Is it just me or is my Pbass seriously HOT?

[Felpsy]

So I've just gotten myself an Ashdown 500 abm evo ii and I played my MIM jazz through it (which has sd quarter pounders and a badass bridge installed), this had the input gain at about 2 o'clock and stayed nicely just out of the red zone on the dial.
I then played my MIJ completely stock pbass through it and in order to stay out of the red zone I have to dial the input gain right down to 10 o'clock and engage the passive/active button to active.
I can't believe the difference in power here, I thought the sd quarter pounders were supposed to be hot? The jazz sounds full, but the p's output just destroys it.

Anybody else with a similar experience or could shed some light on this??

 

[LukeFRC]

how close are they to the strings?

 

[Felpsy]

The pickups are angled with the closest pole pieces about half an inch from the strings. No closer than the quarter pounders in the jazz.

 

[LukeFRC]

no idea then! unless there are different value pots going on or something!

 

[Felpsy]

I thought it might be a case of different quality electronics or something. But its only since getting this new amp that ive noticed the p isn't just hotter than the jazz, its really hot for the amp too.
I'm sure I've read that the optimum input level is 3oclock for most people with this head, but i can't even get above 11oclock without really overpowering on the dial!

 

[Jwood]

I noticed the same with my P-basses and J-basses when run through my TE AH1000.

 

[SGD Lutherie]

Quarter Pounders are hot pickups. That's what they were designed for (bigger magnets and more windings). P bass pickups are louder than Jazz pickups, even QP Js.

 

[Felpsy]

So you think my stock p pickups are just that much louder than a quarter poundered jazz?

 

[SGD Lutherie]

So you think my stock p pickups are just that much louder than a quarter poundered jazz?

Oh they are stock P bass pickups? Maybe.

 

[Nedmundo]

Some MIJ Fender P's have really hot stock pickups. I had a 1994 MIJ Foto Flame P for awhile, and its pickup was much hotter than the stock split-coil in the 2004 American Series I had at the same time. It was comparable to Duncan's SPB-2 Hot, but sounded slightly better IMO.

 

[SGD Lutherie]

You can see that some of the newer P bass pickup bobbins are too tall. I'm not sure why they are making them that way, but that's not how the old ones were made. That will give a different tone from a vintage pickup. So they must be winding them hotter too.