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Fender Precision pickups... blah?

#41
dtlofton said:
I agree that a P will cover almost every bass need, with one notable exception - they sound like dog-poop when you slap them.
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Hey I don't know about that. There's a lot of classic slap 'n pop bass that was done on P basses.

It's not that bright slap tone, but listen to stuff like Peg by Steely Dan.. that's Chuck Rainy on a P bass. Then there's Lowdown by Boz Scaggs with David Hungate on bass. That introduced a lot of people to string pops. How about "Forget Me Nots" by Patrice Rushen? That's Freddie Washington on Precision Bass.

Back in the 70's most bass players used P basses, hardly ever Jazz basses, so many of those recordings from the 70's are probably P basses.

As far as the solo tone of a P bass.. all I can say is listen to John Wetton with King Crimson!

I'll take a P bass over a J any day.
 
#43
This is the Nordstrand web site description that has my interest.
"It will give a very big and full tone with the slightly hollow grind that the originals are known for."

Hollow gring is the one trait that I can't completely achieve with my old G&L L2000. The super robust G&L pickups are great but they seem to be so thick that they fill in that airy, openess needed to get that organic,woody,hollowness I like in a P.
I just hope the Nordstrand pickups aren't too "big and full" to the point they also are too thick for what I'm looking for . Guess I should look for some sound samples, although they can be misleading.
 
#44
I owned a Squire P bass and I was really, really suprised as to how much I liked the tone of that bass. I don't know what Fender uses in each of its respective models but that P pickup sounded good enough to get a great slap tone out of as well as alot of other really good tones.
 
#45
KeithPas said:
I owned a Squire P bass and I was really, really suprised as to how much I liked the tone of that bass. I don't know what Fender uses in each of its respective models but that P pickup sounded good enough to get a great slap tone out of as well as alot of other really good tones.
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Pups are what you make them. Some here a pefectly happy with stockers on even SX basses. Some guys on here take out pups i sware before they play a note on a bass cuz they have to have designer pups :hmm: Me i Play ,practice or gig my bass and then decide if it needs em or not. I played 2 MIM jazz basses for 3 + years stock except for the pickguards that were killer. I now play P basses one a 50's classic reisssue with american standard pups...love the tone wont change a thing...some guys would rip em out?

But i bought a nice used and slightly abused MIM P and its pups were muddy, i swapped em out with 62 reissues and whoaaaa nice great bass now....so each his/ her own. If you like them keep them dont fall into the TB gotta get the hot new pups trap that goes on around here all the time or your wallet will be lighter and nobody but you will hear that much of a diff anyhow.
 
#46
bassbully said:
Pups are what you make them. Some here a pefectly happy with stockers on even SX basses. Some guys on here take out pups i sware before they play a note on a bass cuz they have to have designer pups :hmm: Me i Play ,practice or gig my bass and then decide if it needs em or not. I played 2 MIM jazz basses for 3 + years stock except for the pickguards that were killer. I now play P basses one a 50's classic reisssue with american standard pups...love the tone wont change a thing...some guys would rip em out?

But i bought a nice used and slightly abused MIM P and its pups were muddy, i swapped em out with 62 reissues and whoaaaa nice great bass now....so each his/ her own. If you like them keep them dont fall into the TB gotta get the hot new pups trap that goes on around here all the time or your wallet will be lighter and nobody but you will hear that much of a diff anyhow.
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I agree 100%. I have purchased basses with the thought that I would probably change the pickups only to find that I was very happy with the stock ones. On the other hand, I have purchased basses that I thought I would love only to be dissatisfied with the pickups.
 
#48
BigSwami said:
There is a huge difference in what you may expect a bass to sound like on its own and what actually sounds good in a band. A lot of bass players don't like the sound of pickups moved far away from the bridge, but honestly that's the sound that meshes best with a band.
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I agree that the sound of a solo'd bass and the sound of a bass, heard in the context of a band can be very different but I have heard and I have played plenty of basses with bridge equipped pickups that sounded great. The P bass is a classic bass tone that fits in almost every musical situation (if the pickups are good), thats one of the reasons I'm gassing for one.
 
#49
KeithPas said:
The P bass is a classic bass tone that fits in almost every musical situation (if the pickups are good), thats one of the reasons I'm gassing for one.
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In many cases producers still want to see you with a P bass when you walk into a studio. Old timers still call electric basses "Fender Bass".

Some of the cheaper Fender pickups are not made at all like the originals. They use plastic bobbins which put a space between the coil wire and the magnets. And sometimes they use steel poles and ceramic magnets, instead of alnico rod magnets for poles.

