Ultra boutique P bass pickups

[Type-55]

I'm looking for a P bass pickup that does not have that hollow mids.
The Arcane 65 sounds very nice but are the mids hollow sounding?
Any other P pickup recommendations with no hollow mids are welcome.

 

[jallenbass]

I'm looking for a P bass pickup that does not have that hollow mids.
The Arcane 65 sounds very nice but are the mids hollow sounding?
Any other P pickup recommendations with no hollow mids are welcome.

In my collection I like the Dominger, Fralin or GZR for their mids.

 

[Aroneng]

I'm looking for a P bass pickup that does not have that hollow mids.
The Arcane 65 sounds very nice but are the mids hollow sounding?
Any other P pickup recommendations with no hollow mids are welcome.

The Arcane 65 is not lacking in the mids - in my opinion I'd suggest it is mid-forward while remaining balanced.

 

[sheltjo6]

I'm looking for a P bass pickup that does not have that hollow mids.
The Arcane 65 sounds very nice but are the mids hollow sounding?
Any other P pickup recommendations with no hollow mids are welcome.

Rio Grande Muy Grande produces plenty of mids. Too much in my opinion, but some players like the tone it produces.

The Arcane 65 Experience produces a balanced tone across the frequency spectrum. It's probably the most balanced Precision pickup I've tested. It doesn't lack mid frequencies.

The EMG Geezer also produces a mid frequency tone and does not sound hollow.
It's my favorite Precision pickup that I've tested so far.

 

[Pbassmanca]

Rio Grande Muy Grande produces plenty of mids. Too much in my opinion, but some players like the tone it produces.

The Arcane 65 Experience produces a balanced tone across the frequency spectrum. It's probably the most balanced Precision pickup I've tested. It doesn't lack mid frequencies.

The EMG Geezer also produces a mid frequency tone and does not sound hollow.
It's my favorite Precision pickup that I've tested so far.

I use the Duncan SPB-1 in an alder / maple P , and it has a healthy portion of pleasant midrange.

 

[Type-55]

Thanks for all the responses. The hollow mid tone is my big concern.
Still want mids but don't want mids that sound hollow.
Also don't want a really mid forward sound.
Looking for a fat, balanced tone.

 

[sheltjo6]

Thanks for all the responses. The hollow mid tone is my big concern.
Still want mids but don't want mids that sound hollow.
Also don't want a really mid forward sound.
Looking for a fat, balanced tone.

I recommend trying EMG Geezer for a fat, balanced tone. If you don't like it, you can always resale it here or other sites.

My experience with choosing a pickup is to install it and try it with your rig. Recommendations and samples provide you with an approximation of how the pickup may sound. But you won't know how it will sound in your instrument unless you try it. I tested 6 pickups before settling on the EMG Geezer.

Selecting a pickup is like test driving a car. You can read all the reviews and listen to what other people have to say about their driving experience. But, until you test drive a vehicle yourself, you won't know if you'll like it or not.

 

[Type-55]

I agree will everything you say. I'm just trying to shorten my journey.
Thanks again.

 

[Pbassmanca]

Bass strings online had the Aguilar AG-4P Precision pickup on sale so I ordered one last week. Not even sure which bass I will put it in yet. Maybe I will have to buy one to try it in........

 

[Pbassmanca]

If I could find one for the right price I would actually love to get a Highway One precision bass as I have a Highway One Jazz that I love.

 

[Honch]

As an aside note, it drives me crazy that large and small pickup producers are for the most part not posting demos or audio tracks of their pickups. In this day and age it's kind of ridiculous to rely on consumers to do this on your behalf (and that's in the best case scenario). Very often there are no recording of pickups. Some of these pickups are in the $120 to $140 range and consumers should not have to buy them blind.

No, I am on the totally opposite side. It's no different than recommending hi-fi stereo speakers with sound samples through your laptop and tell us "listen how great they sound". Recording examples (sounds) of any pickups, acoustic guitars or anything doesn't really tell us anything at all, regarding in terms of OUTPUT or LOUDNESS. You can't tell how sensitive they are to YOUR fingers and YOUR volume. You can hear they're free of hum, buzz, and RF stray noises but that's it. Tells us about nothing. They sound different with pure nickel strings on, stainless steel strings on, flatwounds, different gagues, different on a short scale bass, regular 34" scale bass, or extra long scale, DIFFERENT DISTANCE FROM THE STRINGS, and not to say placement along the string. At the sweet spot of a Music Man? At the Precision point? New or old Jazz pickup placement? Too many other factors are in the way, to have any kind of neutral sound examples that will any customer something even remotely of a guideline. Not to say YouTubes compression of sound. And pickups CAN compress IRL too, and that one gets drowned out and masked by anything on the net.

