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NBD: Fender AVII reissue '54 P

J

jmjbassplayer

Justin Meldal-Johnsen
Gold Supporting Member
Mar 25, 2005
4,014
3,599
#1
Hey y'all,

Got this new bass today. Strange but true: I've never owned a P with the single-coil pickup...earliest P I own is a '66. Anyway, I like it...and I'm pleased to say it's a very good one. Excellent fretwork, nut, materials, and overall fit and finish. If anyone has one of these, I have a few questions:

- What's the preferred replacement pickup if one wants more output and a bit of a "brawnier" tone while still staying true to the OG tonal signature? I also notice that the A and D are a little quieter, perhaps because of the pole pieces not matching the radius.
- I'm not a fan of the volume reduction w/ tone reduction. What's the move? Is there just a resistor to bring out of the circuit?
- What about the tone cap? Anyone have a rec for what's ideal?
- Lastly: strings. I'm thinking LaBella super polished, I want something great between flats & rounds

I appreciate your thoughts in advance!

Cheers,
JMJ
 

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#3
jmjbassplayer said:
Hey y'all,

Got this new bass today. Strange but true: I've never owned a P with the single-coil pickup...earliest P I own is a '66. Anyway, I like it...and I'm pleased to say it's a very good one. Excellent fretwork, nut, materials, and overall fit and finish. If anyone has one of these, I have a few questions:

- What's the preferred replacement pickup if one wants more output and a bit of a "brawnier" tone while still staying true to the OG tonal signature? I also notice that the A and D are a little quieter, perhaps because of the pole pieces not matching the radius.
- I'm not a fan of the volume reduction w/ tone reduction. What's the move? Is there just a resistor to bring out of the circuit?
- What about the tone cap? Anyone have a rec for what's ideal?
- Lastly: strings. I'm thinking LaBella super polished, I want something great between flats & rounds

I appreciate your thoughts in advance!

Cheers,
JMJ
Click to expand...

Fralin Split 51 P pup with raise A/D magnet pole piece are calling you ~~~
 
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#6
jmjbassplayer said:
Not too bright and modern?
Click to expand...
Here the sample i record when i have the 51 split P in my previous indo Squier Cv50P .





here is another sample i raise the A/D magnet pole piece on stock single coil pickup on another indo Suqier CV50P .



both bass strung with Labella LTF4A .


i been use EB Cobalt flat on indo Squier CV50P with 51 Split P pup . Sound great and has enough juice and attack tone which different than 57s / 60s P bass. The G string sound meaty full !
 
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#14
NorthTexasBass said:
A friend of mine replaced his pickup with a Seymour Duncan custom shop Stinger (used by Sting and Dusty Hill) and is very happy with it.

​

Edit - Found a video where Lobster demos the SD pickup around the 9 min mark

Click to expand...


REV said:
I have a couple of SC P basses and I use the Seymour Duncan 51 p bass stack pickup. They are dead quiet and they sound really good.
Click to expand...

-----------------------------------------------------


I've used this Seymour Duncan '51 P-Bass Stack pickup in several builds. Fantastic pickup that is dead quiet (no buzz/hum) and retains the flavor and tone of a traditional vintage single coil P bass pickup. You'll see it referred to by a few names, including the "Stinger". If comes on some of the Fender Custom Shop Precision basses, including the Dusty Hill. Here is the product page with info:
customshop.seymourduncan.com

51 P-Bass Stack

Design your dream pickup. The Seymour Duncan Custom Shop hand-builds humbuckers, Strat, Tele, P90 & bass pickups, wound to your exact specs. Choose magnets, wire, wind, covers & more. Made in Santa Barbara.
customshop.seymourduncan.com customshop.seymourduncan.com

I had a Fender Custom Shop P bass that came stock with a pair of them. Here is a link to that previous listing where you'll see a bunch of demo videos I posted of this pickup in the sale listing:
2013 Fender Custom Shop Precision Bass w/dual '51 SD Stack Pickups- Chicago

For sale 2013 Fender Custom Shop Precision Bass w/dual '51 SD Stack Pickups- Chicago

4/2/24 Update - I've taken new photos, including the CS body and neck markings. I'm passing this along for a good price for a great Fender Custom Shop bass... I appreciate the trade offers I've received on the basses I have listed, but I'm not doing any trades right now. I have too many...
$2,000.00
17 watching

There are some other '51-55 pickups to consider, including Fralin, Nordstrand, etc.
 
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#15
Get rid of the resistor in the tone circuit.

As for the tone cap, i believe these come with a 0.1uF cap, which is quite aggressive and will cut mids and volume, even after removing the resistor. 0.047uF is quite balanced. Dark enough for most and no apparent volume loss.
Any cap will do, just measure the value. The higher the value, the darker the tone when rolled off.
No discernible difference with tone all the way up.
Don't get ripped off by peddlers of paper in snake oil vintage caps.

EB Cobalts are the go to flats with more treble.
Fender 9050s if you like a lot of midrange.
Labellas and Chromes if you like scooped mids, Chromes will retain more high end.
All flats need weeks or months to lose the initial brightness. Fenders especially will change quite radically.

Ignore if you already know or know better. The above is just my personal experience.
 
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#16
If you got this bass today and already feel the need to replace the pickup and volume/tone circuitry, maybe this simply isn't the right bass for you? I mean, we're talking about a $2500 instrument here. If it feels so bad/wrong that you immediately want to start replacing parts... That doesn't sound right to me. If this happened to me I would personally have returned it for a refund.
 
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#19
jmjbassplayer said:
Hey y'all,

Got this new bass today. Strange but true: I've never owned a P with the single-coil pickup...earliest P I own is a '66. Anyway, I like it...and I'm pleased to say it's a very good one. Excellent fretwork, nut, materials, and overall fit and finish. If anyone has one of these, I have a few questions:

- What's the preferred replacement pickup if one wants more output and a bit of a "brawnier" tone while still staying true to the OG tonal signature? I also notice that the A and D are a little quieter, perhaps because of the pole pieces not matching the radius.
- I'm not a fan of the volume reduction w/ tone reduction. What's the move? Is there just a resistor to bring out of the circuit?
- What about the tone cap? Anyone have a rec for what's ideal?
- Lastly: strings. I'm thinking LaBella super polished, I want something great between flats & rounds

I appreciate your thoughts in advance!

Cheers,
JMJ
Click to expand...
If you are considering the S. Duncan "Stinger", beware that the pickup cavity might need to be routed down deeper.

An old TB post.

Well, I received the Seymour Duncan Stack for Single Coil pickup and, unfortunately, it does not fit in my Fender Sting bass. I have attached a photograph of both pickups side by side from the rear and, as you can see, the new pickup is slightly taller, which is enough for it not to fit into the cavity (left is the original, right is the new Stack).

I am currently investigating my options moving ahead. Please feel free to post any advice you have and I appreciate your help!

Thanks,
Mike

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