Any inexpensive aggressive sounding P pickups around?

[hooky_lowdown]

My V4 I'm considering selling (can post) as I have a MIA incoming. One in one out policy. 😒

[PaulWarning]

19 minutes ago, shoulderpet said:

Just googled the V4 damn that's a beautiful looking bass 

the finish is a bit iffy, the frets stick out a bit on the underside near the dusty end on mine for instance,, but as I said, they sound very very close to a 'proper' P bass, a great back up, in fact I'd consider selling my MIA Fender if I ever needed some cash

[Osiris]

On 07/04/2020 at 15:27, Marc S said:

@shoulderpet - I've got an Entwistle PBXN, if you're interested?

There's been mention that the PBXN is a deep pickup, if yours isn't currently installed in a bass would you mind taking a quick depth measurement, including any protruding magnets, please? I'm thinking of sticking a PJ set in my cheap and cheerful bass. 

[shoulderpet]

Just googled it and it is apparently 25mm deep, the one I just took out is massive so this doesn't surprise me

[shoulderpet]

Oh and the Wilkinson I am using now is the alnico version, I actually brought the ceramic one as well as i figured it was cheap enough to give both a try, the ceramic version is more middy but I wouldn't say it was brighter in terms of treble response, there is less bass and more mids but not in the highest mid frequencies, the ceramic version kind of reminds me of a bridge pickup, I have decided the alnico one is the better pickup, the ceramic one sounds good combined with the bridge pickup in my bass but was lacking on its own. Looking at the ceramic pickup it is clear that more care was put into the alnico version, the alnico has magnetised pole pieces and looks like pretty much any decent after market pickup in terms of construction whilst the ceramic has bar magnets on the back of the pickup, the ceramic also just generally looks cheaper with the pole pieces looking like a cast alloy than a solid metal, the  ceramic is also sealed so the covers are part of the pickup.  All this being said my Rumble 500 is at my drummers place so I am basing all this on what I am hearing through my Amplug

Edited April 10, 2020 by shoulderpet

[kodiakblair]

2 hours ago, Osiris said:

There's been mention that the PBXN is a deep pickup, if yours isn't currently installed in a bass would you mind taking a quick depth measurement, including any protruding magnets, please? I'm thinking of sticking a PJ set in my cheap and cheerful bass. 

Most pickup cavities are roughly 18 mm deep, you'll have 7 mm exposed.

[shoulderpet]

This guy has an awesome p bass tone, seems to be using a Model P, is this representative of their inherent tone? Sounds very bright

 

 

Edited April 11, 2020 by shoulderpet

[hooky_lowdown]

6 hours ago, shoulderpet said:

This guy has an awesome p bass tone, seems to be using a Model P, is this representative of their inherent tone? Sounds very bright

 

 

The choice of strings has a huge impact on the sound coming from your bass. Pickups play their part, but strings have a bigger impact than the pickups to the sound from your amp, so the brightness from steel roundwounds can be lessened by switching to nickel roundwounds.

If you can find a video with the perfect tone for you, we can advise on what pickups and strings you need to get the sound you want? 😁

[kodiakblair]

Bentley uses a P-bass with Markley Blue Steels .46 to.102. He did use a Duncan 1/4 lb'er but it's Dimarzio now.

 

Pickups are wired direct to output socket .

[shoulderpet]

1 hour ago, hooky_lowdown said:

The choice of strings has a huge impact on the sound coming from your bass. Pickups play their part, but strings have a bigger impact than the pickups to the sound from your amp, so the brightness from steel roundwounds can be lessened by switching to nickel roundwounds.

If you can find a video with the perfect tone for you, we can advise on what pickups and strings you need to get the sound you want? 😁

Thanks, something close to Frank Bello from Anthrax would be great, I have a P/J bass so I have potentially 2 pickups I can swap out if needed  

 

[hooky_lowdown]

I'd say the Wilkinson Alnico pickup you have wired direct to the jack, with Markley Blue Steel strings as @kodiakblair says, run through a sansamp with the high mids boosted will get you the Bello sound.

Wiring the pickup direct to jack will increase the output and increase the high end. Playing with a heavy (1mm) pick will also help achieve the sound. 😁

Edited April 11, 2020 by hooky_lowdown

[shoulderpet]

3 hours ago, hooky_lowdown said:

I'd say the Wilkinson Alnico pickup you have wired direct to the jack, with Markley Blue Steel strings as @kodiakblair says, run through a sansamp with the high mids boosted will get you the Bello sound.

Wiring the pickup direct to jack will increase the output and increase the high end. Playing with a heavy (1mm) pick will also help achieve the sound. 😁

Thanks, can I wire both pickups direct to jack? Also I take it I would have to move the groud wire to run from the jack ?

