P pickup choices

[JoshL]

Having seen some of you guys bass builds and mods its got me seriously tempted to trying to modify my second bass, a squire affinity p bass, with either just a new single pickup or possibly trying to put in a pj setup.
I was just wondering what pickups you guys would recomend if I went for just a new p pickup and if it would be feasable to try and put a pj setup into it with not a lot of work being done to the bass itself?

[Lozz196]

If you like the Fender sound, a Fender Original/Vintage pickup is a good choice.

http://www.fender.com/en-GB/products/search.php/?partno=0992046000

I put one in a MIM Precision, and it certainly added some depth to the bass.

[Conan]

I put a set of these in my Squier P and I'm really pleased with the tone! Cheaper than a lot of others too...

[url="http://www.guitarfetish.com/GFS-PB-Pro-PLUS-OVERWOUND-Alnico-P-Bass-style-VERY-hot_p_334.html"]http://www.guitarfetish.com/GFS-PB-Pro-PLUS-OVERWOUND-Alnico-P-Bass-style-VERY-hot_p_334.html[/url]

[dudewheresmybass]

I picked up a secondhand Seymour spb3 on here for £35.
Sounds great in my rebuild Westfield. I'm continually getting compliments on it's sound

[bremen]

[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1323169240' post='1459951']
I put a set of these in my Squier P and I'm really pleased with the tone! Cheaper than a lot of others too...

[url="http://www.guitarfetish.com/GFS-PB-Pro-PLUS-OVERWOUND-Alnico-P-Bass-style-VERY-hot_p_334.html"]http://www.guitarfet...-hot_p_334.html[/url]
[/quote]

'an almost unbelievable amount of low end grunt, snappy string response and sweet, round tone.'

At the same time?

[Happy Jack]

What are you looking for?

There's a huge choice of pickups out there, but you need to know what sort of sound you're trying to achieve. Seymour Duncan 1/4-lbs and Lollars both sound great ... but they're very different.

With the P/J approach, bear in mind that you'll never get the full range of Jazz tones. I did this with my old Maya P-bass and I use either the neck pickup or the bridge pickup - I don't even try to blend them, it just sounds wrong to me.

[Conan]

[quote name='bremen' timestamp='1323170107' post='1459967']
'an almost unbelievable amount of low end grunt, snappy string response and sweet, round tone.'

At the same time?
[/quote]

Oh yeah. And they do the weekly food shop as well!

[bremen]

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1323170270' post='1459969']


With the P/J approach, bear in mind that you'll never get the full range of Jazz tones. I did this with my old Maya P-bass and I use either the neck pickup or the bridge pickup - I don't even try to blend them, it just sounds wrong to me.
[/quote]

I have trouble mixing P and J too. I suspect something could be done by amping them separately or putting a short delay on one.

[Conan]

I find that I can [i]almost[/i] get a P tone out of a J on the neck pickup (a bit thin maybe), but a P (or even a PJ on the P pickup) will never do a J tone...

[Nibody]

Both my builds I put Wizard's in - 1. They are reasonably priced (£50 for a set of bespoke Scatterwound Pickups!!) 2. The serviceis great.

Bought a set of Wizard Trads for the first - atypical Precision sound
The next one I stuck a set of "Thumpers" in - have a nice "dark" overtone to them (don't know how else to describe them).

I know a few of the guys on here have used Wizards and I havent heard a bad thing said about them. Rather have these than fork out extra cash for a set of SD's

[Happy Jack]

[quote name='bremen' timestamp='1323170659' post='1459978']
I have trouble mixing P and J too. I suspect something could be done by amping them separately or putting a short delay on one.
[/quote]

I don't think so ... the classic, "burpy" Jazz tone requires two single-coil pickups, ideally with exactly the right spacing between them. Having a Split-P humbucker as one of the two pickups rules that out entirely.

[Muzz]

+1 for Wizards, I use the Big pair (Thumper and 84) in two completely seperately basses and they're great in both. Very reasonably priced, too. P/Js sound like P/Js, rather than Jazzes - I like to think of it as a classic P with the option of adding another pickup into the mix (however you find it sounds, it's certainly different). The 84 is one of the few J pickups I can use soloed - it's got so much presence. For another slightly odd option, I've got a pull-pot wired to put them in series, too - not the most subtle tone, but useful in a live situation for a mid-boost.

[LiamPodmore]

Seymour Duncan Basslines, or any Wizards, is what i would choose personally. Which model of each depending on the sound i wanted obviously.

Liam

[bremen]

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1323171795' post='1460005']
I don't think so ... the classic, "burpy" Jazz tone requires two single-coil pickups, ideally with exactly the right spacing between them. Having a Split-P humbucker as one of the two pickups rules that out entirely.
[/quote]

No, I agree that you probably can't get the J tone from a PJ. There may well be a different, but great, sound available from both pickups on a PJ but I haven't really found it yet.

[Lozz196]

For me, Duff McKagans sound is excellent, with both P&J pickups. He uses an SD Hot Stack in the bridge J.

[JoshL]

Thanks for the sugestions everyone, I think if I go for it I'll probably jist stick to a new p pickup rather than trying the pj route since it would be my forst time trying anything like this. I mainly want to get a bit more grunt and power overal on the sound with an emphasis on the lower end of the sound spectrum. This bass has done a great job for me gtting me actually into playing bass but ot just lacks that bit off power I'm finding, esspecially when I run it back to back after using the g and l.

[bassmachine2112]

Wizard thumper all the way,cheaper than seymours and you rarely see them s/h.That says a lot.
Better to give Andy a call and he will sort you out.

[Spike Vincent]

[quote name='JoshL' timestamp='1323121184' post='1459625']
would be feasable to try and put a pj setup into it with not a lot of work being done to the bass itself?
[/quote]


No.There's a fair amount of woodworking involved.
My choice for pickups is EMG Selects.

[M-N-Y]

My good friend who is an excellent bass player uses an EMG PX which he says is awesome and gives him a wide array of usable tones.

[JoshL]

Yeah, the pj option is out of the window, currently looking into the wizard thumpers, seymour duncan spb2's and the emg's mentioned above. Liking tge look of the wizards and they don't seem too expensive overal.

[Beedster]

I'm selling an SD Antiquity II & circuit pretty much unused. If you're looking at the SPB-2, it's something you should consider

C

[JoshL]

Thanks fkr the tip, if their still up for sale and are up on here can you post a link for me amd I'll take a look.

[lovetheblues]

I put a '62 Vintage Fender P pickup in my Squire Affinity P and have been really happy with it. Good luck with your mods!

Cheers

[FEND3R]

Some comaprison of 14 "P" pickups, that can help a bit : [url="http://www.ozbassforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=3672&st=0&sk=t&sd=a"]http://www.ozbassforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=3672&st=0&sk=t&sd=a[/url]

[krispn]

Hey I was just about to post that link

It's pretty useful!