The PV ‘63 pickup is a true monster .. lots of tones and power from it, it’s definitely going to stay in my P-bass !
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Fender V-Mod P bass pickups
- Thread starter _Some Dude
- Start date
Best decision i made regarding bass gear.. ; installing pv63 pickup..
Did you try the RebelRelic Pickup?
Not yet .. I went for a Klein Epic ‘59 but I now have a solderless harness so I’ll try them soon
I played my 2016 Pro last night with a group of friends for the first time since getting it a couple of weeks ago. I get that everyone’s ears and signal chains are different, I still don’t get what is the issue some folks have with this pickup. My favourite P pickup is a SPB-1, and this is not that, but it’s a really good pickup. I was getting really great response from my E string, very deep lows, and I found it balanced across all four strings in tone and volume.
I was wondering if anyone had tried simply raising the pickup on the bass side slightly? That’s how mine is set up.
I was wondering if anyone had tried simply raising the pickup on the bass side slightly? That’s how mine is set up.
Absolutely. I had a 6 month struggle with my P V-mods. I wanted to understand and like the concept initially and tried everything. Of course it's a matter of taste but the difference in body of the tone, mostly on the lower strings that has the Alnico 2 magnets was so obvious that I just could not see past it when changing pickups on both my 4 & 5 Am Pro Precision. But if you're happy, that's all that matters. I definitely was not.
It can depend on playing style, music style and gear. A lot of people on the internet complained about the v-mods, the main problem is that it 'disappears' easily when a mix is busy and that problem was fixed when i changed to the PV'63. For me the difference was big.
But maybe if you use really bright strings, or some odd sounding kind of strings (Elixir) or a certain compressor or eq pedal might be able to fix this too..
That’s definitely cool with me, and your post helps understand where I’m confused, but I’m still out there tbh.
I guess it boils down to how some people like v1 of the SFT pedal, some prefer v2, and some prefer a Beta or a VT Bass. To me, all of those sound pretty different, but all some version of good, and they all sound like a SVT (well, a pedal emulating one). For me, my preferences will vary depending on what amp I’m using, who I’m playing with, what gear they’re using, etc. things sound *much* different in my home office than they do in someone else’s basement or on a stage.
For me, it’s very much the same with pickups, with the caveat that the SPB-1 sounds great to me no matter where or with whom I play.
So I get individual preferences, and I get different gear having an impact, and different playing styles for sure (pick versus fingers for example). I just don’t get the *really* negative reviews I’ve read. The Vmod is a good pickup. Much better than what was in the Pre-2012 American Standard and American Series.
I'm with you. I recently acquired a 2017 American Professional Precision bass. To my ears, the pickups sound very nice! Put some TJ flats on and they sound even better! I've had a lot of nice gear. It all sounds good, just different flavors. And funny thing: if a situation arises where your bass is buried in the mix, turn your amp's mid EQ up a bit. Problem solved.
Of course, and that is exactly the difference between the v-mod and pv63. The pv63 has more clarity in mids and low mids and you rarely need to change the eq.
with eq and compression you can achieve a lot of similair differences in tone, but replacing the actual pickup is useful when gigging and wanting to save pedalboard space/gear/time (at least for me it was) but like stated before , many pickups can have a place and use.*cough* i made a video a while ago *cough*
*cough* 3 pickups and the same strings/gain/bassline, no compression *cough*
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Of course, and that is exactly the difference between the v-mod and pv63. The pv63 has more clarity in mids and low mids and you rarely need to change the eq.
I have a brand new set of PV63's sitting in their box on my mantle, and I do plan to try them in my Pro, but just want to sit with the v-mods for a bit. I like what I've read about the PV63's, I'm just reluctant to cut the lead wires on my new-to-me pristine 2016.
Of course, and that is exactly the difference between the v-mod and pv63. The pv63 has more clarity in mids and low mids and you rarely need to change the eq.
*cough* i made a video a while ago *cough*
*cough* 3 pickups and the same strings/gain/bassline, no compression *cough*
That's a good demonstration, thank you. It reminds me that I enjoy the V-Mods played alone in my home studio more than I do mid-boosted pickups. Smoother, warmer, more intimate. Frankly, since 100% of my bass playing these days is in my home studio, there is little to hold me back from playing exactly what I prefer. Maybe when gigs become something again some day, I'll have to manually tweak the EQ knobs on my pedalboard preamp for a proper mix (whatever that might require viz. instrumentation, room, and genre). That was never an issue before so I'm good with V-Mods.
