Sure, pickups can make a difference, so can changing strings...$30 and about 10 to 15 minutes of your time.
Flatwounds will change your sound dramatically.
Flatwounds will change your sound dramatically.
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Newbie question about pickups
- Thread starter bogie1519
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A poor reason to justify anything IMHO.
Seems like you are getting generic answers to 'is it worth it'. I just did this exact swap and LOVE the difference. If you don't after trying it you can easily sell the new PUP here. I bought mine that way on TB. So you have little risk and a lot to gain in this specific swap.
If you learn to do the installation pickups, along with strings, are a fun and not that expensive way to experiment with your bass. IMO they both can change your sound more than anything other than a different bass.
Dollar for dollar changing pickups can make the biggest difference in the sound of a bass. I'm not counting strings because they are a consumable. Having said that, different is just different unless it's supported by a specific goal and backed by lots of research.
I decline to get into a micturation contest into the wind here.
But c'mon, Jimmy.
We know that many bass players are prudes and that they rip each other apart to justify their Quixotic quest for their 'sound' which when it's all said and done, most people are rethinking the things they've done - the prices they paid - and regretted any poor reasons used to justify what was never found nor realized, if all truth be told.
I'm of the school that if you don't like your sound, change your style of playing. I don't use my fingertips if I want an old school sound - I DO use them if I want a modern sound.
That latter statement seems to grow less and less useful as I age into my 70th year at this - not that I am anywhere near the pro that you are --- but I think chasing a golden fleece is just so much bunny fur.
Let it be said that I - as affected, afflicted and addled as I might be - have never seen anyone finally achieve that golden sound - not without some selling out at the end of the search in appeasement of what they can't really remember they were listening for in the first place.
But you and I both know that everyone's got a sphincter-orifice and everyone's got an opinion.
That's all nice and that's what makes the $$$'s go 'round: buying HM bridges, custom p'ups, oxygen-free cables and 12AX7 matching tubes from Russia.
I build basses, and not that that makes me an expert -- like most people and bass professionals here -- but I can tell you that every one of the basses I've built sounded like a bass.
Cherry wood.
Hemlock.
Douglas Fir.
Unknown wood from 1864 German organ pipes
Redwood.
Swamp Ash (don't ask - I don't know where the guy got that!),
etc.,
etc.
Hollow,
semi-hollow,
slab,
Lucite,
pine,
recycled trash wood,
grandma's table tops,
Uncle Fester's coffin top --- it's all just a convenient place to put the screws to hold the hardware.
P'ups are another thing that get sadly phantazagomorized (my new word), and just as there are two thousand ways to get a coffee at Starbucks, there is a p'up for every dollar.
The OP was a n00b with a n00b bass, and I just wanted to see him get to a level of at least knowing his bass - 'cause even a professional knows that there is a fairly steep learning curve on how to caress a clean and articulated note outta a string.
But c'mon, Jimmy.
We know that many bass players are prudes and that they rip each other apart to justify their Quixotic quest for their 'sound' which when it's all said and done, most people are rethinking the things they've done - the prices they paid - and regretted any poor reasons used to justify what was never found nor realized, if all truth be told.
I'm of the school that if you don't like your sound, change your style of playing. I don't use my fingertips if I want an old school sound - I DO use them if I want a modern sound.
That latter statement seems to grow less and less useful as I age into my 70th year at this - not that I am anywhere near the pro that you are --- but I think chasing a golden fleece is just so much bunny fur.
Let it be said that I - as affected, afflicted and addled as I might be - have never seen anyone finally achieve that golden sound - not without some selling out at the end of the search in appeasement of what they can't really remember they were listening for in the first place.
But you and I both know that everyone's got a sphincter-orifice and everyone's got an opinion.
That's all nice and that's what makes the $$$'s go 'round: buying HM bridges, custom p'ups, oxygen-free cables and 12AX7 matching tubes from Russia.
I build basses, and not that that makes me an expert -- like most people and bass professionals here -- but I can tell you that every one of the basses I've built sounded like a bass.
Cherry wood.
Hemlock.
Douglas Fir.
Unknown wood from 1864 German organ pipes
Redwood.
Swamp Ash (don't ask - I don't know where the guy got that!),
etc.,
etc.
Hollow,
semi-hollow,
slab,
Lucite,
pine,
recycled trash wood,
grandma's table tops,
Uncle Fester's coffin top --- it's all just a convenient place to put the screws to hold the hardware.
P'ups are another thing that get sadly phantazagomorized (my new word), and just as there are two thousand ways to get a coffee at Starbucks, there is a p'up for every dollar.
The OP was a n00b with a n00b bass, and I just wanted to see him get to a level of at least knowing his bass - 'cause even a professional knows that there is a fairly steep learning curve on how to caress a clean and articulated note outta a string.
Well, everybody (including me) seems to think the American Standard Fenders really benefited from the custom shop pickups from 2012-present, so there's a large contingent of us who think pickups matter a lot.
