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P bass pickup suggestions

#42
Beardsley said:
Hey folks, as the title says, I'm in the market for some pbass pickups. I know there's a million and a half threads on this but they're all tailored towards specific tastes.
Down to the details. I currently have a set of fender original pickups (I've attached a pic to this post)
To me they seem to lack any real oomph and the mids sounds "boxy" if that makes sense. I like to keep my volume on full and tone at about 50-75%
What I need is thick and round. Punch is good but when I say punch I'm talking a punch from a big fist rather than a jab like punch. Not a fan of boomy lows.

I do have two requirements:
1. Passive
2. They must either come in cream colored or have removable covers so I can put cream covers on them
Click to expand...
Fender PV ‘63 for the good :thumbsup:
 
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#43
I’ve tried many P pickups. I’m in the camp that does not like Lindy Fralin’s... Too much high-mids for my taste.
My three favorites, in order are
1. Arcane 65 Experience (perfectly balanced and refined)
2. Lollar standard wind (a little bright, but not too much)
3. Aguilar AG 4P-60 (on the smoother, warmer side)
 
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#44
Benj-jammin said:
I just had some DP 126's put on my P-Bass Special - takes it all to another level - love the DiMarzio's!!
Click to expand...

Yeah, I love the DiMarzio Model P.

I got just that installed in my P/J Ibanez GSRM20 neck + GSRM20B body Mikro Bass, wired directly to the output jack socket, and it sounds absolutely amazing.

Previously I had the EMG Geezer Butler P/J set installed, and while the P os that set sounded great as well (and combined as well for that matter), a bit more open and less compressed sounding, and slightly more articulated as well, it was not nearly as full and punchy sounding as the Model P, which I personally prefer over the Geezer P.

At least for the musical project that currently got my main focus, a sort of progressive psychedelic stoner/doom rock bass/vocals and drums duo, that I have the bass tuned in F# standard for (as in 2 half steps above regular 4 string E standard tuning, which actually is an not uncommon tuning for upright bass solo pieces in classic music), and running it though an always on 1 octave up effect, blended with clean signal, loaded with a customized toneprint that I have dialed in to an as natural sounding octave up effect as possible, giving an effect similar to that of an 8 string bass, with pairs of respectively bass and octave strings.

Kind of treating and playing it like a 4 string crossover between a bass, a baritone guitar and a regular guitar, alternating between and mixing the different approaches to playing (note that the Mikro Bass has a scale length of just 28,6").

And the Model P just seems to work perfect for this bass, way of playing and music, though if I at some point need to fill out a more traditional bass role again I might change back to the Geezer set, depending.
 
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#45
Beardsley said:
Hey folks, as the title says, I'm in the market for some pbass pickups. I know there's a million and a half threads on this but they're all tailored towards specific tastes.
Down to the details. I currently have a set of fender original pickups (I've attached a pic to this post)
To me they seem to lack any real oomph and the mids sounds "boxy" if that makes sense. I like to keep my volume on full and tone at about 50-75%
What I need is thick and round. Punch is good but when I say punch I'm talking a punch from a big fist rather than a jab like punch. Not a fan of boomy lows.

I do have two requirements:
1. Passive
2. They must either come in cream colored or have removable covers so I can put cream covers on them
Click to expand...

Thick, round sounding, cream colored covers. That literally screams Dimarzio model P's.
 
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#46
fourstringburn said:
Another thing to consider, hot wound pickups tend to compromise more highs and bumps lower mids that can lead to a darker tone.

A P-Bass already has a darker tone compared to a Jazz due to the P -Bass with humbuckers. A hotter wound pickups could emphasis this even more.

Just something to consider.
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Unless they're hot wound in the way SD makes their quarter pounders. But yea, in general, totally true.
 
#47
dkelley said:
Unless they're hot wound in the way SD makes their quarter pounders. But yea, in general, totally true.
Click to expand...
There's a suggestion for the OP if nobody's mentioned it, Seymour Duncan quarter-pounders.

