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Post subject: P-BASS Players. A little help please.
Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2015 7:08 pm
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I'm in the market for a good set of Split-P pickups. Some suggestions would be greatly appreciated. What are some of your favorites?

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Post subject: Re: P-BASS Players. A little help please.
Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2015 10:19 pm
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Haven't tried their split coils yet but like the Lollar Jazzbass pickups. Have a couple sets of their guitar pickups too and like them fine.


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Post subject: Re: P-BASS Players. A little help please.
Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2015 10:36 pm
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(DISCLAIMER: Pickups, like strings, are VERY subjective and specialized. What works for me might not work for you and vise-verse. Things like style of music you play, the amp/cabs used, the preamp EQ, effects, playing pick or fingerstyle and even for fingerstyle players the actual physiology of your fingers including minute details down to the thickness or brittleness of your fingernails makes what works best for one player a secondary option for another. Now worse than that is the absolute truth that one hand scatter wound pickup can sound very different from another because of coil layering gaps being different. Keep in mind that I like BRIGHT full range pickups and want my tone control to do something besides look pretty. Pickup selection can be a tedious trial and error process, and the favorites I've settled upon as best for me will almost certainly NOT work well for other people AT ALL.)

Fender Part 0992046000 is the Fender Original Precision (P-Bass) Pickup set. This pickup was used on a number of American Vintage models at one time. It is fortunately at this writing still available and also very affordable. This is my very favorite P-Bass pickup for live play. Here is a copy of my AMAZON review on this pickup:

"I've used lots of P-Bass pickups. I preferred the single coil first generation Precision until I tried this pickup in a Mexican P-Bass I bought. It sounded good before, but when I put this pickup in it the bass sounded much brighter and more alive. It is now my favorite gigging bass. This pickup has enough lows to get the job done like you'd expect with any P-Bass pickup but the big news here without a doubt is the punchy upper mids that so much reminds me of the bite of a single coil. This is the same pickup used in the '62 American Vintage Reissue Precision, which is a very premium USA bass.

This pickup comes with the brass shielding base plate and the weatherstripping foam already installed.

As already pointed out, this pickup gives your tone control something to do for a change!

Speaking of tone, a tone capacitor change from the standard 0.05 to 0.1uf was done on the '62 RI design to handle the brightness, however if you like the punchy tone there is no real need to change it and it is electrifying to say the least with the 0.05 cap that you find in about any other Fender passive Precision Bass. It sounds darn near active! I'm thinking maybe of trying something in between like a 0.068uf just to mellow it out a bit while still retaining some bark. You won't believe the upper mids or the output this pickup delivers.

A really simple install and a recommended upgrade, especially for Mexican made Fender P-Basses. This is a hotter yet much more versatile pickup than the Seymour Duncan SPB-3 "Quarter Pounder" that is so popular and yet it is about the same price. This to me is the better buy and I've used both.

The only thing I would not use this for is a P/J bass. I would not suggest using this in a P/J bass because it is so hot that it will totally dominate the Jazz pickup and you'll never hear the Jazz pickup at all."


I also like the WILDE P-46. It is a PERMANENT P-Bass pickup. Meaning it will likely never need rewinding in three lifetimes, and in fact can not be rewound since the coils are sealed in Lucite. At the most you might have to have the poles re-magnetized after 20 to 40 years. Bill Lawrence was the most innovative pickup designer of all time and a frequent designer for both Fender and Gibson pickups. This is Mr. Lawrence's FINAL P-Bass pickup design and he never licensed it to Fender. It is high output and has a massive low end with smooth natural mids. The P-46 is great direct into a board with just a little compression. This pickup also has another unique feature. It has THREE leads. So does the WILDE J-45 J-Bass pickup. When you order these pickups as a matched pair you get Bill Lawrence's MASTER VOLUME/BLEND/MASTER TONE wiring diagram to wire up a MATCHED P-46 and J-45 pickup pair PASSIVE for a P/J setup using ORDINARY CTS 500k single ganged pots and two tone caps. This is a totally unique P/J setup. If you want the best passive P/J set ever, special order a matched P/J pair. Amazing! I use this matched P/J setup and it is my favorite home recording pickups, but for live work I want the bright bark of the Fender Original P-Bass Pickup. Still for any passive P/J the Bill Lawrence WILDE set is possibly the best and most innovative design ever. From up front the Wilde pickups look traditional, but in their guts they are as far removed from traditional in function and design as a mandolin is different from a banjo. Completely different and in a good way.