Good gear doesn't mask bad technique.
Good technique can lesson the impact of inferior hardware.
We aren't talking about some elusive magic tone by spending money. We are talking about a better sounding PUP for very low money and a noticeable upgrade.
Good technique can lesson the impact of inferior hardware.
We aren't talking about some elusive magic tone by spending money. We are talking about a better sounding PUP for very low money and a noticeable upgrade.
I think that explained the 100:1 post-to-like ratio pretty well...
Well I'll give you one point...your prose is way more colorful than mine! OK, two points...I agree that a newb has more to worry about than changing the pickup on a bass he's unfamiliar with, too.
BUT...
Fender has put some ultra-crap pickups on some very nice basses. The stocker on my 09 AmStd was the worst pickup I ever heard in my life, for example. I put a 62 Original on it and it got a little better but was still annoying to me. So I put an EMG Geezer on it and it came to life bigtime. Could I have stayed with the stock pickup and gotten something workable out of it? No. I tried on two gigs to do it, and couldn't. I hated it, the sound tech on those gigs hated it, the rest of the band hated it. I was able to make the 62 Original work, but I was never completely happy with it and neither was anyone else. But they all love it now and so do I, and I'm certainly not the best player in the world but I'm definitely good enough to where if someone could get a usable sound out of the crap stocker, I could. Sometimes it's 95% there and the other 5% is icing on the cake, sometimes it's 5% there and something as simple as a pickup change brings it up to 100%.
Sure, anyone can make any bass and any amp go "boom boom boom." That's not enough for me. It may be enough for you, but when I do a gig, it's not enough that I fulfill the minimum obligation of the job and leave it at that. I want people to leave my gigs thinking that every single person on that stage cares so much about the presentation that there's no room for improvement in any way, shape or form. We don't always live up to that ideal, but we darn sure try. That, IMHO, is what separates a great band from the average. And the times that I haven't bum me out to no end. That doesn't mean you have to spend a fortune...I've shown up with some very cheap gear, indeed. But it's gosh darn good cheap gear that reflects what I believe my sound should be, and if it doesn't, I either mod it till it does or I get rid of it. Life is too short to gig gear you don't like just because of this mistaken notion that the audience can't tell the difference. The audience doesn't care what instruments and amps you use, but they can absolutely tell when things aren't right, and they can certainly tell when you suck. You might get away with a clam here or there, but if your whole evening sounds like a clam, you bet your butt they can tell. Ive seen enough bands get booed off the stage to know that. And having gear that makes you comfortable and confident is all part of not sounding like a clam all evening.
No micturation...just fact.
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Some here are saying there's no need to change pickups if they sound good,
then some are arguing that they made a difference for them when they changed out theirs that didn't sound good.
Is there a disagreement there?
then some are arguing that they made a difference for them when they changed out theirs that didn't sound good.
Is there a disagreement there?
Nope. The disagreement comes from people saying there's no need to change pickups even if they sound badSome here are saying there's no need to change pickups if they sound good,
then some are arguing that they made a difference for them when they changed out theirs that didn't sound good.
Is there a disagreement there?
But it's so important that the bass player likes his boom-boom noises, in order to get the deserved satisfaction from his hard work.
To clarify my point, whenever I've changed pickups in a bass, it hasn't specifically changed the timbre of the bass. The pickups are still in the same location on the body. Sure I can move them up and down, sure they can have higher or lower output or different frequency peaks, but the bass still retains the same basic character, even if it has a slightly different spin on that voicing.
But...as others have stated, some pickups are just wrong for a certain bass even if they are nice pickups. Others are just bad no matter what you do with them. It can make a difference. It can also make negligible difference.
For many of us, myself included, it's fun to tinker, so have at it. A P pickup won't break the bank. But a DC nordy setup with an ACG pre will set you back upwards of $700. So be smart. There is a balance to modding. And do whatever you feel like. No matter what the rest of us have to say.
But...as others have stated, some pickups are just wrong for a certain bass even if they are nice pickups. Others are just bad no matter what you do with them. It can make a difference. It can also make negligible difference.
For many of us, myself included, it's fun to tinker, so have at it. A P pickup won't break the bank. But a DC nordy setup with an ACG pre will set you back upwards of $700. So be smart. There is a balance to modding. And do whatever you feel like. No matter what the rest of us have to say.
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I am not an expert by any stretch of the imagination. But as someone who uses bass guitar for his recordings, I find that the sound of the pickups in a bass are more critical. I usually would swap out the El Cheapo ceramic pickups that would typically come with El Cheapo bass guitars. Switching them to relatively El Cheapo bass pickups from places like Guitar Fetish or Calig guitars made all the difference in the world.
In my humble opinion that affects the way a person will play an instrument. The sound quality, the playability, even the color of the bass make a huge difference.
In my humble opinion that affects the way a person will play an instrument. The sound quality, the playability, even the color of the bass make a huge difference.