These things are not bad in themselves, but they will alter the tone of the pickup. Another thing is a P bass sounds like it does because it has wide squat coils. A Jazz has tall thin coils. If the replacement pickups aren't the same geometry, it won't get that authentic P bass tone.

Any good replacement, like a Duncan or Fralin should do the trick.
 
#50
DavidRavenMoon said:
In many cases producers still want to see you with a P bass when you walk into a studio. Old timers still call electric basses "Fender Bass".

Some of the cheaper Fender pickups are not made at all like the originals. They use plastic bobbins which put a space between the coil wire and the magnets. And sometimes they use steel poles and ceramic magnets, instead of alnico rod magnets for poles.

These things are not bad in themselves, but they will alter the tone of the pickup. Another thing is a P bass sounds like it does because it has wide squat coils. A Jazz has tall thin coils. If the replacement pickups aren't the same geometry, it won't get that authentic P bass tone.

Any good replacement, like a Duncan or Fralin should do the trick.
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David
Thanks for that info, I honestly did not know anything about the way those P pickups differed. BTW I visited your website and love the sound of your basses and pickups. Very growly grindy tone with alot of character.
 
#51
KeithPas said:
David
Thanks for that info, I honestly did not know anything about the way those P pickups differed. BTW I visited your website and love the sound of your basses and pickups. Very growly grindy tone with alot of character.
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Thanks!

I grew up wanting a P bass, and that's all you saw on TV and stuff. Then I got a Ric... go figure!

But these days people associate P basses with that Motown tone, but they do a lot more than that.

Also I'm just sick of seeing Jazz basses.. as if that's the only bass made. ;)
 
#54
DavidRavenMoon said:
Thanks!

I grew up wanting a P bass, and that's all you saw on TV and stuff. Then I got a Ric... go figure!

But these days people associate P basses with that Motown tone, but they do a lot more than that.

Also I'm just sick of seeing Jazz basses.. as if that's the only bass made. ;)
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The myspace soundclip of your passive soapbar really reminded me of a good old p pickup. My first good bass was an early 70's P bass, I have owned lots of basses since then. When I got rid of my P bass I was into proggressive rock and pined away for a Ric I would never end up owning and I have always favored basses with a more bright and trebly tone. After getting a beat up Squire P bass special I fell in love with the P all over again.
 
#55
ninerfan said:
I went cheap for my 1st set and got Fender 9050 ML's. I'm finding that I really like them though. ...I've read they are very high tension, but the ML's seem fine to me.:)
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I've read that too, but they're not... they're just average tension. My late '90's MIA P-pickup lacks some clarity in the lows, it's otherwise OK. ...sits great in a mix.
 
#56
SgtKoi said:
tell that to Tim commerford!
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OK, he's cool so I wont bug him about it! lol

KeithPas said:
The myspace soundclip of your passive soapbar really reminded me of a good old p pickup. My first good bass was an early 70's P bass, I have owned lots of basses since then. When I got rid of my P bass I was into proggressive rock and pined away for a Ric I would never end up owning and I have always favored basses with a more bright and trebly tone. After getting a beat up Squire P bass special I fell in love with the P all over again.
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I also got my Ric because I was into prog rock. But Ray Shulman of Gentle Giant used a P bass, and he got a great tone.

I guess I always liked that tone, so I like my neck pickups to have that round hollowish P bass thing going on.
 
#57
DavidRavenMoon said:
OK, he's cool so I wont bug him about it! lol




I also got my Ric because I was into prog rock. But Ray Shulman of Gentle Giant used a P bass, and he got a great tone.

I guess I always liked that tone, so I like my neck pickups to have that round hollowish P bass thing going on.
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+1000!!!! Ray Schulman and Dave Hope from Kansas both played P basses. All of the older great Kansas tunes had Dave Hope's P bass all over them. That is about as far from Jamerson as I can imagine with respects to tone but it was all P bass.
 
#58
KeithPas said:
+1000!!!! Ray Schulman and Dave Hope from Kansas both played P basses. All of the older great Kansas tunes had Dave Hope's P bass all over them. That is about as far from Jamerson as I can imagine with respects to tone but it was all P bass.
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And John Wetton, of course. That version of KC was my all time favorite band... well after Gentle Giant. :D

On a slightly different vein, my other all time favorite band, XTC, had Colin playing a lot of P bass too.

Or another great player... John Deacon!!
 
#59
DavidRavenMoon said:
And John Wetton, of course. That version of KC was my all time favorite band... well after Gentle Giant. :D

On a slightly different vein, my other all time favorite band, XTC, had Colin playing a lot of P bass too.

Or another great player... John Deacon!!
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And every one of them with very different tone from their P bass. BTW. Gentle Giant was one of the first prog bands I ever got into.
 

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