P Pickup For Tight Lows

[leonard]

EMG GZR has strong mids. Feels tight I'd say. Lollar is nice and lush but not as tight on lows.

 

[bassnyc1]

Maybe I'm an exception but I'm not a fan of the EMG GZR P pickup. I bought one and it was an easy install and it sounded great at home. On the first (and only) gig I used it on, I was completely lost in the mix. It wasn't an amp settings issue because on later gigs, same band, same settings, same venue, same soundman but with a Seymour Duncan SPB-1 in the same bass it sounded so great. Easy to cut through the mix of 2 loud guitars and a loud drummer and sounded just like I believe a P Bass should. Highly recommended.

 

[MtManiac]

Whatever you do, hang on to that pickup. Put it in a zip lock bag with a desiccant pack. It sounds like a great pickup, just not for what you’re currently looking for.

That’s the subjective nature of pickups. Cheap ones like the Wilkinson can sound incredible for one person but someone else needs a $400 boutique set. We all hear different things, because our ear canals are shaped differently.

Anyhoo, I like the SPB-1, I find it provides really great low end clarity and also emphasizes some incredible harmonics on the low end when played finger style, straight into an amp with no overdrive.

The Nordstrand NP5F I have experience with on a 5-string, and find it similar to the SPB-1, same ballpark but not quite the same, and I understand the 4-string version is a crowd favourite also.

I think the Pure Vintage 63 and the GZR will give you a similar experience as your Tokai pickup. I have seen these two compared as being close to each other, and I have a PV63 in one of my P basses. In some mixes it sounds incredible - fat, electric, nice harmonics. In others it sounds dark and indistinct. I keep my tone control open all the way on that bass.

You might also like the CS62 and the Original 62. I don’t find these are at all like the PV63, they are both what I’d consider wide range or full range P pickups, fairly evenly voiced across the tone knob. It’s partly what I don’t like about them, actually, but they do clarity really well, it’s just that they don’t seem to liven up my bass at all. No extra emphasis on some of the neat harmonic content like I get with the SPB-1 or the NP5F. Flat, maybe? Anyway you might like them.

 

[Hundred proof]

 

[dbsfgyd1]

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 don’t know about pick ups, but I do know a bit about EQ. And HPF and a tad of upper mids and less bass might help.

 

[OggyOi]

Thank you so much for all the advice. Loads of things to try- appreciate it.

 

[tvbop]

Tight lows? Save ur money. Light touch and dial back the bass and push mids a bit on yer amp. Tight lows are more about technique and much less about equipment.

 

[bryceg2189]

after having done the vintage p thing for a while (fralins and the emg gzr are my faves) my go-to P has the Delano pmvc fe2 pickup. It’s fairly modern sounding, but to me it has really helped me refine my sound. Still sounds like a p but just “tighter”…might be worth checking out?

 

[OggyOi]

Thank you all for the suggestions. For the time being, lowering the pickup has helped the tone massively, and has made it more then bearable for the time being! They are lower then I would ever set them, so this has been very helpful.