What they could do, and would suit us even better, is the relative comparison between specs and data of them. I still think too few manufacturers disclose their resistance, inductance, frequency response, and peak resonance, as well as if it's ceramic, alnico, or anything else, and number of winds. Seymour lists a three diagram low-mid-high staples, and have staple if it's hotter or cooler. But they should be able to spill out the ins-and outs more, because especially of you're combining a two-pickup set they need to be pretty much matched, and you have to be picky there to one pickup doesn't overbear the other.

And I am the only one who wants them to list weight. They only brag on the weight when they're made of Neodynium, which tells us absolutely nothing if we don't know that regular magnets/alnico weighted from the start on.

And believe me, all of the above is why manufacturers doesn't bother with soundclips. They know anyway that it will not even be close at all.

 

[Pbassmanca]

No, I am on the totally opposite side. It's no different than recommending hi-fi stereo speakers with sound samples through your laptop and tell us "listen how great they sound". Recording examples (sounds) of any pickups, acoustic guitars or anything doesn't really tell us anything at all, regarding in terms of OUTPUT or LOUDNESS. You can't tell how sensitive they are to YOUR fingers and YOUR volume. You can hear they're free of hum, buzz, and RF stray noises but that's it. Tells us about nothing. They sound different with pure nickel strings on, stainless steel strings on, flatwounds, different gagues, different on a short scale bass, regular 34" scale bass, or extra long scale, DIFFERENT DISTANCE FROM THE STRINGS, and not to say placement along the string. At the sweet spot of a Music Man? At the Precision point? New or old Jazz pickup placement? Too many other factors are in the way, to have any kind of neutral sound examples that will any customer something even remotely of a guideline. Not to say YouTubes compression of sound. And pickups CAN compress IRL too, and that one gets drowned out and masked by anything on the net.

What they could do, and would suit us even better, is the relative comparison between specs and data of them. I still think too few manufacturers disclose their resistance, inductance, frequency response, and peak resonance, as well as if it's ceramic, alnico, or anything else, and number of winds. Seymour lists a three diagram low-mid-high staples, and have staple if it's hotter or cooler. But they should be able to spill out the ins-and outs more, because especially of you're combining a two-pickup set they need to be pretty much matched, and you have to be picky there to one pickup doesn't overbear the other.

And I am the only one who wants them to list weight. They only brag on the weight when they're made of Neodynium, which tells us absolutely nothing if we don't know that regular magnets/alnico weighted from the start on.

And believe me, all of the above is why manufacturers doesn't bother with soundclips. They know anyway that it will not even be close at all.

Even taking into consideration all that you've said, some high-quality sound clips recorded through decent gear will at least give you some what of an idea of what the pickups will sound like , either mic'd through a cabinet or direct through a microphone preamp or direct box. Of course all these different factors that you've listed will affect the tone but I don't think it affects it so much that you can't get somewhat of an idea what the pickups will sound like in real life. Especially if the clips are decent quality it sure as heck is better than nothing at all! Case in point, I've listened to lots of clips of Seymour Duncan spb1 pickups recorded through some kind of direct input and posted on Soundcloud or YouTube. When I listened to those clips through my headphones it sounds an awful lot like my bass with Seymour Duncan spb1 pickups direct into a mixing console and into my headphones, in fact so much so that I would say that many of the clips I've listened to provide an accurate representation of those pickups through that recording/listening context. Of course as you make the point, nothing beats hearing pickups in Your Bass, through your gear to know what they will really sound like, but I think that whoever made the post lamenting manufacturers lack of sound clips does have a valid point.

 

[sheltjo6]

I'm looking for a P bass pickup that does not have that hollow mids.
The Arcane 65 sounds very nice but are the mids hollow sounding?
Any other P pickup recommendations with no hollow mids are welcome.

