I've been debating the SD Quarter Pound. I was hoping to hear one before I pull the trigger but that seems to be a popular mod. I'd also like to hear the Antiquity before I decide.
I bought an Electrosocket to have on hand but, so far, the stock jack is solid on mine.
Also, it looks like you chose the same case that I'm looking at.
I'm also running TI Jazz Flats - the .043-.100 set. I like them and was surprised how bright they are. I had a hard time intonating them though. (Notwithstanding the two saddle bridge). If you look at the pic above, you can see I'm almost out of travel on the D/G saddle. It was the same story with the stock steel two saddle bridge as well. Did you have a similar experience?
I really like the QP. I haven't tried other pickups (I had a Jazz Fretless with Antiquity II pickups, and thought they sounded great). The QP, to my ear, sounds a lot like the stock one; there's just "more" of everything.
The Electrosocket mod was made pretty early, when I began having problems with the stock output coming loose.
The case is Fender's Vintage Tweed. I have a couple of them, and they are nice. The only gripe is that, when I played in places where smoking was allowed, that pretty cotton/linen tweed soaked up cigarette smoke and the car smelled like an ash tray.
The bridge is a Fender American Deluxe item from a few years ago, when those models offered the option of string-through loading.
I suppose the TI Jazz flats should be replaced with LaBella Deep Talkin flats or something similar and I should add the foam mute but I'm not sure I'm THAT committed.
I had the LaBella tape-wounds on it for a stretch (it looked great, like a Black & Decker Precision
) but they gave the bass a nasal sound that was annoying. I have standardized on the TIs on most of my basses (the exception is my Godin A5 Fretless, which still has the factory flats).
Finally, I think that foam mutes are unnecessary. Youu can mute with your fingers when you need to. The mutes were added to the original P to reduce the bass's tendency to blow out the early bass amp speakers and to emulate what Leo thought a bass should sound like. A lot of the early Ps had the bridge cover turned around so the mutes no longer touched the strings.
