In summary: If you are into split coil P bass pickups, you should try one of these. Allowing for differences in style, this is as fine a bass pickup as any I recall playing in recent years.
Background
What’s custom about it? All I know for sure is that it has plain enamel coil wire instead of the FormVar wire that The Pickup Wizard normally uses for P bass pickups. Both have Alnico 5 magnets, cloth covered leads, etc. If he wound this one differently, or changed anything else about the standard design, I don’t know.
And frankly, I don’t care.
My request was for plain enamel wire and either some sonic characteristics I specified or just make it sound good. Either way, The Pickup Wizard gave me what I asked for.
Sound
Intentionally I installed this plain enamel pickup in a different bass than the standard FormVar Pickup Wizard pickup I got a few months earlier. I wanted not to do a direct comparison; and I guessed that this custom pickup would suit this bass better.
With stainless steel roundwound strings: A wooly, tone roll-off star, this pickup’s voice features snarl and a little spit and clang with tone fully open, and at all times sonorous and strong midrange with a deep, sweet well of bass underneath. It responds dynamically to playing inputs, and to volume pot dip enough to matter.
Conclusion
Though based on only the two examples, I think that The Pickup Wizard should offer a plain enamel version of his split coil P bass pickup, as he does with his J pickups sets. What a good bass pickup this is.
Background
What’s custom about it? All I know for sure is that it has plain enamel coil wire instead of the FormVar wire that The Pickup Wizard normally uses for P bass pickups. Both have Alnico 5 magnets, cloth covered leads, etc. If he wound this one differently, or changed anything else about the standard design, I don’t know.
And frankly, I don’t care.
My request was for plain enamel wire and either some sonic characteristics I specified or just make it sound good. Either way, The Pickup Wizard gave me what I asked for.Sound
Intentionally I installed this plain enamel pickup in a different bass than the standard FormVar Pickup Wizard pickup I got a few months earlier. I wanted not to do a direct comparison; and I guessed that this custom pickup would suit this bass better.
With stainless steel roundwound strings: A wooly, tone roll-off star, this pickup’s voice features snarl and a little spit and clang with tone fully open, and at all times sonorous and strong midrange with a deep, sweet well of bass underneath. It responds dynamically to playing inputs, and to volume pot dip enough to matter.
Conclusion
Though based on only the two examples, I think that The Pickup Wizard should offer a plain enamel version of his split coil P bass pickup, as he does with his J pickups sets. What a good bass pickup this is.
