Pickup pitting

[Greefy67]

Just after a little advice. I’ve got a Squier P bass. It’s been unloved at my dads for years and was in a pretty sorry state when I got it.

I’ve  cleaned it as best I can. Probably committed every cardinal sin while I was at it. Mr Sheen, warm soapy water, and glue removers.

but it looks ok. Not mint, but ok....except for the pickups. A couple of the poles have deep corroded pits in them.

To my inexpert ear they don’t sound bad. In fact, my shiny nearly new (eBay bargain) Ibanez is sitting in the corner while the Squier gets all the attention. I like it that much. But the pitting offends me. And I don’t think any amount of abrasive cleaners will restore them. But I’m willing to be told otherwise. It’s coming apart at the weekend because there is zero shielding, so my reptile viv, fluorescent lights etc have it droning like V1 bomb.. I’ve a roll of conductive adhesive copper tape on its way. And I’ve some good contact cleaner to try and shift the crackle from the pots. They work fine, just crackle when I turn them..but the pickups. Maybe while it’s in bits now is the time to address the issues.

So, after that waffle. What’s best to clean the fretboard with. It’s the rosewood coloured one. 

And which replacement pickups would suit it best, ideally keeping its tone pretty close to what I’ve got.

thanks

Al

 

Edited June 27, 2019 by Greefy67

[stevel]

Most people use lemon oil to clean fretboards - seems to work pretty well. A small bottle (50ml or so) will be all you’ll need - otherwise it’ll go off before you use it all.

Pickups wise, there’s a huge choice, so it depends a bit where you get them from. Plenty of people upgrade pickups, so there will be some Squier precision on ebay at some stage. You’d probably also find some out of a Mexican Fender, which might be a small step up, or an American Fender which is probably the same thing, but perceived by most to be better than the Mexico ones.

Towards the expensive end, you could look at the Fender custom shop pickups - I have got the ‘62 pickups in my P, and they sound really nice. All the Squier/Fender options are going to give you a similar tone, maybe even an improvement (but don’t expect huge leaps!)

Somewhere in the middle (price-wise) would be Seymour Duncan (check out their quarter-pounders - very well regarded). These should give a slightly deeper tone, at least that’s most people’s perception of them. In reality, I suspect they just don’t generate as much mids and highs, so it seems like a deeper tone.

There are others - Nordstrand, Lindy Fralin etc, but the cost of them will be more than your entire instrument, and there are far better ways to spend that amount of cash on it before you get to these kinds of pickups.

 Whichever way you go, do pop back and let us know which route you took, and what you think of them.

 

Steve

[BassBunny]

Before someone else mentions them, Entwistle PBX. Fantastic pickups and stupid cheap. Here's one on eBay for £15.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Alan-Entwistle-PBX-Bass-Pickup/382999140681?hash=item592c871949:g:VFwAAOSwepNc~jGd

[Greefy67]

Thanks for the advice!

ill get some lemon oil. And at £15 I’ll take a punt on those Alan Entwhistle pups. I’m Alan, and Entwhistle was awesome. Sounds like a win win 😉

Ill let you know how I get on.

[hooky_lowdown]

Pickup-wise, if you like a modern P bass tone go for the Entwistle's. If you like a more vintage tone go for Wilkinson. Both cost £15.

[Greefy67]

The Entwistle pickups arrived today. In a piece of plain foam wrap and a Jiffy bag.

And when I took them out.......this happened 😔

[Stub Mandrel]

Get some silicone base glue:

https://diy.evo-stik.co.uk/product/serious-glue

Available from the DIY sheds, this is NOT an impact adhesive, but a slow cure silicone, strong, flexible and sticks to most things. Great for gap filling applications or if you need a bit of flex.

If you google 'pickup pole piece' you can restore your old pickup too, for a few quid.

[Greefy67]

I’ve arranged to send them back and got some Wilkinson’s on the way. 

Ill try the replacement pole piece and transfer the pickups to my bitsa Encore.  

Thanks for the tip