Deedee

Well the Custom Shop pickup is in the SH Precision and first impressions are that it certainly does have a little more bite and tonal range than the SPB1 that was fitted previously. I'll reserve judgement until I've tried it at gig volumes on Friday night but so far, I'm impressed :-)

I've had a B3 for a couple of years now and wouldn't be without it. I'm not a huge user of effects but in a covers band it's nice to know that the options are there if/when you do need to reproduce a particular sound. A multi effects unit with a DI and tuner is a no brainer. My board (a small but perfectly formed pedal train mini) consists of a B3, a VT Bass and my wireless. The tuner on the B3 is great too. An online search will quickly bring up links to online forums showing lots and lots of patches that other users have spent time setting up and tweaking. Highly recommended :-)

I opt for for a mixture of the two. A lightweight Barefaced Super 12 gives me all the power and thump I need in a relatively small package. I pair it with either a Trace 250SMX head (12/13 ish kgs) or my heavyweight Trace Hexavalve (lots of kgs). Either way, the sound is awesome 😉

Well I had the opportunity to crank up the volume and try the bass out at rehearsal last night and very nice it sounded too. It gave that classic P tone perfectly, but did admittedly become a little lost in the mix. After a bit of amp tweaking things improved a lot and then finally by adding a bit of bite with my VT Bass pedal it sounded immense. So, decisions, decisions. Do I stick with the current pickup combined with the pedal etc, or do I try an alternative pickup which may still need a bit of external assistance to cut through 🤔 Sod it - Custom Shop '62 pick up in its way 😀

[quote name='jezzaboy' timestamp='1463430151' post='3051340'] Slightly off topic but Steve changes his flats after every gig to keep sounding brightish. Which is a bit missing the point if you ask me with flats but hey ho, if you are getting them gratis then why not. [/quote] That's a very good point 😂

[quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1463327047' post='3050494'] They weren't dead, that's what flats are like... Seriously, flats are a big part of the Steve Harris sound - if you're still not happy with it try a new set of flats & it might make all the difference. [/quote] Haha, seriously they were dead. If Mr Harris himself had tried ringing off the intro to Hallowed Be Thy Name, it would've sounded like some kind of morse code! 😂 Just to clarify regarding the pickups, I'm not looking to try to 100% mimic the Steve Harris sound, in my opinion there are far too many variables (I.e. style, amps, etc) for anybody to do that and I gave up any aspirations of being in a Maiden tribute band a very long time ago. However, I've always liked the aesthetics and the feel of these basses - the necks in my opinion are awesome. I'm basically enquiring what others opinions are on making a very solid Fender P sound as good as it can - to my ears at least.

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1463309939' post='3050314'] I found the SPB1 to be a little scooped. Nice sounding pickup but really had to push mids on it to get what I wanted, so sold it. My current fave is the 62 Custom Shop. Much better balance across the whole tone spectrum - imo of course. [/quote] Cheers Lozz. I did love the pick up in the black 2010 that you had, so if these latest Custom Shop models are an improvement on those they should sound awesome.

[quote name='LewisK1975' timestamp='1463303125' post='3050232'] I recently sold my SH sig (same as yours, a 2009 model) and I had retro fitted the SPB-4 (it had the SPB-1 as standard), I thought the SPB-4 was a MUCH better pickup, better balanced in the mids / highs (the SPB-1 sounds more scooped to my ears), but still very strong and articulate. My bass went to a lovely chap called Peter (username SH73 on here), perhaps drop him a line and see what he thinks, he's had it a while now and was also having the pickup dilemma...... [/quote] I'll do that, thanks

Well the bass has arrived and very nice it is too. Lovely chunky, fat neck, great balance and of course the blue sparkle and chrome scratch plate that I love. I've swapped the strings over to rounds as the flats that were on we're dead (the E was particularly lifeless). The jury's still out on the SPB1 that's currently fitted as I've only played it through my practice amp. I think I'm possibly leaning towards a Fender '62 Custom Shop as I've heard such good things about them. I'll keep you posted ;-)

Just bought a Steve Harris Precision from Eamon. Bass is as described, was well packaged and arrived within 4 days of payment being made. Trade with confidence. Many thanks

[quote name='goonieman' timestamp='1462803172' post='3045741'] Came home from work looking forward to playing my lovely Sterling SB14, delivered by a certain courier company. ...turned out to be a chrome heated towel rack / radiator. New Radiator Day. Can't figure out where or how to plug it in, but it sure doesn't look like the SB14 I ordered. Courier co. have no idea what's going on. Good times. TBC... [/quote] Haha 😂 That's brilliant (nervous laughter) But on a serious note, I hope it turns up soon. I've got a bass in transit to me as we speak 😳

[quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1462830596' post='3046159'] The chrome scratch plate model is a more recent one. have a look at post #9 on this thread: http://basschat.co.uk/topic/60332-original-steve-harris-fender-p-bass-now-sold/ That's the original Steve Harris signature model. [/quote] Ah! Every day's a school day. Oh well, they all look gorgeous to me and I do like a bit of weight to my basses. What I'm really interested in are the differences in sound/tone between the QP, SPB-1and the SPB4

It's certainly the blue one, but I thought they all had the chrome scratch plate, badass II bridge etc. I think you're right though, fitted with a SD Quarter Pounder

Hi all I finally have a 2009 Steve Harris Precision winging its way to me. It had to be the blue one for me as that was the one I remember watching Steve play (and I couldn't bring myself to buy a bass with a club badge on it let alone a West Ham badge). My question is, what are the main pros/cons between the pick up types used on the two models? I've read that the later pick up (SPB-4 ?) is a worthy upgrade for the mk1 models.

I used mine the other night at a gig for the first time in a few weeks. It really does cut through amazingly well. I'm usually a Stingray man through and through, but these have such a good, consistent tone across all 4 strings that I'm struggling for a reason not to use this as my main gigging bass. Although I have also got a Steve Harris P on its way 🙄