I don't get it, '62 fender pbass pickups

[Marty Forrer]

Even if you played Pino's actual bass he used for that, you'll never sound like him. Neither will I, or anyone else. The best you can do is approximate it. Pino could play a Squier Affinity and still sound like Pino.

 

[JimmyM]

I don't know. Give it to me and I'll compare it to mine with the 62.

Geez, did I really do that? Must have been temporarily insane. I never do that and I always hate seeing it when someone else does it. Sorry folks...won't happen again.

But I will take any free basses

 

[bumperbass]

The CS62's are the pickups I have installed in my main recording bass, because I'm not looking for high output, but because they're smooth, well-voiced and even.

I quit looking for "power, punch, or volume" out of my pickups years ago... that's what amplification is for.

Me too. I put one in my P bass and it's perfect. Got tired of looking at all the aftermarket stuff and went with the Fender original. Like what is stated above are my feelings exactly...
smooth, well-voiced, and even. They don't try to be anywhere but middle of the road and I too agree, if you can't get a decent sound out of these then you need to change your head or cabinet or maybe both.

 

[line6man]

I thought, how is it possible that a 1k+ bass has 70$ p-ups?!?!

Don't pay any attention to what things cost. Cost is NOT by any means a measure of quality or tonality.

 

[AntzPnz]

i put in some "62" pups in my squire and new 250k pots with the fender "vintage resistor' that made it sound wicked

 

[Kukulkan61]

I'll give it to you for $7000.00

 

[LouieV2]

My main bass is an American Standard P with a Seymour Duncan Antiquity pickup. It nails that vintage p like no other.

 

[edbass]

My main bass is an American Standard P with a Seymour Duncan Antiquity pickup. It nails that vintage p like no other.

Hmmmm... Does that mean it doesn't sound like anything else, or that it sounds better than the actual vintage P it's attempting to emulate?

 

[abemo]

Fender pups are like chicken. They taste non-descript in and of themselves, but can be seasoned however you like. A lot of people like chicken. Others of us prefer beef, pork, or even bacon, with a more distinctive flavor but perhaps less seasoning options.

 

[Marton]

Did you tried these with roundwounds ? Most 60s stuff and pino stuff with a P are all recorded with flatwounds. You'll never get a flatwound tone with rounds.

 

[SactoBass]

Fender pups are like chicken. They taste non-descript in and of themselves, but can be seasoned however you like. A lot of people like chicken. Others of us prefer beef, pork, or even bacon, with a more distinctive flavor but perhaps less seasoning options.

I sprinkled seasoned salt on my pickups last night before the gig. I played noticeably better and got lots of compliments on my tone.

 

[Slab66]

Hi! Could anyone help with the 'overwound' spec for 1966 P Bass pickups? I'm hearing alot of different specs! 10% overwound??? 8% overwound? 15% overwound!!!! Please help. Is there aything already on the market that's closest to the original spec? many thanks!!

 

[vgbob]

I have the '62 pups in my AVRI 62 Precision, and I love them. The thought of switching them out has never even crossed my mind. With the tone rolled off, they produce that big p-bass whoomp, and with the tone open, at least with my Roto 66s, are very zingy and crunchy. Seem to have a solid output over the full range, sound like a P-bass should sound in my books.

I just posted a reply in another thread, saying exactly this, I have no other bass that has as wide range of tone with such a simple control circuit. I use D'Addario Chromes on mine.

 

[JTE]

My VS '62 Precision sounds exactly like a P bass should to me. Before I got this bass in 1983, my previous P had worn a bunch of different PUPs. I'd gigged it with DiMarzio Model P, three different sets of recent (in 1977) Fender PUPs, the original 1973 pickups, and the original PUP rewound by Seymour Duncan to vintage specs. It also had different bridges and every string I could get my hands on. As the manager of a guitar store, that was just about every string available in the late '70s.

When I played the VS P, it sounded exactly like I wanted a P to sound, so I've never considered changing anything in it.

Here's the key- the PUPs can only translate how the string is interacting with the wood and metal, so just having Pino's pickups (or any other PUP) isn't going to get you his sound. Even playing his bass (not his Fender signature bass, but his actual personal original P they used as the model) through his rig won't give you his P bass sound exactly.

BUT, any good alder bodied P with a stable and solid neck and decent vintage style Precision PUPs will give you enough of the formula to get what you want out of your rig if you work at it. It's simply not a mechanical only process.

So don't obsess over PUPs. Get the bass built that puts you into the ballpark, and spend time playing it.

John

 

[pbassnut]

I have the '62s in my Precision and I think they sound fantastic. Here's a sound clip:

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The bass is ash, rosewood, volume and tone on full, me playing right over the pickup with pretty dead flatwounds.

Nice flatwound funk on your little sound bite there ... kickin' it old school. Yeah, that's the sound ... boxy with a pronounced midrange bark. I've got a coupla Ps with the '62 RI pickup ... it's as good as any of them out there, IMHO ... only for a whole lot less money. I also have a coupla Ps with Fender Custom Shop '59 Precision pickups (originally from Fender Mike Dirnt sig basses) that are similar to the '62 RI pickups ... only "on steroids" ... just a wonderful sounding pickup.

 

[Robert B]

I have the '62s in my Precision and I think they sound fantastic. Here's a sound clip:

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The bass is ash, rosewood, volume and tone on full, me playing right over the pickup with pretty dead flatwounds.

Great tone!

 

[pocketgroove]

Hi! Could anyone help with the 'overwound' spec for 1966 P Bass pickups? I'm hearing alot of different specs! 10% overwound??? 8% overwound? 15% overwound!!!! Please help. Is there aything already on the market that's closest to the original spec? many thanks!!

I couldn't tell you what the specs for the Fender pickup are, but many people consider Lollar and Lindy Fralin pickups to be close to vintage spec. I have a Lollar in my main parts P, and I was amazed at the difference, coming from a Dimarzio Model P.

 

[giacomini]

I just upgraded a Squier P with '62 Fender pups. Sounds like a MIA Fender now.

$70 is the average of all P style pickups, unless you want "boutique" pickups, hand wound with some gold wire...

 

[sigmafloyd]

Has anyone upgraded a 2008-2011ish era p bass with this pickup? I'm curious how different the sound is

 

[kurosawa]

I tried them and sold them.
Great tone, but I felt like they were that car that enters the freeway, and if you had just a little more power, it would be awesome.
I went for the Seymour SPB-2.
Fuller sound and more umph.

I'd go so far as to say the 62 is awesome, but like you, I wanted it to hit a little harder. That's why I now have a Fralin 5% overwound in my main P, although I wish I had the 62 back in there now because the neck I just swapped into it is louder and fatter, but it's much darker sounding too. I guess when I put those lower output Pyramid Golds back on, I'll be super glad to have the Fralin. But if I was stuck with one pickup for life, it would be the 62. I have the feeling that when you overwind, you give up some flexibility in sound. The 62 does it all. (I need to build my pickup library back up to a decent variety, plus I need to put quick connectors on all my pickups.)