closer to the neck.
Yes! There’s not much about that bass that is not ugly. But, that’s just my opinion.
Ok, I modded up a Mexi P that I picked up cheap to make a dual P. This is a quick workbench photo.
The main P/U is a Mexican P, the bridge is a secondhand Aguilar Hot P. Picked up a secondhand Hipshot bridge as well. Dual V/T setup and series/parallel switch.
Didn’t help that the pickups were out of phase to each other at first. Had to flip the leads on the Mexi P pickup to get everything working right. I was confused until I figured it out though - the lows thinned out when I blended pickups, though each pickup individually soloed was fine.
I thought carefully about the pickup placement and whether it should be reversed. I ended up putting the EA bridge coil at the location of the coil of a rear 60’s Jazz Bass pickup, non-reversed - controversial....but I didn’t want to reverse the main pickup, and I feel that both pickups should be oriented the same way after listening to a lot of dual P videos, so...
Both pickups in parallel sounds great. The Aguilar Hot P is a little dark for my taste, though great output, and will be changed. I really like how the typical Precision character is kept by keeping the main pickup in usual location and orientation. Rolling in the bridge gives a meaty Stingray/Jazz-ish type flavour without really sounding quite just like either of those. I dig it. The mid scoop from both pickups full on together sounds good too; different place to a Jazz though. Bridge pickup on its own is meaty Jaco type tone with a little touch of more ‘quack’ on the D/G strings, due to the coil location. The amount of this can be varied quite a lot depending on where I play. I like it, others may differ. I never play bridge pickup solo only, so it makes little odds to me, as the blended sounds with the main pickup are what I’m after.
Both pickups in series is a gloriously dark, middy, thick, rich beast of a tone. I think it would work great with distortion.
I can match pickup output levels with height adjustment but impedances of these pickups are wildly different. That may have an impact. I still have my sights set on a dual DiMarzio Model P setup - like the BC Rich basses of old - we’ll see how that sounds when I test it. I also plan a swap from rosewood to maple neck - rosewood just sounds a little dark for my taste, at least for this bass.
The joys of modding!
The main P/U is a Mexican P, the bridge is a secondhand Aguilar Hot P. Picked up a secondhand Hipshot bridge as well. Dual V/T setup and series/parallel switch.
Didn’t help that the pickups were out of phase to each other at first. Had to flip the leads on the Mexi P pickup to get everything working right. I was confused until I figured it out though - the lows thinned out when I blended pickups, though each pickup individually soloed was fine.
I thought carefully about the pickup placement and whether it should be reversed. I ended up putting the EA bridge coil at the location of the coil of a rear 60’s Jazz Bass pickup, non-reversed - controversial....but I didn’t want to reverse the main pickup, and I feel that both pickups should be oriented the same way after listening to a lot of dual P videos, so...
Both pickups in parallel sounds great. The Aguilar Hot P is a little dark for my taste, though great output, and will be changed. I really like how the typical Precision character is kept by keeping the main pickup in usual location and orientation. Rolling in the bridge gives a meaty Stingray/Jazz-ish type flavour without really sounding quite just like either of those. I dig it. The mid scoop from both pickups full on together sounds good too; different place to a Jazz though. Bridge pickup on its own is meaty Jaco type tone with a little touch of more ‘quack’ on the D/G strings, due to the coil location. The amount of this can be varied quite a lot depending on where I play. I like it, others may differ. I never play bridge pickup solo only, so it makes little odds to me, as the blended sounds with the main pickup are what I’m after.
Both pickups in series is a gloriously dark, middy, thick, rich beast of a tone. I think it would work great with distortion.
I can match pickup output levels with height adjustment but impedances of these pickups are wildly different. That may have an impact. I still have my sights set on a dual DiMarzio Model P setup - like the BC Rich basses of old - we’ll see how that sounds when I test it. I also plan a swap from rosewood to maple neck - rosewood just sounds a little dark for my taste, at least for this bass.
The joys of modding!