Edited April 11, 2020 by shoulderpet

[hooky_lowdown]

Yeah, a standard jack has two terminals, live and ground, the pickup has live and ground, you know where I'm going! 😉

If you want to get a little geeky, you could include a kill switch, then you can switch between the pickup being on or off, useful when not playing (on stage).

[Marc S]

On 10/04/2020 at 17:31, Osiris said:

There's been mention that the PBXN is a deep pickup, if yours isn't currently installed in a bass would you mind taking a quick depth measurement, including any protruding magnets, please? I'm thinking of sticking a PJ set in my cheap and cheerful bass. 

Here's a couple of pics to (hopefully) help you. The extended poles are around 6 or 7mm long....

I had to rout out a small channel, to accommodate the extra depth of the magnets.... It was simple enough to do, but you may not want to do this to a valuable, vintage Fender....

[kodiakblair]

14 minutes ago, Marc S said:

had to rout out a small channel, to accommodate the extra depth of the magnets

Another method. Dab of white paint on the bottom of the screws,drop in the pickup area.Drill where the spots left by the paint.

[Osiris]

23 minutes ago, Marc S said:

Here's a couple of pics to (hopefully) help you. The extended poles are around 6 or 7mm long....

I had to rout out a small channel, to accommodate the extra depth of the magnets.... It was simple enough to do, but you may not want to do this to a valuable, vintage Fender....

Thank you, I really appreciate it.

 

[Osiris]

5 minutes ago, kodiakblair said:

Another method. Dab of white paint on the bottom of the screws,drop in the pickup area.Drill where the spots left by the paint.

Good shout, I'm a bit ham fisted though so somewhat reluctant to start gouging holes in the bass, but I might give it a go if I'm feeling brave 😃

[kodiakblair]

@Osiris

 

If you don't have a router it's easier than trying with a chisel. If you sell the bass,fill the holes then cover with copper tape.

I won't tell if you won't 🙊

Edited April 12, 2020 by kodiakblair
spelling mistake

[mcnach]

1 hour ago, kodiakblair said:

Another method. Dab of white paint on the bottom of the screws,drop in the pickup area.Drill where the spots left by the paint.

 

I love that! Nice one

 

[Stub Mandrel]

1 hour ago, Marc S said:

Here's a couple of pics to (hopefully) help you. The extended poles are around 6 or 7mm long....

I had to rout out a small channel, to accommodate the extra depth of the magnets.... It was simple enough to do, but you may not want to do this to a valuable, vintage Fender....

I think those are just pole pieces, not magnets. Take one out and if it isn't strongly magnetised it will do no harm to saw 5mm off the bottom.

[kodiakblair]

3 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

I think those are just pole pieces, not magnets.

Aye,they're just screws. If you're meant to set them instead of pickup height I'm ok, if not then I've just knackered a pickup 😀

[stewblack]

On 10/04/2020 at 15:08, hooky_lowdown said:

My V4 I'm considering selling (can post) as I have a MIA incoming. One in one out policy. 😒

* goes weak at the knees *

[shoulderpet]

Juse purely out of curiousity has anyone played the Dimarzio split P pick (the rails one not the model P) ? Wondering what that pickup sounds like, always thought it was meant to be quite a smooth deep sounding pickup then I heard the bassist from Maxx Explosion using one and defintely doesnt sound that way but who knows what processing his bass goes through on the way to the amp

Edited April 12, 2020 by shoulderpet

[mcnach]

17 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

I think those are just pole pieces, not magnets. Take one out and if it isn't strongly magnetised it will do no harm to saw 5mm off the bottom.

 

Yes, they're just steel screws, in contact with two little but powerful shiny neodymium magnets. I have no idea whether their size matters. I considered buying shorter screws when I went to install mine and see how it went, but after a brief search I was not sure I found the right ones, I gave up and took out my chisel. I'm impatient

I wish I had thought of @kodiakblair's idea: so simple, neat.  

[mcnach]

10 hours ago, shoulderpet said:

Juse purely out of curiousity has anyone played the Dimarzio split P pick (the rails one not the model P) ? Wondering what that pickup sounds like, always thought it was meant to be quite a smooth deep sounding pickup then I heard the bassist from Maxx Explosion using one and defintely doesnt sound that way but who knows what processing his bass goes through on the way to the amp

 

I had one for a while. It's definitely not a 'classic' Precision style pickup. In a way, the PBXN reminded me of it, only the PBXN is a lot higher output. I felt it was smoother and slightly highmid-scooped compared to a standard Precision pickup. Of course, the pickup is only part of the chain, so you can get a lot of different sounds out of any one pickup.