Fender AM Pro II - V-Mod 2 pickups?

[Norman Hunter]

There probably isn’t a lot of folks here with experience with this bass.

I have one on the way. I’m curious if the V Mod II pickups are decent or should I plan on replacing them? Of course, I’m gonna work with them on a couple of gigs, a couple of rehearsals, and tracking on a couple of demos before I decide on what to do with them.

I like a quite grindy Precision tone. The Lull P5 I had came with the gnarliest Precision pups I’ve ever heard. It’s made by Duncan, but obviously, that one won’t be available as an aftermarket item (wouldn’t fit the pickup cutouts for starters).

I’m told that Lollar makes a P5 pickup that fits the Fender. I’ll be looking at that one if the V Mod II isn’t to my liking.

I have a Fender American Professional Precision Bass with the V-Mod II pickups and they sound okay to med but I did change the V-Mod II pickups on my Fender American Professional Jazz Bass to Lindy Fralin and the bass sounds markedly better. I just felt that the V-Mod pickups were a little dark sounding but I wouldn't say that they sounded bad. The Fralins were worth the money. There are all sorts of replacement pickups out there. Lollar and Lindy Fralin are names that come up a lot for the traditional Fender tone. As I said before, as far as my Precision Bass goes, The V-Mod pickups sounded fine to me but I am certain that it could sound better with a replacement pickup.

 

[Wood and Wire]

This thread being resurrected is an opportunity to correct some misinformation, and update some product info:

Firstly, there was an industry wide misconception that the V-Mod II Precision pickup had AlNiCo II magnets in the E-A half, and AlNiCo V magnets in the D-G half.

In actual fact the pickup has AlNiCo IV magnets in the E-A half, and AlNiCo II magnets in the D-G half.

I'd assumed (based on the presence of several glaring errors) that the user manual was incorrect in this matter, but after I personally had several communications with Fender, they launched an investigation with their engineering department, who confirmed that the manufactured pickup is as designed, and the manual is correct in its description.

My suggestion in this thread to swap the two halves around would affect a change in tone / response, but not the expected results, as there is no AlNiCo V present.


Secondly, Fralin now offer a 5-string Precision pickup.