Budget bass bits

[BrunoBass]

My recently acquired cheapo Jazz Bass is shortly going to be upgraded. The bridge and pickups/electrics will be first, the tuners will be next.

What are your recommendations for half decent but budget conscious parts? This bass cost me just £109 so Aguilar pickups and Sadowsky preamps are not really what I'm looking for. Pickup wise I'm more interested in a vintage type tone. Thanks.

Edited June 13, 2017 by PaulGibsonBass

[jimbartlett]

Get in touch with Mark from Limelight. He winds vintage spec pickups. I have one and it's great!

[EliasMooseblaster]

There seems to be some not-entirely-unsubstantiated rumour that Squier are putting Tonerider pickups in their very well-regarded Classic Vibe guitars and basses. I've got a Tonerider in one of my own Frankenbasses and it's really rather good - I suspect you could get your hands on a matched pair for south of £70.

[hamfist]

Yes, tonerider pickups ! very, very good.

[BrunoBass]

I've heard good things about Toneriders, they seem like good value?

[EliasMooseblaster]

[quote name='PaulGibsonBass' timestamp='1497364766' post='3317564']
I've heard good things about Toneriders, they seem like good value?
[/quote]

I wouldn't say I was a connoisseur, but they certainly sound good to me, and are a lot cheaper than some of the better-known manufacturers.

See also Wilkinson, who are now providing the stock pickups for JHS Vintage guitars - not sure whether they have a specific vintage-type tone range, ironically enough, but cheap enough that you could take a punt on a pair.

(In fact, my Frankenbass now has a Tonerider in the neck/middle position, and a Wilkinson by the bridge. Both sound pretty good, though I'm debating whether to swap one out so they're both from the same manufacturer to see if I can get a better match between their two tones.)

[timhiggins]

I would keep an eye out for s/h p.u.p's from a squier vmj or vibe or the deluxe they are all very good in my opinion

i once replaced a duncan designed bridge p.u. with a seymour duncan sjb1 vintage ,and found them to sound more or less identical

i currently have some jazz pups from a squier deluxe in my bitsa jazz and they are great

[prowla]

I've got a Shadow (German) pickup in my partsblaster; it's not at all bad.

[kodiakblair]

I put a Warman Jazz blade humbucker in the bridge position on my Zephyr 5 and it was a belter of a pickup. Their jazz might not be your taste though.

http://www.warmanguitars.co.uk/product/j-bass-4-string-bass-guitar-pickup/

Entwistle pickups are another top notch cheap replacement. I've linked to the JBX instead of the JBXN. I've 2 Zodiac DE Scorpios but 1 has an Entwistle Neo PJ set in place of the Duncan Basslines,the Neos have much louder output than the Duncans so not really the vintage tone you seek.

http://www.entwistlepickups.com/pickup.php?puid=JBX

[T-Bay]

I got a wilkinson bridge off eBay for very sensible money and it's ok quality wise.

[ead]

Maybe keep a weather eye on the f/s bits of this very forum?

[Bassman68]

Another thumbs up for Entwistle pick-ups, I upgraded a Chinese affinity Squier with a set of these & a Gotoh bridge.

Edited June 26, 2017 by Bassman68

[Marc S]

Although there was nothing on the pickup to mark it as a Tonerider, I took one out of a Squier Classic Vibe P bass
I only did this as I was having it pro converted to a PJ and wanted to try Entwistles

The Squier CV pickup was actually really good. Guy I sold it to fitted it into a bass, and was over the moon with it
I don't know if they are toneriders - but they're half decent, So if you can get one try it

Alternatively, I can highly recommend the Entwistle PBXN. You need to rout out a deeper channel in the middle of your pickup cavity though
... for their oversized magnets - which don't half pack some punch! Don't be fooled by their low price btw

[BassBunny]

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Entwistle pickups and Wilkinson Hardware. Sorted[/font][/color]
[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]T[/font][/color][color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]he Wilkinson Vintage Bridge is a great buy.[/font][/color]