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That is awesome, nice bass, always been curious about the Aguilar Hot pickup but always been put off by the higher price tag, how is it tonally? Is it a beefed up aggressive P tone or just dark ?
It’s definitely beefed up and aggressive, but it is a bit darker than I expected. I guess that can be typical of overwound pickups. Enough that I’ll try something else in the bridge position.
The video that Aguilar have of the pickup on YouTube shows it to be a little dark as well; I had thought it would work well in bridge position because of this, but it’s not to my taste. Roll on the Model P...
If you go to about 4:00, this video shows what the Hot P sounds like.
The video that Aguilar have of the pickup on YouTube shows it to be a little dark as well; I had thought it would work well in bridge position because of this, but it’s not to my taste. Roll on the Model P...
If you go to about 4:00, this video shows what the Hot P sounds like.
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Yeah that is pretty typical of overwound pickups, the Duncan SPB-2 is wound to 22k and that pickup is super dark
Did Warmoth rout that body for you or did you have to have the neck pickup rout added after you received the body?
Warmoth did it. They'll do custom routes and other off-menu things, for a price. You just have to start up an email conversation with them.
Just putting up some results of experiments.
Replaced the MIM Fender pickup with a DiMarzio Model P at the front position, and left the Aguilar Hot P at the bridge.
The combination worked well, surprisingly, with a really nice combined sound with a lot of meat and low end when both pickups played together. The Hot P still a little dark for my taste in the bridge when played on its own though. The DiMarzio on its own at the front is a very cool sound, ‘more of everything’.
I scored a second DiMarzio Model P and put that at the bridge to replace the Aguilar Hot P. Surprisingly, I think I like this setup less. Less low end with both pickups together, a different mid scoop with both pickups played together, and perhaps a little too middy/bright when I try the bridge on its own. I have no idea why people say these pickups are dark, I find they make my alder/RW bass very gritty and bright indeed, when put in either position.
I might just put the Aguilar Hot P back in the bridge position. We shall see. (I have briefly wondered about the DiMarzio Split P in the bridge position as well....)
I’d love to know good pickup combinations everyone has found. I’ve seen a few mentioned on here - but perhaps there are some combos I don’t know about.
Replaced the MIM Fender pickup with a DiMarzio Model P at the front position, and left the Aguilar Hot P at the bridge.
The combination worked well, surprisingly, with a really nice combined sound with a lot of meat and low end when both pickups played together. The Hot P still a little dark for my taste in the bridge when played on its own though. The DiMarzio on its own at the front is a very cool sound, ‘more of everything’.
I scored a second DiMarzio Model P and put that at the bridge to replace the Aguilar Hot P. Surprisingly, I think I like this setup less. Less low end with both pickups together, a different mid scoop with both pickups played together, and perhaps a little too middy/bright when I try the bridge on its own. I have no idea why people say these pickups are dark, I find they make my alder/RW bass very gritty and bright indeed, when put in either position.
I might just put the Aguilar Hot P back in the bridge position. We shall see. (I have briefly wondered about the DiMarzio Split P in the bridge position as well....)
I’d love to know good pickup combinations everyone has found. I’ve seen a few mentioned on here - but perhaps there are some combos I don’t know about.
I had 4 Precision Elite II basses in the early 90s. Enjoyed playing them, but there was something about the preamp that was just annoying, and they were relatively heavy. Loved the shallow front-to-back neck profile and the width at the nut though. I was one of the lucky few who had all of the fine tuner knobs for them, and was very careful not to lose them. I probably should have kept one of these basses, but I really don't miss them that much. They had what I consider pretty good fit and finish for post-60s Fenders.
- Apr 18, 2008
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You may be able to cure the darkness of the Aguilar Hot P with a small bass-cut switch, or perhaps a series/parallel switch.
For my Carl Pedigo bass: Lakland vintage P in the neck position with a Lakland NeoPunch in the bridge spot.
For the one I built, I went with an EMG PAX in the neck position, and a EMG PCSX at the bridge.
I like a warm vintage-ish P between the traditional P spot and the neck and a more bright pickup near the bridge.
