P-bass pickup replacements

[Pep]

Thanks for the tip.
I’ve had these before and although you’re kind of right about the Wilkinsons I feel a difference personally. Same thing with the DiMarzio P’s.
Both are very good pickups in some basses but there’s a clear distinction between how they sound when playing louder in a band situation.
That’s why I was very happy with the Pure V 63s in my Am original 60s P. They bloom and have a much warmer and tighter low end response.
It’s all about personal preference of course and what the particular bass needs and I think, (can’t really know until I’ve tried), this bass needs more vintage bloom rather than more aggressive attack.
I may regret this statement later and realize that the stock pu’ps do the job very well but I need to do the swap to know.

I believe the problem with your stock pickups is that they’re Alnico. I’ve always found Alnico to be darker sounding and not quite as hot. The Wilkinsons do great in both of my bands cutting through. Using the High Pass Filter on my Mesa Preamp helps as well. JMHO

 

[mickebas]

I believe the problem with your stock pickups is that they’re Alnico. I’ve always found Alnico to be darker sounding and not quite as hot. The Wilkinsons do great in both of my bands cutting through. Using the High Pass Filter on my Mesa Preamp helps as well. JMHO

The problem is just the opposite although they’re alnico according to the people at Jet.
They are way to hot and even when extremely lowered and very far from the string I’m having problems in that they get uneven in sound and because of that don’t take on effects and compression very good.
They’re are ok now when really lowered but I just think I will need to swap them out to match the bass in question.
As the alnico vs ceramic pickups I’ve been happy with both alternatives earlier in my 45 years of playing. It’s all about what bass the pickups are in.

 

[Pep]

The problem is just the opposite although they’re alnico according to the people at Jet.
They are way to hot and even when extremely lowered and very far from the string I’m having problems in that they get uneven in sound and don’t because of that don’t take on effects and compression very good.
They’re are ok now when really lowered but I just think I will need to swap them out to match the bass in question.
As the alnico vs ceramic pickups I’ve been happy with both alternatives earlier in my 45 years of playing. It’s all about what bass the pickups are in.

You are correct. I’ve had some basses with pickups that are unbalanced and that is a nightmare. I’ll been interested to learn what you end up with.

 

[Dark Horse]

Dollars for donuts, the Seymour Duncan SPB-1 is one of the best sounding vintage style Precision pickups out there. It gets “whisker close” to the sound of my 1964 Precision. Plus it’s like $100 new these days, so it’s very affordable.

The Antiquity II’s excellent as well, but more $.

I love the Lollars for uncertain things, but they feel a bit more “polished” sounding to my ears. Like a “cleaned up and lightly processed” vintage tone. They’re great if that’s what you are looking for.

The Fralins are “kind of” the same way for me as the Lollars. They sound great, but a bit more processed. Also, the Fralins (for me) have never seemed to “blend” quite as well as the Duncans (SPB1 and Antiquity II) in a band situation for me. The louder I play, the smaller sounding they get.

Again, this is just MY personal experience. All of them are quality solutions, and there are so many other factors….the player, the bass, the amp, the strings, the band, the playing environment, etc all modify things a bit.