Punchy P/J pickups?

Punk & Hardcore?

The may sound crass, but pretty much anything that makes noise will do.

 

they're both perfectly good, the DM's have more of a midrange emphasis.

 

I am into the same music as you and have thrown Basslines Quarter Pounders into my Fender P-Bass

Even though the pickups are passive, they are a lot hotter than the stock pickups...

They have a nice well rounded tone control from full tin sound and clicky to punchy and full Bass

I dropped the tuning of the P-Bass to C-G-C-F and D-G-C-F and it sounded awesome in those ranges too...

They are cheap which is nice and has the sound you need

 

Consider the DiMarzio Will Power Middle (DP146) and the Model J.

When I recently recorded the Quarter Pounder, DP146, and others, I found the DP146 was by far the hottest pickup except the MFD in my G&L L1500 which blew them all away for high output.

Both DiMarzio are hum cancelling, which is a big plus. The Model J sounds pretty close to a single coil, even though hum cancelling. I have a pair for my MIM J fretless.

 

yes, the dp146 is passive.

at the end of the day, you have to make your own mind up - all we can do is make recommendations.

 

You could try mixing the Quarter Pounder P pickup with Duncan's Hot Stack noiseless J pickup. That's similar to Fender's approach on the upcoming Frank Bello Signature, which has the Quarter Pounder P mixed with a Samarium Cobalt Noiseless J.

Personally, I'd go with the Duncans over DiMarzio. I tried the Model P, and yes, it was great for punk and hard rock, with lots of grind and growl, but I think Duncans deliver more warmth along with the punch. I now use a Duncan Hot for P-bass. Also, the DiMarzio is very midrangey, while the Quarter Pounder delivers seriously deep bass and has a more full range sound overall. I'd say it has rounder tones compared to the more cutting DiMarzio. But if cut is your main goal, maybe the DiMarzio set would be your best bet.

 

I have a bunch of high quality bass tones recorded here:

Link to Directory of Bass Tones

The most recent ones are recorded DI into Sonar 4 using a Countryman Type 85 DI. The older ones are direct into a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz sound card.

The Sonar recordings are VERY clear and detailed. I have the SPB3 QuarterPounder in a MIM-P with broken in Rotosound rounds, and another MIM-P with the DP146 and DA EXL-220 broken in rounds. Note the difference between serial and parallel on the DP146.

Levels are not representative of each pickup, as each was adjusted to highest gain before digital clipping. The DP146 was louder than the QP, and both of these got their butts kicked by the MFD in my L1500. Now THAT is a hot output pickup.

 

Barts aren't too bright. I have a PJ set on my favorite fretless jazz special. They really sing.

I've heard good reports on the Rio Grandes too, but haven't had a chance to try them yet.

 

I bought the DP146 from Musician's Friend. It was a special order, but they didn't screw it up.

DiMarzio offers the Model J separately, or as a matched pair, with different order part numbers.

Don't forget Zzounds and Sweetwater, also Buffalo Bros does G&L pickups, so I imagine they probably do DiMarzio as well.

 

Try Brian at www.bestbassgear.com

I'm sure he could hook you up with a Model P, and an Ultrajazz bridge picup if you wanted that. Or, maybe something else