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Good Upgrade Pickups for P Bass

D

doctormoose87

Feb 12, 2011
80
0
Hereford UK
#1
Hi all

Just fishing for advice on upgrading the pickups on my p bass.

I'm think about getting a quarter pounder pup for my P Bass and would like some general views on whether they are any good or if there are better alternatives. I play mainly rock (classic and contemporary) but like playing punk, alternative and prog.

Anywho would the QP's be good for these styles or as said are there better ones out there?

Cheers :)
 
#3
Bill Lawrence P46's

Freaky Masterpieces.....and cheaper than all the others, due to the fact he doesn't need to advertise them much, and they're a Mom and Pop shop.

One of the top pup makers there is, or ever will be.
 
#7
Dimarzio's Split-P pickups are the best 4-string pickups ever made, period! I am in a prog metal band and used to play punk and reggae, then got into some soul and jazz. The only reason my bass doesn't have these now is because Dimarzio wont make them for 6 string basses, much to my dismay. You won't be dis-satisfied. If you are, I'll buy them off you for $10. (that part was a joke)

Disclaimer: I've never used Bill Lawrence pickups before. They may, or may not, be awesome.

doctormoose87 said:
Hi all

Just fishing for advice on upgrading the pickups on my p bass.

I'm think about getting a quarter pounder pup for my P Bass and would like some general views on whether they are any good or if there are better alternatives. I play mainly rock (classic and contemporary) but like playing punk, alternative and prog.

Anywho would the QP's be good for these styles or as said are there better ones out there?

Cheers :)
Click to expand...
 
#8
What you looking for? what you dont like of the current pickups? I love norstrands NP4, I bought a Fender Highway 3-4 weeks ago thinking on replace the stock pickups and installed nordies, what a surprise , the stock pickups are great to my ears, I just put a set of TI and bass was perfect.
 
#14
I am having a custom P-Bass built and I went through just about every set of P-pups I could get my hands on... and settled on the Norstrands...

didn't try the Lawrence P46's though :(

I will have to buy a set and try them out to...

anyway the Norstrands had that extra UMMPPH that the others lacked..

UMMPPH... that smooth low-mid punch that turns into a low-mid growl when driven by the attack of the right hand.
 
#17
Muzoid said:
You're going to be in Heaven Super-J

They are Phenomenal.

For anyone with Jazz....try the J45's
Click to expand...

Update:

I installed the P-46 and it sounds great on the A, D, and G strings. 100% more clarity and fullness than the stock pup. Absolutely beautiful sounding on the bottom 3 strings. Exactly what I want to hear from a bass.

The E string, however, has been a significant disappointment. Its as though the big, full, beefy tone on the other 3 strings just drops out. There is no fullness or girth. The tone is very middy without any thick, fat goodness. It sounds like the bass knob on the amp gets rolled back just for that string.

And for all you troubleshooters: I've adjusted the pickup height for the E string, but this not surprisingly only affects string-to-string volume.

I don't understand why it would sound like this. I'm a touch frustrated and more than a little disappointed. I'm strongly considering swapping to a Bart 8S as an attempt to remedy this.

Also of note to those installing a p-46, this pickup is significantly taller than most P pups. It may not fit shallower routs.
 

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