Pickup swap that made the biggest difference in your tone?

[bass40hz]

I had an '02 Fender P/J that I put Duncan Steve Harris P's in and a Duncan QP in the bridge and it was a night and day difference...it went from bland to beef and balls. Sold her long ago.
Rock on.

 

[Jared Lash]

This bass was built using a Reed James soapbar and a Noll preamp. I don't know if I just got a bum unit but the Noll preamp was noisy and unusable. When I had it swapped out for a John East P-Retro I also swapped out the pickup for a custom Aero.

Even in passive mode the difference was night and day. More vintage sounding while also being more even across the whole frequency range with bigger lows and removing the odd mid-range quality of the Reed James.

This really the first time a pickup swap made such a big difference.

 

[Kukulkan61]

Lakland Skyline 44-64 D Dunn P bass:
The stock Hanson or Neo punch whatever they are pups are too sterile and too modern sounding to me, I swapped them for EMG Geezers, it's like night and day!!

 

[Gizmot]

Earlier this year, I installed a Nordstrand Nordenbocker on my almost 40 year old Ric 4001. The reason that I bought this pickup is because one of its claims is that it helps minimize noise - and it delivers on that promise perfectly as long as you're using both pickups and have the gains set approximately the same. What really surprised me about this pickup is that it sounds very much like a genuine Rickenbacker pickup, except with more gain thanks to its more powerful magnets. My Ric has a wider palette of tones and it has no negatives whatsoever. The Nordy fit in the stock location perfectly and the bass looks great with it installed. This was a fantastic purchase!

 

[bucephylus]

Delano JMVC's for stock Fender Jazz pickups.

For single coils, I also like the Seymour Duncan SJB2's. But the Delano's going into a Sadowsky preamp are my sauce, and produce all the cover tones I need to the max.

 

[Texan]

Lakland NeoPunch P to a Duncan Antiquity to a Fralin then on to a Bill Lawrence P46.

The P46 is the most amazing P pickup I have ever played.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

more gain thanks to its more powerful magnets

I can imagine they do have more output than Rickenbacker pickups, as I find RIC pickups are normally low output.
The gain part doesn't happen until the signal gets amplified.

 

[eastcoasteddie]

I suppose this counts since it happened, but...
Replaced the stock Squier Affinity JV bridge pickup with a Carvin HB MM-style AlNiCo. Currently wired for Bridge Coil/Parallel/Neck coil. Amazing .

Then in another Squier Affinity JV, swapped those pickups for those out of a Marcus Miller sig Jazz V.

 

[Holdsg]

Lots of love in here for the GZR P pickup, and for good reason. One of my two favorite modern sounding, full bodied P pickup. The other is the Nordstrand power blade, which I currently have in my Roscoe Classic.

My favorite vintage P pickup is Lollar. Put one of those in a Squire and you'll be amazed at the difference.

For J pickups (traditional) I'm a big fan of the warm and wolley version of the Nordstrand J-blade. Put them in my MIM fender Active Jazz with very pleasing result.

For soap bar shape, I'm a fan of Nordstrand Big Splits humbuckers. Have swapped them a few times. Yes I love the Big N. Here's one.

And I did major radical surgery once to put a Darkstar into a Lakland P-bass. Been a long-term Darkstar fiend.

 

[Coolhandjjl]

Lindy Fralin PJ to EMG Geezer Butler PJ. Geezers all the way!

 

[Gizmot]

I can imagine they do have more output than Rickenbacker pickups, as I find RIC pickups are normally low output.
The gain part doesn't happen until the signal gets amplified.

Just based on the size of the magnets, the Nordstrand has probably 3 times the flux density of the stock Ric neck pickup. I've used other aftermarket pickups, but this Nordy is hands down the best.

 

[g4string]

Putting an Aero pickups in my Lakland 494, and wiring it VVT. Best pup swap ever.

 

[InhumanResource]

What pickup swaps have had the most dramatic effect on your Basses tone?

Single coils to dimarzio ultra jazz. Instant bedroom tone, nothing but a deep dark pillow in band mix. Mid suck to the max, went right back to normal fender single coils.

 

[Dynomuttasaurus]

7.8k J and P pickups out of an entry-level Fernandes and installed Seymour Duncan SJB-2 and SPB-4 (hot jazz and Steve Harris versions). Along with new wiring and pots, the $150 investment turned a beginner bass into an anything goes bar closer.

 

[Joebone]

Bartolini MM to Nordstrand 5.2 on a prototype Lakland 54-76 fretless

Stock Lakland 55-01 to Nordstrand Soapbars (and preamp upgrade to Aguilar OB3)

Stock G&L JJ to Norstrand single-coils on a JB-2.

Do we see a pattern here?

 

[lmfreeman9]

Had an MIJ Precision bass, great instrument, great neck-weak pickup.
Stuck in a G&L split coil MFD Precision pickup and WOW!

 

[Marcus Willett]

Several different brands all to VFL (Cirrus) pickups. Have them in 5 different basses now.

 

[bassinflorida]

Swapped out a 2001 Nissan Frontier for a 2015 TAcoma.

 

[Holdsg]

Just based on the size of the magnets, the Nordstrand has probably 3 times the flux density of the stock Ric neck pickup. I've used other aftermarket pickups, but this Nordy is hands down the best.

Carey aka "Doc Brown" Nordstrand knows flux density

 

[Coolhandjjl]

Carey aka "Doc Brown" Nordstrand knows flux density

I thought it was flux capacitance?