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Duncan SPB-1 vs SPB-2

vlad335

vlad335

Apr 14, 2003
1,291
631
Latrobe, PA
#1
Just bought a Fender American Standard P-bass and the first to go was the pickup. The PU that was in it didn't sound horrible it's just something I can't help doing anymore... Have to noodle with things. :smug:

Just changed out to a Seymour Duncan SPB-1 and I have to say I am digging it. Nice and smooth and the string balance EQ wise seems slightly better. Too be truthful this is the first Duncan P-bass PU I have ever installed. Swapped out and owned lots of Jazz PU's but the only Duncans I have had experience with Jazz wise is the SJB-3 QP's. Damn, they make some nice PU's.

Anyway this got me thinking about their other PU's. Namely the SPB-2 and also curious about the tone of the Antiquity and the new Steve Harris signatures. The tone I am coveting lately is the thick thumpy P-bass tone. Think John Deacon of Queen. Moving away from the grindy growly Jazz thing. Heck, bought a P-bass and installed TI flats on it. Complete sea change. Looking for big fat thick lowend.

Has anyone compared these two PU's directly? Would the SPB-2 have more fatness? Searches are giving me confusing viewpoints such as the SPB-2 has more mids while others are saying more lowend. Is the Antiquity (1 or 2? ) even beefier than both of these?
 
#2
I can't comment on the SPB-1/SPB-2 question, but the Antiquity series is not what you want. The goal of Antiquity pickups is to get the sound of a 40-year-old pickup now, not the sound of a 40-year-old pickup when it was newly made.
 
#3
I respectfully disagree with the previous post.

Antiquity II will do big thick rich tone and they have more low end than any other pickup I have tested. They sound like a SPB-1 with more bass and more warmth. They are hotter too. It's a huge and warm sounding pickup.

I do not have any hands on experience with the SPB-2 but most people rate them as too mid oriented and too thumpy. Do some research.

Another option I have been digging on one of my basses is the Aguilar Ag-4p60. It's a really beautiful sounding pickup with less low end than the Antiquity II but more warmth and mids. Highs are there but very smooth.
 
#4
you kinda already landed on one of their best pickups with the SPB-1.

i'd say keep it, forget about it, and and enjoy your good-sounding P-bass.
 
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#5
I agree that the SPB-1 is a great P pickup.

The SPB-2 is very good for what it is intended for, but I found the SPB-1 to be more versatile.

IMO, the descriptions on the SD website are pretty accurate for this.
 
#6
Thanks for all the replies. The Antiquity II description got me intriqued and I may try it later. Been listening to old Queen and that is one amazing bass tone and I am wondering if the Antiquity would get me closer.

On the SD site they list the tone of the SPB-1 as 5/4/5 ( Bass Mid Treble) The SPB-2 is 5/6/5 so that answers my question. Oops. Never checked their site. :hiding:

Where the Duncan really shines compared to the stocker is when rolling the tone knob back for some reason. The SPB-1 is noticeably smoother here. There is not a enormous difference when wide open which is surprising to me. ( Perhaps the stock is slightly more brittle in the highs.)

Now that I am using the tone knob considering changing out the .02 cent ceramic disc that is in the bass now. Thinking of a PIO cap. Don't think it could sound worse.
 
#7
Laurent said:
I respectfully disagree with the previous post.

Antiquity II will do big thick rich tone and they have more low end than any other pickup I have tested. They sound like a SPB-1 with more bass and more warmth. They are hotter too. It's a huge and warm sounding pickup.
Click to expand...

Funny that you find the Antiquity II to be hot for a vintage pickup, since SD goes to the extra trouble of de-gaussing it to get closer to the sound of a vintage (as in 40 year-old) instrument :hmm:
 
#8
Forget the PIO cap. I just soldered in two of these 0.01 caps to make 0.20 uf. These are very good audiophile bypass caps and both measured dead on with my capacitance meter. Plus they are dirt cheap.

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Wow! I think I like it. Had these caps laying around here and the value I have installed is very interesting. The tone knob is usable rolled all the way off now. With the prior Fender cap, anything past half was total mud.

I might order the 0.033 and a couple other values to check the difference.
 
#9
Back in 1995, Bass Player did a mini shoot out of the SPB1, 2, 3 and the SD Antiquity. This was before Duncan started the Basslines brand.

