'79 PAF Dimarzio Model P (?) in my American Special P-Bass.
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Pickup swap that made the biggest difference in your tone?
- Thread starter faulknersj
- Start date
Has anyone had any experience with swapping out Jazz or P pickups for Gabe's Masters Of the Woods handwound pickups. I believe he's out of Italy and a super nice guy. I messaged him a couple times but never bought his pickups. He has some interesting selections like Hybrids, Monorails, Snake Eyes, Dome Poles, and even a Quad Coil pickup that is a RWRP (Reverse Wound-Reverse Polarity) that is that way only on the A and G strings and the E and D strings are normal. He has a big long interesting theory why he does this, but you would have to ask him about it. He sells his products and answers messages through E-bay.
I had a 1964 Pbass that had 1967 pups in it. The E and A sounded good, but the D and G were just thin and honky with minds. I finally changed them out for some Klein's Epic Series that were formulated to match those of 1962. That fixed it. Now all strings sound so much better. What was my worst sounding bass is now one of my very best. Those PUPs sound great and are very reasonable. I have some Nordy's in one bass (Regenerate) and they are GREAT sounding.
Went from a so so sounding stock Strat pickup in a Squire Bronco to a SD Hot Rails and then added a Fender TBX tone knob and tape wrapped strings. It went from typical turd to a really great sounding turd LOL. I also upgraded the nut to bone and bridge to a GHS Music man style 4 saddle bridge and dressed / leveled the frets which took it from a great sounding turd to a great sounding nice playing SS bass.
The Bill Lawrence/Wilde P46 and J45s in my Precision and Jazz Basses are the best passive pickups I've ever played in any Fender Bass bar none. They have exceptional clarity and punch without losing their warmth and "old school" flavor.
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Bill's guitar pickups are legendary but for some reason his bass pickups are somewhat overlooked. They shouldn't be. In the world of name brand boutique pickups they are as good as it gets and priced far below many others in their class.
Here are two TalkBass thread in which these exceptional passive pickups are discussed at length by those of us who play them.
The Official Bill Lawrence/Wilde Pickups Club
Bill Lawrence P-46 Pickup mini review (BEST P Pickup I've EVER tried)!
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Bill's guitar pickups are legendary but for some reason his bass pickups are somewhat overlooked. They shouldn't be. In the world of name brand boutique pickups they are as good as it gets and priced far below many others in their class.
Here are two TalkBass thread in which these exceptional passive pickups are discussed at length by those of us who play them.
The Official Bill Lawrence/Wilde Pickups Club
Bill Lawrence P-46 Pickup mini review (BEST P Pickup I've EVER tried)!
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I am also building a semi hollow, ss, cigar box, & license plate (my birth year 1960) resonator, Frankenstein bass with a Danelectro bridge lipstick pickup (Not the SD in the picture). I'll post the results of the lipstick pickup in a bass when it's complete.
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.Brand new Krivo magnetic upright pickup really lit up my custom electric upright, after trying many favored piezos. The difference? I quit trying to copy a pure acoustic upright sound. The magnetic sound was more useful, had superior dynamics, and several vocalists loved it immediately even though they had heard the old piezos previously, the krivos elicited unsolicited positive remarks and acceptance. I have since installed another for another pro upright player.
Seymour Duncan quarter pound in my MIM P-bass was extremely significant. It's a whole new bass now.
Beyond any shadow of a doubt it would have to be upgrading the MEC lipstick neck PU in my Fortress Flashback 5 to a Nordstrand Big J Blade. First brand new pickup I've ever bought in 27 years and it's absolutely amazing!
Passinwind
I know nothing.
- Dec 3, 2003
- 23,086
- 46,059
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- Designer/Toaster Tech @ Passinwind Electronics
R/R stock active pups with active Bart's +preamp in a Toby Pro, made in Korea, fiver . Improvements: more balanced tonal spectrum, fatter bottom,punchier mids, and glassy highs . Changing to Dean Markly SR 2000's strings also enhanced all the improvements making the Bass gigworthy.
There are two that really stand out...
95 P Lyte---swapped out the crap pickups and pre for EMG PJ's and BQC.
09 AmStd Precision---swapped out the AmStd pickup (which I have renamed "The Worst P Pickup Ever Made") for a 62 Original which was better but still not great, then for an EMG Geezer, which will remain in it till I croak.
95 P Lyte---swapped out the crap pickups and pre for EMG PJ's and BQC.
09 AmStd Precision---swapped out the AmStd pickup (which I have renamed "The Worst P Pickup Ever Made") for a 62 Original which was better but still not great, then for an EMG Geezer, which will remain in it till I croak.
My Fender Okeumeo are how ever you spell it, under warranty the Fender Active pickups just quit, and they did it twice, both times Guitar Center replaced them. I got upset and replace them myself with EMGs JV52s. And I love them wasn't sure how I would like them, but I like them a lot better then the Fender actives, Also they are going to stay in there they are both Alnico mags, and give the sound supposedly like a 70s jazz bass, well I don't have a 70s jazz bass to compare them to, wouldn't trade them for nothing . I am very happy with them.
The best pbass pickup ive used is one I rewound myself using 42 gauge formvar wire and wound to 10000 turns. It reads about 12000 ohms resistance. Has huge lows but the highs are alot glassier and clear than on a lot of pbass pickups ive used.
