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Precision pickup swap
- Thread starter steveinohio
- Start date
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He wants less boomy than the V-Mod in his American Pro. He didn't say the GZRs were too boomy.
You're absolutely correct that the tone cap won't affect the tone when the tone control is set to 100%. But with the tone control at say, 75% you will get a noticably fatter tone (not boomy though) with a .047uF cap. Changing the cap to a higher value not only enables you to cut more highs but also moves the presence peak slightly downwards. Personally I find a .047uF cap considerably nicer and more musical sounding with bass guitars than the .022uF cap used by EMG in the GZR kit but this will be a matter of personal taste.
Of course .047 will enable you to roll off a lot more lows, all the way to thumpy Motown-territory (which the stock GZR kit can't) but it doesn't mean you HAVE to roll off the tone all the way to 0%. Using a .047 cap will simply give a wider useful range and for MY taste also a far more musical range of tones. Actually, depending on the pickup/bass I often prefer going one step further, to .068uF. Vintage Fender basses took it even further of course, to .100uF but at that point it DOES get a bit boomy/muddy the moment you touch the tone control.
The value of the capacitor in a tone circuit doesn't make much difference in the tone until you get less than about 50%. It's a common misconception, but if you do SPICE simulations of this stuff, it's clear that the top half of the tone control's range is dominated by the value of the potentiometer.
I like Power Blades. I have them in my fretted and fretless P's. But I also find myself wondering how others sound.
I've been working toward dialing in tone and have 2-cents worth to kick in:
I have (3) basses; one straight-up MEX P-Bass (all stock), one Warmoth 32" PJ with Fralin PJ set. The J is 5%+ overwind, but not important to this comparison. The third is an Ibanez 5-er that I converted to passive, and stuck some Delano HE/S pickups in. To keep in simple, I just hard-wired the Delanos Series and kept the controls VVT. All 3 basses have 250K pots all the way around.
So, my evaluation is:
The closest comparison I have is with P Bass and the Warmoth with J Pickup on 0. They sound pretty similar. So much so that I would say the money and effort to change/upgrade the P bass pickup is a negative return on the bang for the buck. I had considered changing my P bass pickup to a Fralin b/c I'm a pretty big fan of their stuff. In this case it would definitely be a lateral move... If I had another P Bass, I would say that changing to something like a Bart 8SU would be worth it. It's a unique flavor that would be pickup change worthy. Am sure there are further examples on this continuum...
As for the Ibanez - It's a 4 knob bass body and I only really need 3 for the VVT setup I'm using. My OCD prevents me from just leaving the 4th knob as a "producer" control (there, but not connected to anything).
I have the Ibanez bass up and working with a .047 cap on the tone. Because I want the 4th knob position to at least do something, I ordered some caps and am gong to audition a .022, .033, .047, and a .1 cap to see which two sound best. Once I decide, Am going to wire those to a push- pull knob and have my favorite cap on push, and my second favorite on pull. I have made peace with the fact that the knob will turn but do noting. Who knows, maybe one day I will be in need of a producer switch and having a knob that turns, but actually does nothing will have me all set. - Hope this helps in some way!
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It's certainly all relative, indeed. In my case switching to my preferred P pickups (the Fralins) produce a dramatic improvement in my recorded bass sound (in my own studio and elsewhere) compared to other pickups I've tried, from the stock Fenders in my particular basses, to others like SDs. Live though, the difference isn't such a big deal (though it's still noticeable!).
I found the PV63 to be pretty boomy with heavy lows/lo-mids and rolled off highs. Might work better with 500k pots. I've landed on the Fralin 5% overwind and I've been happy with it for a few years
So many choices out there. I love the EMG Geezers. Also the Duncan Antiquity series. Lately I've installed the Fender Yosemite pups in a couple of my basses and have liked those. They sound vintage but with a bit more bite and grind. If you dig the 62/63 Fender P pups, you'll find the Yosemite to be similar but hotter sound great when pushed hard. 12.0KΩ/alnico 5 magnets. Nice video demo here.
The Fender Pure Vintage '63 pickup is highly recommended if you want a mid frequency forward tone with a slight treble roll off.
Aguilar's AG4P-60 is also a great precision pickup.
If you want to go active, EMG's PA precision pickup is a great pickup in my opinion.
These are the three precision pickups I have installed in my precision basses.
@steveinohio lots of good choices already mentioned, and everyone seems to have a slightly different flavor preference. I like Bartolini for clean, clear, but warm sound. They have other flavors too.... Wilde sounds great for what I've heard on sound demos.... And if you want authentic old fender sound...
Klein Precision Bass Pickup Reproductions
If I had enough spare change laying around... I'd build a (possibly short scale) P with a Klein 1958 P.
But my wallet says be happy with what I have and practice more....
Klein Precision Bass Pickup Reproductions
If I had enough spare change laying around... I'd build a (possibly short scale) P with a Klein 1958 P.
But my wallet says be happy with what I have and practice more....
Sound like you need Turbo Charge version of GZR P.
https://www.bensoncustom.com/product-page/p-bass-set
I love my EMG GZR (with the .047 cap), but I liked Fralin (stock wound) so much that I want to add one more P bass to my stable with that pickup.
It's a very clear sounding pickup and it's the best pickup I've heard with tone at 0% (.047 cap) - very thumpy and focused. Just a very solid vintage sounding pup.
It's a very clear sounding pickup and it's the best pickup I've heard with tone at 0% (.047 cap) - very thumpy and focused. Just a very solid vintage sounding pup.
