Pickups to upgrade P bass to Stingray / GL sound.

[Bassbooksbikes]

Hi, 

I may be asking the impossible but could a Fender P bass with upgraded pickups get close to the sound/ tone of a stingray or GL with their humbuckers? I would think a P bass is not going to take a humbucker without a lot of work and modifications. 

[Sean]

Yes, you can pretty much achieve those sounds with the right pickups, placements and pre-amps. You'd need some routing work done for the pickup and also possibly the battery for the pre-amp. It would require a new pickguard too I imagine. 

To do the job well and professionally would cost in my estimation:

 

£50-100 - pickup

£50-100 - routing

£50-200 - pre-amp 

£50-100 - labour

 

and then you'd have a Fender P that was no longer a Fender P and its market value and resellability would plummet. 

 

A used G&L Tribute L2000 at £350-ish would be cheaper, easier and more sellable if things didn't work out. There are low-cost Stingray alternatives out there but I don't know much about that particular style of bass. 

[RonC]

The position of the pickups on a Stingray determine a large part of the sound..

[Bassbooksbikes]

Thank you chaps. I went with a Stingray instead. 

[RonC]

Excellent choice! 🤘