Much difference with expensive pickups vs cheaper ones ?

[lurksalot]

I changed the std pickups on my RBX270 to di Marzio and it made a tremendous difference , output was significantly better and the tone control actually seemed to work. that reminds me to dig it out and use it again
having said that I mostly use a spector with std EMgs and the tonal range is excellent , but it does have an active preamp on board ,
I guess the electronics in the guitar may have an influence as to the performance of new pups ???

[paulypbass]

I noticed a huge differance when i swaped the pickups from my squier p bass to seymour duncan SPB 3s. although the squier pick ups where cheap.

[Conan]

[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1334692922' post='1619959']
But I would not waste time with Wilkinson, GFS and many others.
[/quote]

Interesting! I wouldn't put GFS and Wilko in the same category and can only talk about my own experiences. I really rate the GFS pickups, but I guess it depends on what you are expecting and which bass you put them into.

A lot of people talk about the level of output as if it is a measure of quality. It isn't. It's just volume. That's what the amp is for!! What's much more important is the [b][i]tone[/i][/b] that the pickup produces and it's dynamic range. High output can be useful in terms of signal to noise ratio, but it's no good having an average tone at high levels!

[Conan]

[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1334692922' post='1619959']But I would not waste time with Wilkinson, GFS and many others.
[/quote]
[quote name='geoffbyrne' timestamp='1334698233' post='1620079']The GFS bass pups are good value for money too.[/quote]

Just goes to show that we are not all dealing from the same deck!

[mcnach]

[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1334739665' post='1620376']
Interesting! I wouldn't put GFS and Wilko in the same category and can only talk about my own experiences. I really rate the GFS pickups, but I guess it depends on what you are expecting and which bass you put them into.

A lot of people talk about the level of output as if it is a measure of quality. It isn't. It's just volume. That's what the amp is for!! What's much more important is the [b][i]tone[/i][/b] that the pickup produces and it's dynamic range. High output can be useful in terms of signal to noise ratio, but it's no good having an average tone at high levels!
[/quote]


all agreed, and to be fair, I can only talk about the individual models that I have tried. My GFS was a Stingray alnico replacement pickup. It was only "meh", for me, while the Seymour Duncan SMB4A was noticeably punchier, better balanced.