Another recommendation is Aguilar's AG-4P pickup. I installed one this week and I am quite impressed with its tone.

 

[Pbassmanca]

Another recommendation is Aguilar's AG-4P pickup. I installed one this week and I am quite impressed with its tone.

Bass strings online had this Aguilar pickup on sale so I purchased one and have received it. I think I would like to try to install it in my Yamaha bb424x bass although I'm not sure how they will fit either in the existing pickup covers or in the routed hole for the pickups with the metal plate. What is your impression of the sound of the Aguilar AG 4 P 60, and in which bass guitar did you install it?

 

[sheltjo6]

Bass strings online had this Aguilar pickup on sale so I purchased one and have received it. I think I would like to try to install it in my Yamaha bb424x bass although I'm not sure how they will fit either in the existing pickup covers or in the routed hole for the pickups with the metal plate. What is your impression of the sound of the Aguilar AG 4 P 60, and in which bass guitar did you install it?

The pickup produces a vintage tone with a few refinements. It's installed in a Warmoth parts bass.

This video is a good representation of the pickup's tone.

That is not me nor my bass in the video.

 

[Honch]

Even taking into consideration all that you've said, some high-quality sound clips recorded through decent gear will at least give you some what of an idea of what the pickups will sound like , either mic'd through a cabinet or direct through a microphone preamp or direct box. Of course all these different factors that you've listed will affect the tone but I don't think it affects it so much that you can't get somewhat of an idea what the pickups will sound like in real life. Especially if the clips are decent quality it sure as heck is better than nothing at all! Case in point, I've listened to lots of clips of Seymour Duncan spb1 pickups recorded through some kind of direct input and posted on Soundcloud or YouTube. When I listened to those clips through my headphones it sounds an awful lot like my bass with Seymour Duncan spb1 pickups direct into a mixing console and into my headphones, in fact so much so that I would say that many of the clips I've listened to provide an accurate representation of those pickups through that recording/listening context. Of course as you make the point, nothing beats hearing pickups in Your Bass, through your gear to know what they will really sound like, but I think that whoever made the post lamenting manufacturers lack of sound clips does have a valid point.

While I agree with you, I have myself encountered a lof of people, say in the range of 50/50 that have been very disappointed when judging only by the soundclips, of which there have been several. They think they can make their Ric sound like a MusicMan and vice versa only if you'd change pickups, and so on. You MAY hear the frequency range, and lack of hum or buzz, but that's about it. But I know of as many that has been very disappointed when comparing IRL what they got to the soundclips. I think for example Q-tuners soundclips where all displaying some sort of high frequency show off, and just played harmonics on the bass string. Not ever "real" bass with low notes. And still, you can't ever, and won't ever hear how strong or weak any pickup are in terms of output. What they DON'T do are soundclips providing relative comparison within their own pickups. I mean at the same soundclip, on the same bass they use switching to compare one model against another. Then at least you could hear SOME relative difference between the two. I e they must be placed at the same spot, so it's different to do live and IRL, but with heavy editing it would be more easier to predict some difference in outputs and so on. And some differences in output volume when switched, tapped coils, phase reversed. Some have huge drops in volume and some not.

Still, I say it's 50/50 of the people I've met who have been equally satisfied and equally disappointed, because they actively searched for pickup makers that had soundclips on their sites, since you can't really buy them, with return policy. Unless it's EMG with solderless, it's quite some "damage" you do to any pickup with soldering, cutting wires and so on, so they're not definitely new when you return them back, and not even "may show some sign of wear".

Me myself have this "spice shelf" stance of pickups. You go into a greocry store, and there's this shelf of 300-400 different things. What are they all good for? What should I use it for? Is it my TASTE? You can't listen yourself to a taste, you can just play (taste) yourself to see if the taste is up your alley or not. Would be quite something if you had some internet vendor who sold you spice, and had "taste samples" for you to download, and rely on another persons judgements.