So, I can recommend both those pickups but for different applications. If I could have only one, it would be the Fender Original. The Fender Original would be probably a secondary choice to the WILDE for pick play, or it could be that taming the Fender Original for pick play with a 0.1 uf cap instead of the 0.05uf tone cap I use might work good. Love both of these and the odd thing is that at $60 to $70 each they cost half what the Fralins I tried that are in a drawer unused.

Both these pickups cost about $60 to $70. Do not pay more than that because it isn't necessary. I've used custom pickups from several famous pickup shops that cost twice as much and didn't sound as good. By "good" I mean FULL RANGE with HIGH OUTPUT.

The downside to the WILDE by Bill Lawrence pickups is that since his passing his widow Becky (who basically ran Wilde in Bill's final few years) very recently relocated the Wilde shop from Corona to Los Angeles. This move of course caused downtime which created a backlog of orders and they are playing catch up now. So if you order a Wilde pickup be patient because you will eventually get it, just not as fast as before the move until they catch up on the back orders.

So, what about Seymour Duncans? In my experience Duncan makes great single coil pickups for first generation P-Basses and I use them and prefer them to custom made ones that cost twice as much. (Yes I've used Lindy Fralins.) Many players like the Duncan SPB3 (Quarter-Pounder) split coil P-Bass design too and Fender puts it in some of their Artist Series instruments. BUT the Fender Original Vintage split P-Bass beats any SD version in my hands. It has more upper tonal range and smoother mids without sacrificing output. To me the Quarter Pounder split P-Bass pickup sounds SCOOPED. Meaning it is lots of lows and upper mids lacking lower mids that I need to hear for fingerstyle play. With a pick the Quarter Pounder works way better for me. But I rarely use a pick.

The Fender Original Vintage is without a doubt the best P-Bass pickup ever to me. The fact it sells for $60 to $70 is downright unbelievable.

Now before you take any of this to heart, go back and read the disclaimer again. There are lots of other custom makers I haven't tried, but I do not need to because I found what works for me and they are relatively CHEAP.


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Post subject: Re: P-BASS Players. A little help please.
Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2015 12:41 am
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Hey, thanks for the input guys. I know all too well about the trial and error with pickups. That's why I wanted to ask. To help narrow things down a little.

Brother Dave, I initially had a hunch about a true Fender pickup. I took that approach with my Telecaster, and it paid off well.

For my Jazz Bass copy, a friend recommended to me a set of Dimarzio Ultra Jazz. I have nothing to compare them to except the Korean PUPs that were replaced. It certainly was an upgrade to those, and they do sound good for a regggae.

Currently I have a Samick Valley Arts Jazz Copy and Ibanez SGR with Active Bartolinis. But I really love the sound of Split-P. I never had the opportunity to use one in a recording, but I liked how it sounded by itself.

My amp is really a Preamp. I don't play Bass live. Studio only. I use an Alembic F-1x. Really great sounding preamp. A bit moody, but when you dial in a sweet-spot sound, it's Godly.

There are a couple of P-Basses I'm looking at right now, but the pickups really sound harsh. So I'm asking ahead of time.

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Post subject: Re: P-BASS Players. A little help please.
Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2015 4:22 am
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brotherdave wrote:
(DISCLAIMER: Pickups, like strings, are VERY subjective and specialized. What works for me might not work for you and vise-verse. Things like style of music you play, the amp/cabs used, the preamp EQ, effects, playing pick or fingerstyle and even for fingerstyle players the actual physiology of your fingers including minute details down to the thickness or brittleness of your fingernails makes what works best for one player a secondary option for another. Now worse than that is the absolute truth that one hand scatter wound pickup can sound very different from another because of coil layering gaps being different. Keep in mind that I like BRIGHT full range pickups and want my tone control to do something besides look pretty. Pickup selection can be a tedious trial and error process, and the favorites I've settled upon as best for me will almost certainly NOT work well for other people AT ALL.)



+++++++++12

As I've said so often, what may sound great to any given person, may sound like complete crap to the next. The only real way to judge the sound of any pickup (guitar, amp....) is to use your own ears....only YOU can decide what sounds right to YOU.

