PJ pickup help, please

[DocGeorge]

I recently got a really nice MIM P Dlx Special passive bass for my main go to bass. Still had the original strings and pup but not pickguard. CAR with B/W/B pickguard was a very nice choice of the previous owner, who I must say with the little dealing I had, is an awesome TB'er. I digress... I put Chromes on her, and chose to put Duncan Antiquity II P-Bass pups on but now as you can imaging either have half the output of the J. When I received it they were balanced. The J pup sounds alright with the tone knob half open but beyond that it starts to become thin on its own on the higher register.

I was looking at Duncan Hot Stacks to mate to this. I play live and record. I am expected to play everything from metal to punk, from Cash to Reggae, Geddy to Sly. I need something that can do it all. I do a lot of reading of reviews and take into account the previous threads from here more heavily than other websites. These specific pups everyone seems to leave everyone at a quandary.

So I reach out to you. What do you think would be the best pairing for what I've described? Thank you in advance.

 

[Andy_D]

Check out what this guy did with a P/J. kind of mind blowing the tones he can get.



This is on my list of things to do. I'm very impressed that a P-bass can get all of these tones.

 

[Catbuster]

Sean says: Dimarzio Model P/UJ. Also use some ballsy nickel wound strings. ( Judge me all you want but EB Slinkies work really well.) The P is veddy nice. It can be very agressive, but can also be very easily rolled back to tame the beast. It's not overly bright, but very mid present. The UJ is a great compliment. Very articulate, and can be bright in addition to being closest to equal in output to the Model P from a hum canceling "J" type pickup. Also, Chromes probably won't help you with those "Geddy" and "Metal" sounds, while you can always roll off brightness and edge with nickel rounds.

That's my two cents from playing everything from metal to jazz to reggae on my Aerodyne PJ Jazz with that setup

 

[DocGeorge]

Catbuster: Never really gave Dimarzios a real chance or read into, to be honest. I've tried many a roundwound string and I'm going to admit my ignorance as to the Slinkies. The others I wanted to try were GHS Pressurewounds.

Andy: that is an amazing video! I'm surprised I never came a crossed it before. Thank you. It helps a lot.