NoRecall

Hi Miles I have a 2001 Squier P bass Special, made by the Cort factory in Indonesia, that I've had since new. Last year I swapped the pups and pots for an EMG PJ set. I've also fitted a bone nut and a Gotoh bridge. However, whilst she plays very well, I'm not happy with the tone. It's hard to describe, it's kind of brittle and trebly, not smooth and woody like a P bass. Some people describe it as "hi-fi", which is pretty apt. I also have both a Squier Vintage Modified Precision and and a Jazz (2008 and 2010, again both from the Cort Indonesian factory). It occurred to me that their "Duncan Designed" pups must be reasonable, otherwise SD wouldn't put their name to them, so I decided to try swopping the pots. I bought a CTS pot set with jack socket for both of them on Ebay for a reasonable price (my soldering is dire), and dropped those in. Man, what a transformation. It's like they were being choked before and now they're free to breath. Lovely tone on both. I've also got a Mexican Jazz and a P bass, and so DIed both the Mex Jazz and the Squier into Audacity the other day without any effects, and they sound identical. So, I would suggest that, before going down the pup swop route, try changing the pots. It's a lot cheaper, and you might find you're satisfied with the tone. I'm now wondering what I should do about my P bass special. I think I'll try pulling out the EMG set, but I'm not sure what to put in. Refit the original with new CTS pots or get new pups and pots? If so what make? active or passive? Graham