P Bass Players

[TN WOODMAN]

What not to use, EMG's. I have a set on my Fender P. So muddy I take my Sterling Stingray4 (the cheap one) on every gig. I would be happy to swap them with a set of Squier p/u s.

I’m not sure if you mean active or Geezer. I thought I would hate active EMGs until I actually bought a bass with them fully expecting to change them out. I find mine to be extremely clear toned and dead quiet and now have 3 basses with them. 2 original pj sets and 1 pjx alnicos. Obviously your mileage may vary.

That said, regarding passive split coil p pickups I’ve come to the conclusion they’re not that complicated nor difficult to build a good one.

All your choices are good and will get the job done. I have a variety of p basses with stock and aftermarket pickups and one of my best sounding basses is an unlined Fretless with a Wilde PJ set . Great value on these too.

 

[Mvilmany]

Love the Nordstrand NP4v. Would buy another one. Very smooth pickup.

 

[EatS1stBassist]

I have a nice medium weight alder body (from warmoth), a quartersawn maple neck (from usacg's good ol days) and a set of usa hipshot UL tuners.
Looking for that good old middle of the road P Bass sound.

What pickups would YOU install?

my possible options;

Seymour Duncan Antiquity II
or
Fralin regular wind
or
Nordstrand NP4V
or
Lollar regular wind
or
None of the above/other

interested to know your opinions.

Lindy Fralin!

 

[IronLung1986]

I have the Antiquity II in my P right now. It's a great pickup but I think I'll probably try something else at some point. Might even go back to the stock American Special pickup which has actually been my favorite so far. The AntII is a gentle soul really. If you play hard it starts to naturally compress and you kind of can't get any more out of it. I prefer pickups that give back whatever you put into them.

 

[deff]

For me, none of the above. I found Bill Lawrence pickups years ago and have never looked back.

I assume that you bought them from Wilde, or Bill and Becky? Bill passed away a few years ago. The company that currently sells Lawrence pickups probably makes them in much the same fashion, but there is a lot of debate out there about that.

 

[deff]

Every Fralin set or pickup I have ever heard always sounds like what I think it should sound like in my head, but better. That being said, for my reverse P build I went with Dimarzio Model P's in the P position, because they just sound huge. Honestly I think that the EMG Geezer P is the most popular current model. Everyone seems to love them.

 

[eldorado2001]

EMG Geezer set

 

[MtManiac]

SPB-1

 

[wraub]

The pickups on my P bass are almost unobtanium, so of the choices, I'd choose Lollar, then Nordstrand.

 

[TN WOODMAN]

I assume that you bought them from Wilde, or Bill and Becky? Bill passed away a few years ago. The company that currently sells Lawrence pickups probably makes them in much the same fashion, but there is a lot of debate out there about that.

Avoid the company “Bill Lawrence Pickups “@ all costs. That’s where the debate is and has been even when Bill was still alive. When parting ways his partner retained the company name. The “Wilde Pickups “ are the ones you want. Becky and Bill’s daughter are still winding pups as before and running the operations. Great products and people.

 

[deff]

Avoid the company “Bill Lawrence Pickups “@ all costs. That’s where the debate is and has been even when Bill was still alive. When parting ways his partner retained the company name. The “Wilde Pickups “ are the ones you want. Becky and Bill’s daughter are still winding pups as before and running the operations. Great products and people.

I had not heard that about his daughter. That is good to hear. By all accounts I have heard, they are very nice people that got kind of a raw deal. Were I to get a "BL" pickup I would certainly not hesitate to reach out to them.

 

[pappabass]

I know your not referring to the Geezers, they are not muddy to me??

Here they are. Not sure which ones they are. Already in bass when I bought it. I need to try some super bright strings. That may help.

 

[Jeff Hughes]

Try the Dimarzio Model P. I know it was not an option, but...

 

[pappabass]

I’m not sure if you mean active or Geezer. I thought I would hate active EMGs until I actually bought a bass with them fully expecting to change them out. I find mine to be extremely clear toned and dead quiet and now have 3 basses with them. 2 original pj sets and 1 pjx alnicos. Obviously your mileage may vary.

That said, regarding passive split coil p pickups I’ve come to the conclusion they’re not that complicated nor difficult to build a good one.

All your choices are good and will get the job done. I have a variety of p basses with stock and aftermarket pickups and one of my best sounding basses is an unlined Fretless with a Wilde PJ set . Great value on these too.

I also have a active eq bass with EMG humbuckers. sounds fantastic. That is what lead me to this p bass.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

I have a nice medium weight alder body (from warmoth), a quartersawn maple neck (from usacg's good ol days) and a set of usa hipshot UL tuners.
Looking for that good old middle of the road P Bass sound.

What pickups would YOU install?

my possible options;

Seymour Duncan Antiquity II
or
Fralin regular wind
or
Nordstrand NP4V
or
Lollar regular wind
or
None of the above/other

interested to know your opinions.

‘Good Old Middle of the road PB Pickup Sound = Fender Replacement Pickups.

 

[darwin-bass]

A P bass is a simple beast. I suspect just about any quality PU will do the job. I put an SD SPB-1 pickup in my Warmoth P and it sounds fine. Great. Does the job. No issues.

My J bass has DiMarzio pickups.

My MM has Nordstrand (I splurged).

I suspect the subtle improvement from the boutique makers benefit only the player. Geek out all you want but it probably won't impact the music. For me, I'm relatively easy to please when it comes to pickups so I usually go SD or DiMarzio.

 

[darwin-bass]

What not to use, EMG's. I have a set on my Fender P. So muddy I take my Sterling Stingray4 (the cheap one) on every gig. I would be happy to swap them with a set of Squier p/u s.

Muddy? EMG? You mean the active or the passive HZ models?

The active tend to be brighter sounding than just about anything else.

 

[bassliner50]

My choice in order: Fender Original '62, Seymor Duncan SPB-1, Fender Vintage '63. I use 'em all. All can be made to sound great. All repond well to playing. sound sweet or punchy and in between.

 

[Kukulkan61]

Here they are. Not sure which ones they are. Already in bass when I bought it. I need to try some super bright strings. That may help.
View attachment 3999704

Those look like the ones everyone was converting to in the 80s, I had them in a Ibanez Roadstar pbass, they were active, sounded really good, try some Dunlap Super Brites maybe??

 

[Kukulkan61]

A P bass is a simple beast. I suspect just about any quality PU will do the job. I put an SD SPB-1 pickup in my Warmoth P and it sounds fine. Great. Does the job. No issues.
SPB1 are your best bang for your buck IMHO!

My J bass has DiMarzio pickups.

My MM has Nordstrand (I splurged).

I suspect the subtle improvement from the boutique makers benefit only the player. Geek out all you want but it probably won't impact the music. For me, I'm relatively easy to please when it comes to pickups so I usually go SD or DiMarzio.