P Pickup For Tight Lows

[OggyOi]

Hi all,

I have a lovely Tokai P Bass, but Ihave found it to be a little too fat in the bass and muddy in the highs for a couple of the gigs I have at the moment, and almost too woody sounding, regardless of the strings I have tried. It currently has a Tokai 'handwound vintage voiced' pickup.

It is more muddy than other P basses I have played.

I am going to experiment with a pickup swap to see if that can bring a more balanced sound.

I was wondering if anyone had any advice as to a pickup that might tighten up the fat low end a little.

Thanks.

 

[Bodeeni]

my favorite P bass pickup is the Seymour Duncan SPB-1.

 

[Nedmundo]

I've never tried it, but Nordstrand's NP4 P-bass pickup has a reputation for clarity and relatively tight lows, and it has a great reputation overall as a "modern vintage" pickup, so it might be worth a try.

 

[KevInDaBassment]

You'd have to hit eBay to get one of them, but the DiMarzio Area P is a great, articulate P pickup with the classic character but without the muddy voicing that some P pickups have.

I'm sure the DiMarzio Sixties P is great as well, I just haven't used it.

If you're open to Actives, the EMG PX or PAX (with alnico magnets for a more vintage voicing) are great pickups too.

 

[doughybuns87]

Lindy Fralin - get the standard wind.

 

[groovaholic]

It's very difficult to describe sounds with words; if I call a pickup "aggressive" because of how punchy it is, someone else might read that "aggressive" description and assume it means a crunchy top end.

So, my recommendation is the pickup demos on the Fat Bass Tone website:

4 String Precision Bass Pickups

Shop one of the web's deepest collections of in stock P Bass pickup options for 4 and 5 string P Basses—Bartolini, Nordstrand, Delano, Aguilar, EMG, & more.

fatbasstone.com

I like to open up the video demos in multiple tabs, so I can toggle back and forth between them.
Your ears will tell you the right choice for your bass.

 

[LSM07]

You might want to look at Alnico P pickups; I have a Fender Player Jaguar (link to Reverb as Fender removed that model from their site) that has an Alnico V P pickup. Very present in the mix, not super muddy, and I like it quite a bit.

 

[Stinkoman20xx]

Have you tried adjusting your pickup height by chance? Lowering them, even when I thought they was already low enough has solved nearly every issue for muddy/ too boomy p basses from my experience.

If everything is good with that and still plan on swapping, I'm a big of Fan of EMG Geezer Butler pickups. Great tone, Easy solderless system install anybody can do.

 

[shirojiro]

Pickups are pretty subjective in my experience. To tighten up lows, I have found that a High Pass Filter helps the most for my sound, especially with Precision style basses.

I also think that normally wound or only slightly overwound pickups have crisper highs than overwound pickups, but YMMV.

 

[Lo-E]

Lindy Fralin - get the standard wind.

My first choice.

my favorite P bass pickup is the Seymour Duncan SPB-1.

Another excellent choice.

The Wilde P-46 has a reputation for excellent frequency response and clarity. It sounds a little more “hi-fi” than a traditionally voiced P-pickup.

Pickups are pretty subjective in my experience.

Ooooh, yeah.

 

[Bass4ThePublic]

I would check out a Compressor pedal

 

[2saddleslab]

Pickups are pretty subjective in my experience. To tighten up lows, I have found that a High Pass Filter helps the most for my sound, especially with Precision style basses.

I also think that normally wound or only slightly overwound pickups have crisper highs than overwound pickups, but YMMV.

Agree on the HPF. You can crank the bass on the amp and the HPF allows you dial in the perfect amount of girth while leaving the mud out.

 

[hyperdoc]

I bought a used Lakland 44-51 that came with Nordstrand blades, which sound great. Lots of punch.

 

[kyral210]

You need a high pass filter pedal my friend: High Pass Filter | Broughton Audio

 

[Thunderthumbs73]

Hi all,

I have a lovely Tokai P Bass, but Ihave found it to be a little too fat in the bass and muddy in the highs for a couple of the gigs I have at the moment, and almost too woody sounding, regardless of the strings I have tried. It currently has a Tokai 'handwound vintage voiced' pickup.

It is more muddy than other P basses I have played.

I am going to experiment with a pickup swap to see if that can bring a more balanced sound.

I was wondering if anyone had any advice as to a pickup that might tighten up the fat low end a little.

Thanks.

I would try something that is as cheap and easy and reversable as simply disconnecting your amplifier somewhat from the surface it's sitting on. Four small pieces of foam may be very helpful in reducing the low end content and improving low end tightness. For an almost FREE possibility, I think it's worth a try. You wouldn't believe (and maybe you would) how amp placement can DRAMATICALLY affect sound.

 

[thebassgrognard]

Have you tried adjusting your pickup height by chance? Lowering them, even when I thought they was already low enough has solved nearly every issue for muddy/ too boomy p basses from my experience.

If everything is good with that and still plan on swapping, I'm a big of Fan of EMG Geezer Butler pickups. Great tone, Easy solderless system install anybody can do.

IMHO this is the way that has worked for me the best. Of course you may not like the tone of the pickup at any height, but slight adjustment to height has made a big difference in many situations for me.

 

[Pocket Dave]

High pass filters can be extremely effective in taming muddy, overly-fat pickups, boomy cabs, etc.

Though I'd rather start with the right pickup and rig if I have a choice.

Personally, I use a reasonably tight sounding, standard-wind Lollar Split P. Classic P sound without the muddiness.

 

[Pep]

Hi all,

I have a lovely Tokai P Bass, but Ihave found it to be a little too fat in the bass and muddy in the highs for a couple of the gigs I have at the moment, and almost too woody sounding, regardless of the strings I have tried. It currently has a Tokai 'handwound vintage voiced' pickup.

It is more muddy than other P basses I have played.

I am going to experiment with a pickup swap to see if that can bring a more balanced sound.

I was wondering if anyone had any advice as to a pickup that might tighten up the fat low end a little.

Thanks.

In spite of what you hear, you don’t need to spend a lot of money on a new pickup. I went through the exact same thing you’re going through. I threw out lots of $$$$$$ on pickups for name brand and boutiques brands that didn’t deliver.
I bought a Vintage (brand) V4 P-Bass about 10 years back and loved the sound, punchy and clear. It had a ceramic Wilkinson P-Bass pickup.
I did a google search for the Wilkinson pickups. I found them on Amazon and they’re remarkably inexpensive at under $30. I have them in several basses and they definitely get the job done. Give these a try before you spend $150 to $200 on another pickup. I know, you get what you pay for, but in this case you get more than you paid for.
Here’s a link.

Amazon.com: Wilkinson WOPB Vari Gauss Ceramic 4-String Precision Bass Humbucker Pickups Set for PB Style Electric Bass, Black : Musical Instruments

Buy Wilkinson WOPB Vari Gauss Ceramic 4-String Precision Bass Humbucker Pickups Set for PB Style Electric Bass, Black: Pickups & Pickup Covers - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

 

[Fender_Bender]

Playing with a pick or plucking close to the bridge would be zero cost tries.

 

[Crispus]

Playing with a pick or plucking close to the bridge would be zero cost tries.

Was just chiming in to offer this potentially cheap fix!