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P bass puckups

zanzibar jorge

zanzibar jorge

Sep 4, 2011
190
257
#1
Hey guys I'm new to talkbass but have been playing for 3 years now. When tax returns roll out I plan on purchasing a American standard p bass. I currently use a music an sub and love the power it has but am not a big fan of the high end of the tone. It seems a bit harsh IMO. I love the sound of a p bass but want one with powerful yet old school sounding pups. What are some good upgrades you might suggest or do you think the stock ones will adequately cut thru a couple guitars
 
#6
I agree with the above statements. Stock pickups are part of "the P sound". I switched out the stock pickups on an old P for an SD quarter-pounder once, and regretted it. Deeper lows, yes, but lost some of that midrange thump. At least to my ears.

Also, welcome to TB. You can waste a lot of time here.

Edit: I don't want to discourage you from changing things on your bass. After all, it's YOURS. But as far as getting the P sound, the stock pickups will rip though a wall of guitars. And as for SD quarter pounders, Steve Harris uses them, and he seems to be heard ok through three wailing guitars.
 
#7
I have tried flats but couldn't adjust to the feel they felt very tight and weren't much to my taste. Any suggestions on flats that are pretty flexible? I guess I should mention that I used the fender ones with similar gauge to
My typical d addario mediums.

Also Steve Harris is one of my Heros! I had wondered if he actually used s d pups or if that was only in the production models thanks for the info
 
#8
IMO, the american standard p pickup doesn't sound anywhere near as good as their '62 AVRI or a duncan SPB-1.
i've found them to be quite a bit thinner and somewhat harsh/brittle sounding. last week i took an AM STD p pickup out of one of my p basses and replaced it with a duncan SPB-1 and it made a huge difference. after the first two notes, i just siad to myself, "now there it is!". IMO, it went from mediocre to the holy grail.

at first the bass had rounds on it and since i'm usually playing flats now, i switched them to the new fender 9050SL flats (they're light gauge and lower tension) and, to me, it got even better.

whenever i switch to flats on a bass, if it had a .045-.105 set of rounds, to maintain the same tension, i put a set of .040-.100 flats on it, since i'm not crazy about high tension flats.
 
#9
Avoid the Duncan SPB-3 (quarter pound) they are muddy down low and harsh on the high end. The one I put in my P lasted all of three days before I changed it.
Like John said, The Fender 62', at least imho, is one of the best sounding P pickups on the market. I would also suggest a Rio Grande vintage, I absolutely love their products.

That being said I would surely give the stockers a try first. No use changing them if the original ones sound good.
 
#11
I'm not totally sure but I think Steve Harris doesn't use SD quarter pounders (SPB-3). His Fender sig bass uses the SPB-1 I believe. The SPB-3 is a darker tone and not your typical p-bass sound IMO.
If it were me I would leave the Am Std pickup stock.
 
#12
Agreed on the Fender '62 or SD SPB-1 pups as having a great "Fender" sound... I would also recommend trying a set of Ernie Ball Slinky Regulars on your SUB - although I like D'Addario EXL-160s on my Fender basses, to me they sound a little harsh on Music Man basses... I'm currently using 2832's on my 4 string EBMMs, with very good results...

Lastly, if buying an American Fender, I'd shop used and buy '08 or later - and atleast give the original pups a try before changing them out... Buying used in this case will get you a fine instrument, and probably save atleast $300-$400 dollars...


- georgestrings
 
#13
Definitely give the pickups that come with it a run. The SPB-1 as others have said is an option. That's an interesting pickup, because I feel some people really like what they get out of it and others don't like it at all. It'd be decent to test out before going for it if at all possible.
 
#14
Thanks guys. I ll give it a try stock. I def love the old p sound and ll try out some thinner flats as well. And news about the spb-3 s harshness was def what I was wanting to know. I'm just looking for the most powerful old school tone but I guess it should stand to reason that the bass that birthed rock would be powerful enough stock.
 
#16
I have an '08 MIA P with La Bella flats and just love it. I have tried quite a few different pickups in it including the Bill Lawrence and the Fralins and always end up going back to the originals.

AND- when I hear the live recordings of our performances I know I am right. Great freakin'sound.
 

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