I'll say still, it's would be something similar to do demo soundclips of any stereo hi-fi speakers out there, in like "Hey listen to the bass of these speakers, how transparent they are!!!" and all you hear through are your headphones, or laptop speakers. BTW someone who's actively seeking high end boutiqe pickups like rare-earth or even Seyomour Duncanns with Zephyr silver wire and judges them by soundclips on the net (at all, not even only), has sort of revealed themselves of not being that person who should plunge into those high end pickups in the first place. I tell you all of the sounclips on YT on these Zephyr pickups (mostly guitar) have rendered comments like "what's for, like 300$ each?!?! Can' thear it" while the early adopters say in the same comments "Wow, they're well worth it, you should NOT judge by these clips, you won't hear the true nature of them, until tried IRL" and so on, and on and on it goes. There's a law of diminishing returns even there, when producing as high quality soundclips as you can, and out them out there. You still can't and won't hear how LOUD anything are with those pickups, or anything else really. Say, acoustic guitars and the like.

 

[Zoobiedood]

In the end, while soundclips by themselves are not ideal (I am counting videos, too), buying pickups is a lot easier than it used to be- with just written descriptions in catalogs. It is always a leap of faith to order pickups we have no experience with, as the demos weren't done with our particular bass, or our particular hands. This is why a good return policy is essential. That being said, I don't know if I (myself, not the company) would buy super expensive pickups when the cost of getting something custom made for me is not really that much. Guitar-wise, there is a lot of choice out there, probably 10x more than bass.

 

[Type-55]

Sound clips would be nice from some of the boutique builders but here is an example of confusion.
I just bought a set of Aguilar AG 4-60 jazz bass pickups. The problem with the clips on the Aguilar site is
the bass is being ran through all Aggie rig. So it would seem to really have an effect on the sound of the pickups.
So based on these sound clips how do the pickups really sound? You won't know until you try them in your bass
with your rig and your playing style. The clips help, well recorded and I guess give you a very general feel for the
sound of the pickups. It would be great if all sound clips were recorded on a neutral platform eliminating all the variables.
Yeah, right.

 

[DavidEdenAria]

In the end, while soundclips by themselves are not ideal (I am counting videos, too), buying pickups is a lot easier than it used to be- with just written descriptions in catalogs. It is always a leap of faith to order pickups we have no experience with, as the demos weren't done with our particular bass, or our particular hands. This is why a good return policy is essential. That being said, I don't know if I (myself, not the company) would buy super expensive pickups when the cost of getting something custom made for me is not really that much. Guitar-wise, there is a lot of choice out there, probably 10x more than bass.

Comparing a P bass to say the range of Strats from the 50s to now....folks are more likely to really go wild with guitar pickups....i dont see this in P bass players for example but i am coming from the guitar world.

I have decided i will use the Duncan SPB1 P pickup as a vintage type "P pickup" basis for comparison...BUT, the thing about my P style basses is none are alder wood, so that throws a wrench in the comparison....So far though, the SPB1 vintage P pickup has gotten me really close "in the ballpark" despite wood differences.

It seems i can get enough tonal adjustment on my bass amps to compensate, whereas guitar amps, not nearly the tone shaping.

 

[Laurent]

My latest find are Ulyate pick ups. Gary the owner of the Amp Shop Bass Exchange in North Hollywood put one in my hands and I was impressed.

As a side bar it's wonderful to visit his store. He is truly passionate about bass equipment. I had a very different experience at Bass San Diego rencently and I will not go back to that store. Their sale mercenary attitude and the guard dog stance of the guy at the front desk are not acceptable to me.

Back to Ulyate pickups. The pickups I tested at the Amp Shop Bass Exchange are called MixMag P bass pickups, they have oversize poles for the D and G strings. These pups were incredibly responsive, it felt as if they read your thoughts, and they have a somewhat modern tone to my ears. They do a good job doing what they are designed for: compensating for the smaller size (lower output) of the D and G string.

I actually purchased what Ulyate calls their P style pickups on Gary's recommendation. The pups have a double pole of the same size for each string.
They are currently mounted on a bass that has a one piece Honduran Mahogany body and a MIM neck. The pickups are also very responsive and have a muscular vintage style tone. They reminded me a lot of the Lauzon P/Strat pup or the Bill Lawrence P46. I tested the Ulyate side by side with the Lauzon and they were both really nice. The Ulyate displayed a tad more output and they are slightly brighter. Their balance across the frequency spectrum is really deft and the tone usable in any position of my tone control. You get the sense that Mr. Ulyate is a bass player who really cares about his products. A lot of R&D seem to have gone into these and their boutique quality really shines. I hear his a bass player too. I will try his pickups in the mix this eve and will report.