That said, for bass pickups personally I tend to lean towards either EMG or Bartolni's. While both tend to be a bit pricey, it's been my experience that for most styles of music, it's hard to go wrong with either. I'm also quite fond of Rickenbacker's as well, however I suspect that's more about the instruments as a whole (I really love those 4003's)...either way, like Ovations, they tend to be a sound you either love or you don't. I would add however that perhaps the singular best sounding bass I've ever heard is...well...mine (LOL)! I have a mid 60's Kay P-bass clone with alder body and 6 bolt neck. Over the years I've upgraded the original bridge and tuners to Schaller (as with Strats, adding a bridge with some "mass" can make a big difference in tone), however I strongly suspect that a big part of the magic there are the vintage Fender pickups...the guy I had originally gotten her from back around '85 had slapped some genuine 1973 Fender P bass pickups on her (he had pulled them off his '73 Fender P when he upgraded that instrument to Bartolini's as I recall). To be perfectly frank, with the exception of a couple Alembics and Warwick's I've played over the years, that old Kay just has more balls than any other bass I've ever played...I've never had any desire at all to change those pups. I've never cared much for Fender pickups on my Strats (at least nothing since the mid 80's) however for a P bass, those vintage Fender split coils usually sound pretty sweet to my own ears.



Just my own $.02...don't spend it all in one place.


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Post subject: Re: P-BASS Players. A little help please.
Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2015 7:07 pm
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shred6 wrote:
......My amp is really a Preamp. I don't play Bass live. Studio only. I use an Alembic F-1x. Really great sounding preamp. A bit moody......


Ok bet you would find the Fender Original Vintage one sounds harsh to you as it is the brightest P-Bass pickup I ever had. As I mentioned direct to board I favor the Wilde by Bill Lawrence.


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Post subject: Re: P-BASS Players. A little help please.
Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2015 7:41 pm
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When we recorded our first cd, we used a Fender P-Bass that belonged to the studio. That thing was amazing. I didn't get into Basses until recently, so even then, I didn't know what the differences were concerning Bass pickups.

This is gonna sound bad, but I remember the producer saying "Let's use this Bass". And I was thinking "Really?? You want us to use that?" It was so plain looking, and had that one zig-zagged pickup. But hey, whatever. I wasn't the Bass player. When he plugged it in, the greatest sound came out of it. I was actually shocked. Then all the sudden I was like," Yea man, use THAT!!"

The Basses I have now we're just deals I couldn't pass up. But I've been wanting a P-Bass after grabbing these 2. I'm excited man. I want that sound.

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Post subject: Re: P-BASS Players. A little help please.
Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2015 9:12 pm
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Another Fender original nod, but as Brother Dave says ... very much depends on lots of things. In my case, I started playing bass (in 1967) on a Gibson EB-0 and nowadays I tend to use mostly either a Fender J-bass, a fretless EB-0, fretted EB-3 (aka "SG" bass) and I play more traditional Jazz, blues, folk and go for a deep sound. Sometimes I try to get as close to double bass as I can but even when I want to sound electric, it doesn't stray into all kinds of experimental or go loud like rock or metal.

The point to all that is that I find the Originals have a very traditional sound for those occasions when I might sit in with some old school country, folk or blues. At the same time, they have a decent amount of versatility to my ear, so I often bring the P along as my backup. The bass itself is just a stock 92 MIM but the pickup swap gave it that "what I want in a P" sound.


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Post subject: Re: P-BASS Players. A little help please.
Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2015 11:13 pm
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I thought to wait for some responses before I chimed in so here's my two cents worth. Fender P-bass pickups are all a bass guitar needs, but the first two links below are for pickups that embellish the original design in a good way from my experience as I use both and have put them into other peoples basses with no complaints.
this DiMarzio adds to the range of sounds available and also adds a snap when using a pick
http://www.dimarzio.com/pickups/bass/standard-bass/split-p

this seymour duncan has a raised A alnico magnet which does make a difference
http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/bass-pickups/pbass/passive/1104412_pickup/

these will work just fine each and every time
http://www.fender.com/parts/pickups-preamps/fender-original-precision-bass-pickups/0992046000.html#start=1

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