Fender V-Mod P bass pickups

[Selim]

Bah.. it seems that a lot of users are experiencing a variety of issues with the V-mod pickups...

With all due respect, I don’t think it’s helpful to make statements like this — for reasons which should be obvious.
You could turn it right around and say there are a lot of players who adore these pickups and the basses themselves — they’re just not on TB. Or they are and for whatever reason, don’t comment.

 

[Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati]

With all due respect, I don’t think it’s helpful to make statements like this — for reasons which should be obvious.
You could turn it right around and say there are a lot of players who adore these pickups and the basses themselves — they’re just not on TB. Or they are and for whatever reason, don’t comment.

.. thanks for your suggestions .. they will be duly accounted for (with all due respect also on my side, of course) ...

 

[Geri O]

why would 4 strings be unfortunate?

Unfortunate for the person looking for a 5-string set of pups.

It should be more obvious, but even from here, I could tell it wasn't a slam on 4-string basses and players.

 

[Doug Bright]

I know this is a bit of a old post but I can report my experience in trying to replace this pickup with a Aguilar vintage 60s.
The 60s sounds great but it is too soft for me. I think the V-mod is more modern and defined especially on the high register. It also brings up more mid range and harsh so it only depends what you are looking for.

The E-string issue is mostly due to set up, I had a similar thing but I looked for the sweet spot vertically and horizontally. Took me 1 minute and it sounds killer

at the end I am putting the v-mod back and if anyone wants my aguilars they are for sale

Are the Aguilars 4 or 5 string? P+J or just P?

 

[Selim]

.. thanks for your suggestions .. they will be duly accounted for (with all due respect also on my side, of course) ...

And I’ll just add my 2 cents and say I am very pleased with my new Fender AP jazz V with VMod pickups, strung with Dunlop flats. If the pickup designer’s goal was to create pickups with both vintage and “modern” (not sure exactly what that is — more articulation I guess?) sound characteristics, I think they did a good job.

 

[Chris Szatny]

And I’ll just add my 2 cents and say I am very pleased with my new Fender AP jazz V with VMod pickups, strung with Dunlop flats. If the pickup designer’s goal was to create pickups with both vintage and “modern” (not sure exactly what that is — more articulation I guess?) sound characteristics, I think they did a good job.

I have same...AmPro series jazz V with rosewood fingerboard...sounds great. My AmPro series Precision is like a vintage P on steroids.

 

[Selim]

I have same...AmPro series jazz V with rosewood fingerboard...sounds great. My AmPro series Precision is like a vintage P on steroids.

This bass has got me thinking about the 4 string basses in this series. And I’ve got a ‘66 P for reference.

Being used to vintage frets, the APs tall narrow frets felt weird at first, but now I really like them. And the neck is great — it’s fast and comfortable.

Anyway - all of this is sort of a crap shoot with finding a good bass — there is a certain amount of luck involved. Even custom builders can end up making a bass that just doesn’t quite make it, in spite of the upgraded materials (one reason why they are for sale on TB). And then you can walk into a store and pick up an inexpensive bass like a Squire and while it won’t be the last word in terms of refinement, it feels “right” — something about how the wood on that neck and that body came together on that day.

 

[loSbabbaro]

why would 4 strings be unfortunate?

Because he was looking for a 5 string pickup

Are the Aguilars 4 or 5 string? P+J or just P?

4 string and only P

 

[LionOnBass]

I ordered the Nordstrand NP5F for my 5 string p-bass.

 

[PotsdamBass8]

I just found this thread after trying a couple American professional Ps. The E string was weak on both, but the pickups were also set with the E side very low. One of the basses was on sale, I’m considering buying it but I would have to adjust the pickups first to see if the balance is better and do a quick setup too.

It got me thinking though, I wonder if the factory pickup height is just the same as for every Fender P, whereas the V mods would benefit from a more specialized pickup height due to the mixing of the magnet types.

 

[Chris Szatny]

I know the Fender Professional series is still pretty new, but can anyone offer an opinion or any details on these pickups yet?

I'm curious to know how they sound compared to the CS60s in the American Standard series.

I have had my Am/pro series P for a year and love it. I also have the Am/pro Jazz V and love them both. I've heard people complain about the lackluster E string and I do not have said issue. I do my own setups. Low action, tweaked the pickup height, etc...I even use D'Addarrio flatwounds and my P sounds awesome. Same with my JazzV. I also use my Lakland 55-94 Deluxe 5(different animal). Try different strings, heights, etc...proper alignment of the string over the magnets is essential too. Don't just give up having never tried a little tweaking. I love my new Fenders. Of course my rig makes most basses sound pretty good(Ampeg SVT4PRO with SVT610HLF)

 

[LionOnBass]

I have an Am Pro V precision bass and swapped the v-mod with a Nordstrand NP5F. The V-Mod isn’t a bad pickup. It is more on the quiet, controlled and balanced side with good top end. The Nordstrand ist louder and growlier and has more midrange grind. Both pickups are top quality.

