Most "P-sounding" non-P bass pickup?

[Makten]

Maybe good for fans of tiny fretboard radii. Not me. I build at 20” radius, so no problem.

I bet 99.999% of us here don't build basses, so we have to deal with whatever we buy. I haven't come across any bass with flat pickups that don't give more or less bad string balance. But I don't think they've had 20" radius, which must be quite uncommon (I'd really not want such a flat board myself).

Now, if you build basses, I still have a hard time understanding how a "tetris" rout for a pickup could be a problem compared to all the other routing and woodworking involved.

 

[DaveAceofBass]

P pickups with 2 poles per string aren’t that sensitive with spacing, as long as the strings are inside the poles. So 19 mm pickups are mostly compatible with narrower spacing. Unless you’re bothered by the misaligned look.

As much as I love Wilde P46s, I’d avoid them for a 5-string. The A string will sound off (assuming you’d center the pickups).

Blade pickups should work, or those with dummy slugs on the A string on one of the coils. I personally dislike 5 string P pickups with the coils/halves that are not the same size, but I understand they work fine…

But at the end of the day, I think soapbars are the best bet. I also really like BigRigs, but for a different vibe than my P bass (with P46s). BigSplits would sound even more like the P bass.

Big Splits are not really a P bass sound. They are more like a hybrid between a J and a P but with a broader and fatter tone.

 

[bassdude51]

I think any pickup in the P position can get close, bonus points if it’s an active bass with an EQ then you can get it really close

Exactly! Totally agree!

Examples, I have several SCPBs (single coil P Basses) and when I roll the tone down a bit.........sounds like a split coil P. Jazz Bass neck pickup run solo, roll the tone down a bit, sounds like a P.

 

[sikamikanico]

Big Splits are not really a P bass sound. They are more like a hybrid between a J and a P but with a broader and fatter tone.

Yeah, but I’ve yet to hear a pickup that gets closer, other than a P pickup itself. You can also help fine tune the sound with the right cap…

 

[iiipopes]

I modded one of my Jag-H basses with the MM pickup. The stock pickup is a great pickup, but with the wrong controls. I gutted the controls and wired it '62 P-style with real 250 kohm pots and a .047 tone capacitor. It sounds really, really close to a vintage P, especially with the La Bella flats. I call it my version of a "funk machine" because it does all the retro styles well. I even put a push-pull on the tone knob so I could also get a .068 capacitor setting for dub. I agree with the pickup positioning comments. After doing the proportional math to see where a P-pickup would be on a 32-inch bass, I measured mine. It is exactly in the same position, with the center of the pickup being where the two halves of a P-pickup come together, one coil in the EA position and the other in the DG position.