hot v.s vintage v.s quarter pound

I've had the Hot for P on one bass, and the Quarter Pounder on another one. No direct apples to apples comparison, sorry.

I sold the Hot for P because it was much too middy in combination with TI Flats. In restrospect, it was probably the TI Flats causing most of this.

I replaced the HFP with a DiMarzio Will Power Middle, which is on the bass today. I now have a decent recording workstation, and have started making comparison records.

Link to Bass Tone Recordings

 

BP magazine did this shootout a while back, and based on their reviews I chose the "Hot" to replace a Yamaha pickup. Its a very good pickup, with a balanced response and strong lows. It really brought that bass to life.

 

Correct assumption ... The "Hot" is higher output with boosted low end. Great P-Bass sound IMHO. I use them on all my P+J basses.

Hopefully I'm not going out of bounds here with a shameless plug, but if you want to save a few bucks on pickups please compare our prices and shipping to Warmoth.

 

I can vouch for John Wymore... I bought my Hot for P and Vintage P from him. Price is right, service is excellent.

 

So, which one has the higher output the SPB-2 hot for p-bass or the SPB-3 quarter-pound?

 

The SPB-3 is a little higher output of the two ...

 

I agree with pickles, I put an SPB 2 in my Yamaha BB200 and have been VERY satisfied. At the Basslines site the specs for the SPB 2 show the pu is 22.40k ohms, OMG, thats approaching mudbucker status. The original Yamaha reads 7.5.

 

My DiMarzio DP146 has higher output than the SPB-3, and the MFD pickup in my G&L L1500 blows both away as to output. The MFD in passive mode is FAR higher output than any of the Duncans or Dimarzios.

I'd concentrate a lot less on output, and more on what type of sound you want. All bass preamps and heads will work just fine with vintage (read: low output) pickups.

It's all about the sound.

 

I agree and disagree. The tone is most important. I like the tone of lace pickups in my pbass but it is so low output that even though cranking my rmx1450 makes it loud enough, it still sounds thin. What about the "vintage" how does it compare to the 1/4 pounder?

 

Like some of the others, I have the SPB-2 Hot for P-bass (MIA P with maple board), and I've been very pleased. Pickles is right about the balanced response; the D and G strings come through with solid punch, which makes this bass very useful in my current band.

Tone wise, think of it as a thicker, punchier version of vintage tone. This makes sense, because it's just an overwound vintage pickup, which means the low mids are boosted and the highs are rolled back a bit. It doesn't "ring" quite as much as a vintage pickup. It has high output and is good for hard rock, but still has a warm, vintage vibe IMO.

I haven't played the Quarter Pounder much, but I think it's great. Instead of a midrange emphasis like a vintage pickup, it's more full range, with a fat but clear low end, and cutting highs on tap if you want. Powerful, solid tone. I'd love to have a P/J bass with one, so I'm looking forward to trying the Frank Bello Signature.

 

I like the Quarter Pounder the best of the 3 and over most other pickups of the P type. Very full sound, fairly hot output and works well for a variety of musical styles.

 

I had a quality P/J bass with Quarter Pounders installed, and wasn't pleased with the tone for exactly your points - for my taste they were voiced with too much lows and highs, and not nearly enough low-mids. What low-mids there was were very "middy" - i.e. quite one dimensional and little nuance. Even though I was using this bass for "pickstyle" and would think QP's would work for it, there just was too much.

I realize it's comparing Granny Smith Apples to Golden Delicious Apples, but I just installed a pair of SJB-2 hots for my MIM Jazz and am totally happy with the sound. As posted by others, much more of a "balanced" sound with a touch of boost in the low-mids. In terms of output, they have just a touch less than the SJB-3s QP (which may seem more due to the boosted low/high end).

...and absolutely go through John Wymore. Classy guy, great service.