Here are their ratings:
W = Warmth, C = Clarity, O = output, B = String Balance, S = Sound

SPB-1 "Vintage"
W4, C3, O3, B4, S4
Subtle, old-style sound with caressing lows

SPB-2 "Hot"
W5, C4, O4, B4, S5
Sweet, balanced, ballsy tone

SPB-3 "Quarter Pound"
W4, C3, O5, B4, S3
This rocker looks and sounds like a mini-V8

SD "Antiquity"
W5, C4, O3, B5, S5
Could fool even the pickiest vintage snob with its early P-Bass sound and well-plucked look.

I used this article to put SPB-2's in a FrankenFender. List price on the SPB line was all around $82. The Antiquities listed at $130. (Price was and still is a consideration in most of my purchases).
 
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#10
tbplayer59 said:
Back in 1995, Bass Player did a mini shoot out of the SPB1, 2, 3 and the SD Antiquity. This was before Duncan started the Basslines brand.

Here are their ratings:
W = Warmth, C = Clarity, O = output, B = String Balance, S = Sound

SPB-1 "Vintage"
W4, C3, O3, B4, S4
Subtle, old-style sound with caressing lows

SPB-2 "Hot"
W5, C4, O4, B4, S5
Sweet, balanced, ballsy tone

SPB-3 "Quarter Pound"
W4, C3, O5, B4, S3
This rocker looks and sounds like a mini-V8

SD "Antiquity"
W5, C4, O3, B5, S5
Could fool even the pickiest vintage snob with its early P-Bass sound and well-plucked look.

I used this article to put SPB-2's in a FrankenFender. List price on the SPB line was all around $82. The Antiquities listed at $130. (Price was and still is a consideration in most of my purchases).
Click to expand...

Thanks for the post. The Antiquities are haunting me now. Lol.
 
#11
I am fooling around and swapping caps out now and noticed something I never knew. Even with the tone all the way up my bass sounds different with each cap change. Huh? How could that be? Wouldn't the tone knob being maxxed take the cap out of the equation? Thats what I thought before but there is a difference with every cap.

The Visnays still sound the best. Even at max. Weird thing though is when I turn the tone all the way down, the low end disappears. Turn it up a hair and it comes back and sounds great. Perhaps this is because I am using two of them to make a 0.020 value?

I have a Vitamin Q Sprauge 0.1 PIO cap here that sounds dreadful in this bass with these pickups. Wooly sounding at all settings. This cap worked very well with a jazz bass and 500k pots though.

I read where people said that caps make no difference and I can categorically say that it not true
 
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#12
SPB-1 ALL the way....I used all 3 pickups 1,2 & 3 SPB's...and honestly the SPB-1 was the smoothest, full range, usable tone of the three...BUT....I had 3 basses that were the same except for body woods and the SPB-3 sounded best in the Alder body and the SPB-1 sounded better in the Ash body....in the Ash the SPB-3 was way to boomy and didn't have the clarity for my taste.
The good thing for you is you enjoy the sound form the SPB-1. If that is the case, I would leave it in.
Just my 1-1/2 cents.
 
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#16
I have used the 1, 2 and 3.

#1 simulates the old original Fender pickups
#2 is hotter and boosts midrange. If you run distortion then this pickup may breakup too much. It can bring out the growl on a fretless.
#3 is hotter and boosts high and lows. It is good for pick playing and rock and it takes to distortion nicely.
 
#17
tbplayer59 said:
Back in 1995, Bass Player did a mini shoot out of the SPB1, 2, 3 and the SD Antiquity. This was before Duncan started the Basslines brand.

Here are their ratings:
W = Warmth, C = Clarity, O = output, B = String Balance, S = Sound

SPB-1 "Vintage"
W4, C3, O3, B4, S4
Subtle, old-style sound with caressing lows

SPB-2 "Hot"
W5, C4, O4, B4, S5
Sweet, balanced, ballsy tone

SPB-3 "Quarter Pound"
W4, C3, O5, B4, S3
This rocker looks and sounds like a mini-V8

SD "Antiquity"
W5, C4, O3, B5, S5
Could fool even the pickiest vintage snob with its early P-Bass sound and well-plucked look.

I used this article to put SPB-2's in a FrankenFender. List price on the SPB line was all around $82. The Antiquities listed at $130. (Price was and still is a consideration in most of my purchases).
Click to expand...

What strings do you use with the SPB-2?
 

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