McBass Posted June 9, 2003 Share Posted June 9, 2003 I'm hoping you all can help me. I purchased a Fender Deluxe P bass. The one with the P body and J neck and both a P and a J pickup. It's made in Mexico, nice neck and body finish, all for under 500 bucks. BUT, those pickups are sounding a little weak. I'm looking for a warm, rich sounding after market pickup. I really don't care about high end. Again - strong, not boomy, rich, round, deep tone. I guess you already know that there are lots to choose from - Bartollini's ( which I have on a Moonstone ), Duncan's, Bill Lawrence, Vintage Fender, Rio Grande, etc.... You know the drill. The hard thing about this is each store will push what they sell. Few if any have after market pickups on a bass to try out. If they do then each store is using a different bass and or rig to play through. Once I found two stores with the same setup. I thought "great I'll be able to really test these". Well one store had a glass room - the other a padded room! Shoot! Foiled again. So....... In your opinions ( yes, I know about opinions ), which pickups do you feel have the deepest, roundest, richest tone. The bass has passive electronics. (Yes, I'm even changing the pots for American made 250K's). I really want to thank you in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Capasso Posted June 9, 2003 Share Posted June 9, 2003 I'm not familiar enough with your bass to know for sure where the problem is. I've heard that the total electronics in these basses has improved in recent years (imagine that). You might want to consider a preamp. Raven-Labs, Sadowsky, U-Retro, etc. make units that are designed to give a boost to a bass that has a decent sound to start with... Tom www.stoneflyrocks.com Acoustic Color Be practical as well as generous in your ideals. Keep your eyes on the stars and keep your feet on the ground. - Theodore Roosevelt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
... Posted June 9, 2003 Share Posted June 9, 2003 I'm rather partial to Lindy Fralin pick ups. Tasty! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremy c Posted June 9, 2003 Share Posted June 9, 2003 I'm with Bump. Free download of my cd!. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Capasso Posted June 10, 2003 Share Posted June 10, 2003 You two guys are trying to Lull him into a new sense of sounds... Tom www.stoneflyrocks.com Acoustic Color Be practical as well as generous in your ideals. Keep your eyes on the stars and keep your feet on the ground. - Theodore Roosevelt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Sweet Willie_ Posted June 10, 2003 Share Posted June 10, 2003 Originally posted by Tom Capasso: You two guys are trying to Lull him into a new sense of sounds... TomOuch! Just so our thread-starter is not misled: There are other folks who use Lindy Fralin p'ups besides Mike Lull. I have heard nice things about Rio Grandes having a really full, strong sound. They will also custom wind pickups to help you try to achieve the sound you want. Also, do you have any concern about single-coil hum from the bridge pickup? Single coils usually give a fuller sound (in my opinion) compared to jazz-style humbuckers (e.g., stacked humbuckers or dual in-line humbuckers). I have Bart Classic Bass series J p'ups in my Carvin. They're pretty warm sounding. Peace. spreadluv Fanboy? Why, yes! Nordstrand Pickups and Guitars. Messiaen knew how to parlay the funk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rumpelstiltskin. Posted June 10, 2003 Share Posted June 10, 2003 i have a bartolini P which i would describe as "round, rich, and warm". perhaps you should go with the known quantity. i've also heard, however, that bartolini's j pickups are fairly low output and would be better suited to be matched with a preamp. robb. because i like people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremy c Posted June 10, 2003 Share Posted June 10, 2003 Okay, Okay, we're done with the lullabies. I put a Seymour Duncan Antiquities pickup into my Ferndandes P bass and did and A-B test in the studio with a friend's '68 Fender. We couldn't tell the difference. Free download of my cd!. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McBass Posted June 11, 2003 Author Share Posted June 11, 2003 Thanks for all the help. I think I'm going to take a hard listen to Rio Grande. Either the Muy Grande P-J combo or the Big Bottom P-J Combo. I talked with the guys over there and they were very helpfull. I too thought about Bartolini, but I already have those on a Moonstone bass. I want the Fender to sound completely different. Any other ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Sweet Willie_ Posted June 11, 2003 Share Posted June 11, 2003 Jeremy's Seymour Duncan Antiquities idea is a good one, too. Don't rule that out too soon. Rio Grande would be cool, though. I've heard good things about their willingness to work closely with their customers. Sounds like you've already had a positive experience with them. They're in the big ol' state o' Texas, too, right? Just like you! Peace. spreadluv Fanboy? Why, yes! Nordstrand Pickups and Guitars. Messiaen knew how to parlay the funk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr M Pulsive Posted June 11, 2003 Share Posted June 11, 2003 Don't underestimate the Dimarzio DP-126 P/J set! I just put a pair in a project P/J, and I'm very pleased. Passive, great tone, adjustable polepieces, & I got 'em very lightly used for about $65. ...simply stating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ayatollah Watts Posted June 22, 2003 Share Posted June 22, 2003 custom winding pick ups? *not sure if i'm talkin about the right part* but what does this do? and how does it effect the sound? Pain teaches what pride won't let you learn... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicalhair Posted June 22, 2003 Share Posted June 22, 2003 I think the Alembic replacement pick ups in my Ric sound deep round and rich like you're looking for. They are kinda expensive, but they make models to switch into common bass bodys like fender and ric. It won't sound like the bass it was or the bass it was meant to be, but it will sound great unless you hate active electronics. I talk about the Alembic pick ups in a thread about a Ric bridge elsewhere on this site-- I got a little off topic maybe. If you're more interested in the Alembics let me know and I'll go way into detail about what I know about them and my experience with them. check out some comedy I've done: http://louhasspoken.tumblr.com/ My Unitarian Jihad Name: Brother Broadsword of Enlightened Compassion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
earljam Posted June 22, 2003 Share Posted June 22, 2003 robb- our guitar player has a lakland skyline with bartolinis and the output is fine (i'm assuming we're talking passive). Much better than the stock pups in my 87 MIJ jazz, although my neck beats the Lakland all to hell. Now if I can be alone long enough to switch the pups..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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