punk pickups

It's not going to sound like a Stingray, but the most 'punk-ish' P-bass pickup I've tried is the Basslines SPB-3 Quarter Pound.

 

I have the SPB-3 pickup because everyone told me to get it. They said it was punk, but I disagree. It has a scooped mid tone, which is the OPPOSITE of what you want in a punk tone. I am starting to suspect that they just told me to get it because Mark Hoppus of Blink 182 uses Quarter Pound pups...

I recommend the Fender American P Bass pickups. They are more complex sounding and have a lot more midrange. They have excellent tone, its pure and bell like. The MIA P basses Ive tried with them sounded unreal. Theyre just awesome; way better than the QPs, IMO.

 

I personally hate the SPB-3, but love the SPB-2 (Hot for P-Bass). You should check that one out; it is warm and fat sounding, while retaining high output.

I've also heard the the MIA Fender P-Bass pups are good too, as lo-end says.

 

hey i have the hot for p-bass in my fender P and i think its an awesome punk tone..... Jay Bentley from Bad Religion uses the same pup in his bass.... and he's as punk as you can get...

 

Amen to that! Bad Religion rules!

 

well i think a scooped midrange is great for punk. I play a scooped midrange and thats what i think is the punk sound in my opinion. I think midrange is more for metal like tool. So if u like that kind of sound maybe the quarter pounder if for u. IF u like the stingray tone why don[t u just route for a basslines stingray replacement in your pbass??

 

Scooped for punk? No no no! You are thinking
(F)unk, not (P)unk!
Mark Hoppus quotes? Are you sure you know what PUNK is?

 

ha ha, so funny i forgot to laugh. Anyway thats how alot of punk guys do it. I had backstage to warped and i talked to alot of the bassists. I guess its just an opinion thing, and what kind of bass and amp u have. My hartke has so much bottom end anyway i can scopp my midrange a fair amount. My stingray is very bright also so its not a problem. I put the blink quotes cuz, yes i do like blink, but they are about the funniest guys on earth.

 

scooping mids is atypical of punk. most REAL punk bands that Ive heard play with a lot of hi mids in their tone, its just the punk bass sound. If you want to sound like blink, then get the Quarter Pounder because thats what Mark Hoppus uses. If you want a more punchy midrangey punk tone, get the hot for p bass.

 

ok what's the deal? I've heard that stingrays have the "smiley face" eq built in to them... and IMO, the stingray is the epitome of punk.. but then i hear that scooping your mids is un-punk...

personally... i play with lots o mids, and lots o treble, and i love my sound.. but i'm making up for the fact that i have a Carvin bass.. which is known for lacking the bite it needs to be good at punk...

so what gives... if scooping mids is bad, why are stingrays so popular? I know i like them, but i can't draw an eqalization curve in my head just by listening..

 

Wouldn't the most "punk" pickups be the ones you find on the ground and then duct taped to your bass?

 

you dont need a certain bass or pickup to play punk.
the idea of punk is that everything goes.

I was sure that real punk attitude is not about what pickup Mark Hummuos from Blurp207 plays but rather doing it your way but I guess I got it all wrong, afterall I dont like punk anyway.

 

That or making your own out of refrigerator magnets and old lamp cord.

 

stingray smileyface? I dunno I was always under the impression that they were all about tonnes of lower midrange.... which is in no way a scooped thing... Oh welll maybe I am crazy.....


later...

Mike

 

yeah! snood layeth the smacka-down

anyway, as the other guys said "The Stingray is the epitome of punk bass." I agree with this. Anything that sounds like a stingray is a good sound for punk. And all I hear about stingrays is they have too much midrange. Robert DeLeo from STP said that he used to use stingrays, but had to stop using them because he didnt like their midrangey sound. I also heard from someone else that they have a lot of mids.

Whatever. The pickup I recommend for punk tone is the "Hot For Precision Bass" pickup by Seymour Duncan Basslines.

 

A P Bass won't sound like a Stingray no matter what kind of P pickup you put in it.

 

ok then,
the best pickup for having the stingray sound would have to be one of the SD Basslines or Bart's replacment pup for the Stingray, did you expect a different answer?

you know you want the Stingray sound? go get a Stingray!
just be happy you know what you want, a lot of people cant exactley point at the specific defintion of their dream sound.

 

Words + mouth / you = taken