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Ultra boutique P bass pickups

#1,101
jmpiwonka said:
I went through a few p bass puckups in an alder avri body with rosewood neck i had made. Parts bass.
I like pickups that are even and clear with enough output to make an svt head get into some slight distortion without a pedal. i remember like the Antiquity II the best. Lollar was a little darker, spb-1 just a bit darker than the lollar and real smooth sounding. Novak pbv was similar to the Antiquity II but a little too polite. All pickups were between 10.5-11k.

My favorite is still my 77 p bass (maple neck) with one coil rewound by fralin. It is enamel wire and measures 10.7k if I remember correctly.
I play nickel roundwounds and let them get nice and dead.

maple vs rosewood neck matters alot as does the strings and amp…haha.
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what music do you tend to play?
 
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#1,104
PleyswethSqwerl said:
the pups make it sound phenomenal
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Your bass is the kind where it inspires you to pick it up and play due to how sexy it is. You turn it on and then the kloppmann compliments the looks.

Beautiful bass! what style of music do you like playing?

I bought a 1978 MIJ yamaha pulser 400. Now have the opportunity to get the 600. The Kloppmann is a little over half the price of the bass. Im sure it sounds amazing (the pickup maker was great to talk to) but just a tad out of my league.
 
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#1,105
soulstar89 said:
thanks for the post.

What wood combo is your p bass? Same as in your profile pic?

Surprisingly to me, the lollars sounded sterile and bland. I fully understand why you picked the pv63 over the HW Lollars for the bass you put them in. Was you playing tone 100% on both?
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The bass is a heavily modded HwyOne, Alder with Rosewood.
Tone was just slightly rolled off on both recordings
 
#1,106
soulstar89 said:
Your bass is the kind where it inspires you to pick it up and play due to how sexy it is. You turn it on and then the kloppmann compliments the looks.

I play, alternative rock, funk, electronic music, kinda like the Red Hot Chili Peppers meets Phantogram.

sometimes playing on a really nice looking bass can hinder the writing process because I pick it up and I’m just like mad. This base is so cool but yes, it sounds great man and I’m very happy with it. Kloppmann‘s are definitely worth the money,

Beautiful bass! what style of music do you like playing?

I bought a 1978 MIJ yamaha pulser 400. Now have the opportunity to get the 600. The Kloppmann is a little over half the price of the bass. Im sure it sounds amazing (the pickup maker was great to talk to) but just a tad out of my league.
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#1,108
SickAura said:
Hey all - I went through quite a few of the usual suspect P pickups before settling on the PV63 as my favourite.

I picked up @Coughdrops overwound Lollar out of the classifieds and finally had a chance to install

I recorded Before and After through a Peavy Mini Max set flat into a Subway 115/112 stack
Zoom H2N on the floor 6ft in front
Same pickup height

The AutoGain on the H2N was allowing the PV63 to clip quite a bit
So not a perfect recording by any means but good enough to hear differences
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Nice test. The Lollar HW is souding a hair brighter to my ears. The PV63 has a depth and a spike in the mid-bass that makes it a really pretty pickup to listen too. It has that sort of hedonistic creamy and bassy tone that's just really nice sounding to my ears.
 
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#1,109
Laurent said:
Nice test. The Lollar HW is souding a hair brighter to my ears. The PV63 has a depth and a spike in the mid-bass that makes it a really pretty pickup to listen too. It has that sort of hedonistic creamy and bassy tone that's just really nice sounding to my ears.
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Yes I agree. I immediately noticed some additional clarity and note definition from the Lollar - which I liked right away - but listening back, the PV63 certainly has more depth and richness to its tone IMO

To be fair the PV63 benefited from pickup height tweaks while playing with the band over several months

The Lollar hasn't had that opportunity yet
 
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#1,110
I've just bought me a cheap ($200 USD) P-bass made in Argentina. Newen brand. I've never owned or played a precision before, hence buying cheap to try out. Should be in my hands tomorrow.

If I like it, I'm thinking of buying and dropping a PV63 in it (after spending most of my day reading this thread from page 1 and seeing reviews on this pup). Seems the right choice for what I'm looking for. Will be interested in hearing how it mates with the solid Patagonian Wood body, maple neck with rosewood fretboard. And either Ernie Ball Cobalt Flats or Nickel rounds.