 

[Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati]

I have an Am Pro V precision bass and swapped the v-mod with a Nordstrand NP5F. The V-Mod isn’t a bad pickup. It is more on the quiet, controlled and balanced side with good top end. The Nordstrand ist louder and growlier and has more midrange grind. Both pickups are top quality.

Similar to my experience when comparing the V-Mod to the Fender PV '63 pickup!

 

[shastaband]

I wasn't really happy with the v-mod pickup, especially when I compared it to my 1966 Precision bass. I changed it out for a Lindy Fralin pickup, and now I am very happy with my 2017 American Professional Precision. Great neck, very stable with the graphite reinforcements.

 

[PotsdamBass8]

I just recently came to a realization on the V-Mod: I think the different magnet types have different volume ceilings. It seems like when I get the two sides balanced, they’re fine for light-medium playing. But when you dig in, the DG pickup responds accordingly whereas the EA hits a wall. I found a couple instances of people saying alnico 2 has a more compressed sound, which would explain this. I like the sound of the pickup, but it was driving me nuts that certain songs where I would dig in, the EA strings would get lost. I just swapped in a Dimarzio Model P that I had, and I really like the way it sounds.

 

[sebrouxxx]

Hie,
According to you, is that V-Mod Precision louder/more powerful than the usual Fender Original Precision pickup?
I'm talking about this one:
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Thank you so much!

 

[NitroBass]

Playing an Am Pro J as my main bass currently. I ran into the same issue described by others... that the A and E sounded quieter than the other strings, and not in a very good way... quiet enough that it was difficult to use the bass for recording. I did a simple test that proved I wasn't imagining it by running my bass DI into a DAW. Using a small screw driver, or hex key, I gently tapped the pole pieces (turn down the volume in headphones/speakers so you dont hurt your ears/gear). Looking at the DB meter in the daw, and it was easy to see that the A and E string pole pieces register 3-5 db lower than the D and G. This is not a good thing for recording. You can't simply adjust the volume to compensate. I changed the pickups which resolved it (installed some Dimarzio Area J's). Just for fun I repeated the tap test, and all strings are even now. This is quite frankly a design flaw for a professional grade instrument.

 

[Ögon]

I wasn't really happy with the v-mod pickup, especially when I compared it to my 1966 Precision bass. I changed it out for a Lindy Fralin pickup, and now I am very happy with my 2017 American Professional Precision. Great neck, very stable with the graphite reinforcements.

Can you share your thoughts on the difference in tone between the V-Mod pickup and the Lindy Fralin pickup? I am considering it too....

 

[iiipopes]

The V-mod sections are backwards. For some unknowable reason (or lack thereof), on the V-mod pickup Fender put the Alnico II section under the E-A strings, producing mush; and the Alnico V section under the D-G strings, producing harshness. To get a true picture of how a V-mod pickup can sound its best, a player should swap the sections of the V-mod to get the Alnico II section under the D-G strings for better tone and the Alnico V section under the E-A strings for better definition.

The reason the mids are "tamed" is because the pickup is underwound. The more windings on a pickup, the more inductance, which lowers the resonant peak, which our ears perceive as more mids. The less winds, the less inductance, which our ears perceive as clarity.

In another thread, another forumite did the switch and raved about the improvement.

 

[mickebas]

I just got a Am Prof P V and have made some comparisons with my AO 60’s with the pure 63’s pickups. From what I get the idea with having alnico 2 on the bass side of the pickup is to get rid of some of the ‘boominess’ usually occurring on the low strings, just like when you do a low cut on a recording to get clearer, more even bass response and not making some low frequencies overpowering other frequencies. Whether this is a good idea or not in the long run is for me too early to tell but what I’ve found is that I had to adjust pickup height rather differently than I usually do on a P-bass and lower the pickup on the treble side and accordingly raise the bass side pickup. There’s significantly less output from the Alnico 2 side and it has different dynamics as well, especially since you have the low strings closer to the pickup than usual. This gives a bit more of a percussive ‘clank’ but without the usual bass frequency peak. Good or bad? To early to tell for me since the corona situation has made my live gigging opportunities disappear, and I’m guessing that’s really where the benefit of this so called ‘low-cut’ principle would make most sense. What I can say though, is that it makes for a more even tone response all over the neck, maybe with the drawback of loss of some traditional boom when digging in on the low strings and how we are used to hear and feel the response of the P-pickup after all these years. I think it’s worth not giving up on this idea immediately though because in the end I think (and hope) it’s a matter of the right tweaks and adjustments of the pickups, strings and amp settings to find the sweet spot. Time will tell.