I used these many years ago and remember them being very strong and punchy. I don't recall the high end loss being so long ago. I believe the extra punch came more from the larger magnets rather than extra windings. I later went with active EMG's when that was all the rage.

I lost some of the low end punch with those, but got a smooth balanced tone across the spectrum. I've now come full circle with genuine Fender pickups after using many different pickups.

The Duncans don't have cream covers I'm aware of, so the OP can buy them separately but will have to ream the holes out for the larger magnets. Easy to do, they're plastic!
 
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#48
fourstringburn said:
There's a suggestion for the OP if nobody's mentioned it, Seymour Duncan quarter-pounders.

I used these many years ago and remember them being very strong and punchy. I don't recall the high end loss being so long ago. I believe the extra punch came more from the larger magnets rather than extra windings. I later went with active EMG's when that was all the rage.

I lost some of the low end punch with those, but got a smooth balanced tone across the spectrum. I've now come full circle with genuine Fender pickups after using many different pickups.

The Duncans don't have cream covers I'm aware of, so the OP can buy them separately but will have to ream the holes out for the larger magnets. Easy to do, they're plastic!
Click to expand...
yea exactly. but I dunno if they can get cream covers as they have those huge pole pieces, and are probably not alnico, which he seems interested in using only (although magnet type can be a misleading way to assume the response of a pickup, I've learned from experience). Definitely... the QPs are bright punchy pickups, which was my point in mentioning them in response to the "overwounds are less bright" comment. I didn't make my meaning clear though, so I'm glad you responded with a far more articulate description of them :-)

"Cheers" ~ Harry Potter (wait - wrong thread...)
 
#51
NoiseNinja said:
The EMG Geezer Butler I had installed in my main bass previously to the Model P being a huge improvement over the stock P pickup, and the Model P that is currently installed much more to my personal preferences than the Geezer, all 3 being very different sounding P pickups.

The stock and the Model P utilizing ceramic pickups, the Geezer using Alnico 5.

You might be right that there won't be that much of a difference between most P pickups on the market, most probably being some variation of a classic vintage voiced P, but I would claim that there are still a quite fair amount of P pickups that all sound different to each other, which is why I don't think your notion really is valid.

It is not just down to magnet type and how they are wound either, strength of magnet, how many magnets used and how those are arranged too, type and gauge of wire they are wound with, as well as the nature of the poles used matters as well, all being factors that can make a quite essential difference in tone, all in all giving a lot of possible options for different tones from different pickups, even if having the same basic form factor, as in this case a P pickup, add to that something like the DiMarzio Split P, where each half essentially is a dual bladed full humbucker in their own regard, and the options becomes even more varied.
Click to expand...
had a question, I have these pick ups but noticed they didn't come with mounting springs...do you have springs on your mounting screws for height adjustment?
 
#52
tpaul said:
Nobody has recommended EMG GZRs yet?

Huh. I must be on the wrong website.
Click to expand...
I don't think they're what he wants. GZRs are strong in the mids around 700-800. Plus they only do black and they're sealed in epoxy.

A Duncan SPB-1 might work...sounds like a Geezer with the mids tamed down just a little bit. Nordstrand, Fralin and Lollar are also really good suggestions.
 
#56
I have a mim special deluxe PJ and tried the fender 62 originals and they were way better than the mim but lacked bass and were low output so I put a Quarter Pounder in it an that definitely filled the lack of bass and low output, but it was a little too boomy and the g string sounded off to me, so I ordered a G&L bass pick up installed it and it was perfect. The real deal, good. I have 9 basses and my LB 100 made out of walnut is my favorite, but I don’t take it out to the seedy bars I play, so I wanted a Mim Fender for that. Now I have The G&L sound in gig able bass. I can’t imagine a a better sound to rock with. Not that expensive either.
 
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