Punchiest P pup?

G&L's SB-1 MFD:

Pickup - SB-2 / SB1 MFD

 

The Delano Fat Pole P is huge and musical sounding. Great all around pickup with massive punch.

 

Seymour Duncan SPB-2 is punchiest that I played. Too much dynamics is the reason I gave them up, they are hard to tame.

 

Without adding a preamp, this would be my choice, too. It is easier to design a rig around them then try to make them fit in an existing one.

 

2nd choice would be DiMarzios Split-P:

Split P™ | DiMarzio

If you want it more *punchy wire it in parallel instead of the default series.

*parallel wiring would raise the resonant frequency & give you more mids

 

I have a handsome custom P/J 4-string that had active EMG's and a b/t preamp when I got it. Something with those pickups wasn't quite right for me, so I decided to try a full passive layout. My luthier pals had seen great results with JBE (Joe Barden) pickups and went with those.

I wasn't sure what I'd lose by switching to a passive set of pickups, but so far I can say that I haven't lost a thing. The touch and response I get with the JBE's is more natural and maybe "organic" for me. Some say that active EMG's can have some inherent compression and that might have been what I wasn't liking there.

Right away I noticed LOTS of tone with the Bardens - it had the same strings that were on it before the swap. I wondered if I should check inside my control cavity to see if there was a battery hiding in there or something. Weaker signal? No!! Hard to describe the improvement in the overall sound, but I suppose that it's more vivid. That doesn't mean that it's crazy-hot or ultra-glassy in the high frequencies... just a healthy dose of "more".

Barden's aren't cheap and I still have plenty of love for all things DiMarzio, but these pickups will never need replacing as long as I own this bass. So there's that.

 

Be all end all P, or punchy P?

I’d say Wilde P46 in either case. But my “punchy” may not be your “punchy.” You’ll have to be more specific. I can see how any of the other suggestions above can also be considered punchy, just in different ways. Punchy can also come at the expense of other characteristics (e.g. I find overwound pickups are punchy but dark).

But imo Bill came closest to “be all and all P.” Full, clear, strong, punchy

 

I just put a set of Lollar overwound pickups in my American Original P. Major punch! So much better than the Pure Vintage '63's that it came with. Those sounded way too polite and kind of anemic.

Dimarzio Model P's are also very punchy. I've got those in a Road Worn. Totally changed the sound of that bass, IMO, for the better.

 

Concur.

 

Could try Bare Knuckle brand pickups. Got punch in the name.

 

I don't know about punchiest but here is a good demo of Lakland Neo Punch pickups:

 

TKO.
DELANO PMVC 4 FE/M2