Newen.jpg
 
#1,111
HowieD72 said:
I've just bought me a cheap ($200 USD) P-bass made in Argentina. Newen brand. I've never owned or played a precision before, hence buying cheap to try out. Should be in my hands tomorrow.

If I like it, I'm thinking of buying and dropping a PV63 in it (after spending most of my day reading this thread from page 1 and seeing reviews on this pup). Seems the right choice for what I'm looking for. Will be interested in hearing how it mates with the solid Patagonian Wood body, maple neck with rosewood fretboard. And either Ernie Ball Cobalt Flats or Nickel rounds.

View attachment 5336972
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once it’s setup. Live with it for a while and see its characteristics. You will find what it’s missing. From that point you can pick out a pickup.

if you are know a sound you are after even before you got the bass then I would presume you followed a formula from before.

it should be a fun journey for you

Ps. Congrats on reading the whole thread. I did the same the end of last year lol. I treated myself to a pineapple juice (don’t drink) as a celebration for completion loool
 
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#1,112
soulstar89 said:
once it’s setup. Live with it for a while and see its characteristics. You will find what it’s missing. From that point you can pick out a pickup.

if you are know a sound you are after even before you got the bass then I would presume you followed a formula from before.

it should be a fun journey for you

Ps. Congrats on reading the whole thread. I did the same the end of last year lol. I treated myself to a pineapple juice (don’t drink) as a celebration for completion loool
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Yeah, I pretty much know what sound I want, but I think I'll just get it setup like you said and see how I go. Looking forward to going down the P-bass road and see if it's me.

Yes, it took a while to read it all! Great read though @Laurent

Nothing wrong with pineapple juice! :thumbsup: I don't drink either.

Here's a few clips off You Tube (not me!) that you can get a feel of how it sounds standard.

Finger style:

Pick Style:
 
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#1,113
Congrats on the new bass!

The PV63 would be a nice pickup for this bass but do take time to check out the pickup shipped with your bass.
Some of these pickups are surprisingly good.
For example the pickup that ships on the Squire vintage vibes P is not bad at all. Same thing with the MIM P basses; I actually like that pickup better than the Fender V-Mod or Yosemite pickups.
 
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#1,115
Laurent said:
Congrats on the new bass!

The PV63 would be a nice pickup for this bass but do take time to check out the pickup shipped with your bass.
Some of these pickups are surprisingly good.
For example the pickup that ships on the Squire vintage vibes P is not bad at all. Same thing with the MIM P basses; I actually like that pickup better than the Fender V-Mod or Yosemite pickups.
Click to expand...

Thanks Laurent!

Yes, I'll definitely take some time on the factory pickup. It might just surprise me! :thumbsup:
 
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#1,116
HowieD72 said:
Yeah, I pretty much know what sound I want, but I think I'll just get it setup like you said and see how I go. Looking forward to going down the P-bass road and see if it's me.

Yes, it took a while to read it all! Great read though @Laurent

Nothing wrong with pineapple juice! :thumbsup: I don't drink either.

Here's a few clips off You Tube (not me!) that you can get a feel of how it sounds standard.

Finger style:

Pick Style:
Click to expand...



You are all set. Even different sets of strings react differently to different basses.

when you get to the happy place with this bass, I’ll mail you a pineapple juice lol
 
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#1,119
I picked up the bass and my mate who works at the shop set it up beforehand.

I had a little play around plugged into my Fender Rumble 500 combo (all settings at 12 o'clock) and and it actually sounded not bad.

But with the tone at 100% it sounded thin IMO and even at 50% wasn't much better. With the tone off, that was more to my taste.

The pickups seem quite low output compared to my passive Kent Armstrong Lipstick J pickup (with just neck pup soloed). I've never had a Precision, so I can't gauge the output with another. But I do have a Kent Armstrong Hot Vintage P pup coming that I can switch it out with to compare.

I'll remove the factory strings (rounds of unknown brand) with some Ernie Ball Cobalt Flats or D'Addario Chromes and see how that goes.
 
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