Yeah, to me they sounded like this:
the Rebel Relic Vintage 60
A lot of mids and highs, sometimes a bit spikey in highs, not much lows / almost none
--> good for 50s or early 60s music, might get lost in a mix when you have a lot of electric guitars or piano
PV63
low mids orriented, nice low-mid grunt, sweet highs (not spikey)
--> 60s/70s, mostly clear in a mix
V-Mod
it sounds a bit scooped in the mids, more highs then pv63, not so much definition in low mids/mids but good lows.
--> modern, felt blurry/dull in a mix compared to the other two
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IMO the Rebel Relic and the PV ‘63 are two beasts of a P-bass pickup with different purposes ...
true.. One problem with that rebel relic vid though; it's an amp sound (every amp is different) and you dont know the eq settings. On my di-input on pc, it sounded quite differently compared to this video. I can imagine the rebel relic sounding awesome with flats, because they add lows and remove a bit of the highs compared to roundwounds. (I wonder if they used flats in this video)
I’ve a friend who has a Pro P4, I’ve a Pro P5.
They are different beasts; mine is smoother and more piano like across the spectrum and his is boomy down low and unbalanced.
Overall, I love the Vmods in mine; a killer PU that will stay in the bass and records beautifully
They are different beasts; mine is smoother and more piano like across the spectrum and his is boomy down low and unbalanced.
Overall, I love the Vmods in mine; a killer PU that will stay in the bass and records beautifully
I feel the same way about my P5. It sounds and feels smooth and refined, and balanced across the strings. I think the V-Mods are great, and I won't be changing them.
I stumbled across this thread after searching for "weak E string tone on Fender Pro II P bass" and it's clear that I'm not alone in feeling this way about the V-Mod pickups. But it's also clear that a lot of people love the V-Mod sound. Could there be variances in the manufacturing of these pickups? Or is it just our individual ears?
The best way to describe the sound is that the A, D, and G strings sound normal, and the low E sounds hollow in comparison. I can't fix it with EQ. I tried raising the pickup closer to the E string and it just became farty. And I don't think it's the strings because I've had two sets on it; first the Fender stock strings and now Roto 77 flats.
I love the bass in every way but the E string sound is killing me. It's almost like there's phase cancellation or something. Maybe it would be okay if all the strings had the same tonal profile, but the E string's tone is so different that it ruins the vibe when I'm playing.
I guess I'm gonna have to try a different set of pickups!
The best way to describe the sound is that the A, D, and G strings sound normal, and the low E sounds hollow in comparison. I can't fix it with EQ. I tried raising the pickup closer to the E string and it just became farty. And I don't think it's the strings because I've had two sets on it; first the Fender stock strings and now Roto 77 flats.
I love the bass in every way but the E string sound is killing me. It's almost like there's phase cancellation or something. Maybe it would be okay if all the strings had the same tonal profile, but the E string's tone is so different that it ruins the vibe when I'm playing.
I guess I'm gonna have to try a different set of pickups!
I had that same issue.. It is caused by the fact they used different magnets on the top/bottom piece of the pickup. The top part has alnico 2 magnets, bottom part has alnico 5... The alnico 2 magnets side has less output.
A solution is to remove the pickup and put the top part at the bottom and the bottom part at the top, simply turn it 180 degrees. Becareful with the wires though, you will have less room for them at the top.
You can try that first and listen if you like the results..
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Thanks. I removed the E string and top-loaded it at the bridge instead of stringing it through the body, and it sounds much better now. Before it was so hollow. Like slapping a basketball. I thought it was the V-Mod, but maybe it was related to the break angle coming through the body? It was pretty steep due to the position of the saddle, which was set back to get the intonation just right. I left the other strings through the body and they're perfectly fine.
Anyway, I'm going to leave the pickups for now since I'm coming to like the sound. The E is still noticeably different, but it's got its strength back and feels balanced with the other strings.
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