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GFS Pickup upgrade

A

anonymous1015111

Aug 5, 2011
78
0
#1
So I bit the bullet and ordered a pair of GFS Bass pickups today. One P bass overwound and one J bass Bridge. These will go in my Old Squier P/J bass (circa 1992, pro tone series). There is not much info out there on these, so once I get them in, I will do a full review. Currently the bass has the stock pups with V/V/T control and a Parallel/Series switch. The controls will stay the same with the new pups.
I am hoping to get more thump and presence out of these since the stock pups are pretty dull and muddy sounding.
Other than the parallel/series switch, the only modification to the bass is a new mighty mite neck that was put on about 5 years ago (the original neck ran out of truss rod adjustment and had a very heavy bow, and frets that were worn flat from 10 years of hard playing/touring).
Hopefully this will give TB a solid review of the GFS pickups that is thoroughly lacking. I have used GFS for years on my guitars, and they have been great upgrade for crappy squier pickups.
-P
 
#2
Ok got the GFS Pups in today. I have started to install them. First thing, I purchased a "Hot overwound" P-bass pup and a standard J Bridge Pup.
The first thing I noticed is the nice beveled pole pieces on the pickups. Second thing is the wax-wire. Not sure I like that.
As I have started the install, the P pickup fits perfect, the J, not so much.
I need to sand out about an 1/8th of an inch on the ends of my route to get the GFS in there. Not a major deal, but be prepared. The GFS pup is much larger than the stock Squier pickup (both in height and length).
New will be to get it wired up...stay tuned.
-P
 
#3
Ok, got the pickups installed. After a little trimming of the pickguard for the P and a little sanding of the body for the J, I have both pickups in. Did quite a bit of playing, adjusting height, playing with the knobs etc.
A recap:
1. Pickups are GFS Hot Overwound P and Standard J Bridge
2. Bass is early 90's Squier P/J Protone. Pickups were stock.
3. Pickups are wired V/V/T with a Series/Parallel switch

GFS Hot Overwound P vs Stock P
The GFS pickup is a bit hotter (measured 16.78K vs 11.24K stock). But that doesn't mean it sounds more driven. In fact it is a very punchy pickup. The tone is remarkably clean for such a hot wind. Lots of low-mids, and lows. With the P solo'd it has a fat round sound but lacks highs. I find I need the tone knob all the way up to get some bite to the sound. Compared to stock, the stock pup was very flat in response, with plenty of highs on tap, but not a ton of bass or balls. The GFS P is very ballsy, but not super clear.

GFS J vs Stock J
The GFS J measures 11.02K vs 6.54K stock. That is a good bit of difference. Tonally the GFS J has lots of high-mids and a few low mids, but lacks any real deep bass. That is typical though of a bridge J pup, so I am not concerned. There are plenty of highs on tap, but nothing harsh. Compared to stock, the stock J was very flat sounding and frankly added little to the overall mix sans some highs and that cool "cancellation" sound you can get from mixing a P and a J. Soloing a GFS J is a bit better than stock, but still not something I would use on a regular basis.

GFS P+J in Parallel.
This is a good combination, with lots of Punch and Depth. With both volumes maxed you get the nice P/J cancellation tone. But the big thing is that when you back off the J volume a bit, you get that bump in overall volume, but also keep some clarity with the J. The highs that were missing when soloing the P come back. Adding in the J adds quite a bit more to the overall tone that the stock ever did.

GFS P+J in Series.
This is where the combination really shines. Massive Punch, Power, clarity and thump. My bass felt 'alive' with this combination. I could feel the notes hit me in the chest and keep on going. Each note was very clear, very solid and just really worked. The tone knob has a huge effect on the overall sound going from spanky highs to dull thump. This is easily my favorite setup.

Overall I am very pleased with the updates. I think that the two pickups work well together and are a big improvement over the stock pickups. At $65 for the pair, it is a no brainer.
-P
 
#5
I sure did. The stock setup in series was similar in that it added quite a bit more punch to the overall sound. But the new pups just have that 'hit you in the chest and take your money" sound to it. The stock pups in series were like being hit by a Prius while the GFS in series is like being hit by a bus.
-P
 

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