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Entwistle PBXN pickup review

P

PhloopyYoopy

Oct 23, 2021
35
33
Maryland
#1
Happy New Year everyone!

I wanted to share my experience with Entwistle PBXN pickups.

TL;DR: In a nutshell I'm happy with them and have no intention to replace them. Cost is not a factor for me.

However, I don't recommend them for someone who doesn't have some troubleshooting and repair skills. The quality out of the box is terrible.

The good:
~ Sounds good to me
~ Bobbins looked good. Appeared to be waxed
~ Strong output
~ Low price

The bad:
~ Overall initial quality

Regarding the quality, the magnets weren't glued on very well and I had to re-orient and epoxy them back on. Orientation is highly important! As well the external wiring is stiff and brittle. I had to apply some solder to stabilize one of the wires. Some minor nitpicks are the poles (screws) stick far out the back of the pickup. Also the mounting screws the pickup shipped with are soft-metal and easy to snap or strip. I'm using better screws.

I've attached three recordings for comparison. Sorry for my sloppy playing! Judge the recordings for yourself and comment!

The recording setup:
Hartke Bass Attack VXL DI into M-Audio Delta. Tone controls set to 50%.

The Entwistle PBXNs are in a parts Fender Jazz/Precision, with only the one split-p pickup, Maple neck, and Alder Body. Volume and Tone 100%. D'Addario Chrome Flatwound strings.

Alembic Epic, neck pickup only. Maple top. Volume 100% and tone controls flat-ish. D'Addario half-round strings.

Yamaha BX-1, neck pickup only. Volume and tone 100%. Had to bump up the DI output to compensate for the lower output. Unknown roundwound strings.

Enjoy!
 

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#2
PhloopyYoopy said:
Happy New Year everyone!

I wanted to share my experience with Entwistle PBXN pickups.

TL;DR: In a nutshell I'm happy with them and have no intention to replace them. Cost is not a factor for me.

However, I don't recommend them for someone who doesn't have some troubleshooting and repair skills. The quality out of the box is terrible.

The good:
~ Sounds good to me
~ Bobbins looked good. Appeared to be waxed
~ Strong output
~ Low price

The bad:
~ Overall initial quality

Regarding the quality, the magnets weren't glued on very well and I had to re-orient and epoxy them back on. Orientation is highly important! As well the external wiring is stiff and brittle. I had to apply some solder to stabilize one of the wires. Some minor nitpicks are the poles (screws) stick far out the back of the pickup. Also the mounting screws the pickup shipped with are soft-metal and easy to snap or strip. I'm using better screws.

I've attached three recordings for comparison. Sorry for my sloppy playing! Judge the recordings for yourself and comment!

The recording setup:
Hartke Bass Attack VXL DI into M-Audio Delta. Tone controls set to 50%.

The Entwistle PBXNs are in a parts Fender Jazz/Precision, with only the one split-p pickup, Maple neck, and Alder Body. Volume and Tone 100%. D'Addario Chrome Flatwound strings.

Alembic Epic, neck pickup only. Maple top. Volume 100% and tone controls flat-ish. D'Addario half-round strings.

Yamaha BX-1, neck pickup only. Volume and tone 100%. Had to bump up the DI output to compensate for the lower output. Unknown roundwound strings.

Enjoy!
Click to expand...
I've been curious about these.Your demo of it sounded very good to me.Too bad on quality but dang they're cheaply priced.
 
#5
kodiakblair said:
I've installed plenty of Entwistle pickups for folk , never experienced any QC problems.

I wouldn't let one reported issue sway you.
Click to expand...

Same here.
I've installed the PBXN in 3 basses so far, not exactly a statistically significant sample, though, but I had no issues whatsoever.

The only thing that 'annoyed' me a bit was that the poles are very long, as the OP pointed out, so in some basses it doesn't leave a of of room for adjustment, but so far I didn't need to shave any wood or anything.
 
#7
kodiakblair said:
Thing is they're not really that long.

Random sample of pickup sizes from the drawer.

Entwistle PBXN overall height 23mm.
Aguilar MM . 26mm inc foam.
P-bass split coil with 2 part foam 26mm or 32mm.
Fender wide range humbucker (PG mount) 22mm.
Split coil with springs (fully compressed) 21 mm.
Click to expand...

They seem pretty deep to me (ignore the foam, talking about the actual pickup). :shrug:
To those 23mm you need to add some room to add some foam and be able to adjust their height a little.

There was barely any room for adjustment on a couple of basses (a Squier Mike Dirnt and some kind of Tanglewood - it's my girfriend's bass and I'm not that familiar with those basses).
Maybe I like pickups to sit a little lower than some people, from what I've seen (sounds better to my ears that way, despite the lower output), and the PBXN is so powerful that it really benefits from being lower in the body (for my liking). They could really use some shorter polepieces that won't stick out so much.

They're still good pickups, 'though, and I didn't experience any of the OP's issues with build quality.
 
#9
mcnach said:
Same here.
I've installed the PBXN in 3 basses so far, not exactly a statistically significant sample, though, but I had no issues whatsoever.

The only thing that 'annoyed' me a bit was that the poles are very long, as the OP pointed out, so in some basses it doesn't leave a of of room for adjustment, but so far I didn't need to shave any wood or anything.
Click to expand...

What are your thoughts about the sound? These are my first go with split-p so I can only do an apples-to-oranges comparison.
 
#11
PhloopyYoopy said:
Right now only got foam and the pickguard holding them in, since I'm not done finishing the bass.
Click to expand...
Look in the drawer for old dried up retractable ballpoint pens , remove the springs and cut it in half.

Take the foam out from under the PG then take it for a roadtrip. After 5 hours driving , stop and dispose of the foam.
Return home and use your freshly cut springs :thumbsup:
 

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