Pickup recommendations? Oldschool/gnarly tone

[Powertripper]

Hi all,

I've been using my trusty old 2010 MIM Precision lately, in B standard. I've used it for all kinds of purposes over the years, it's a pretty versatile workhorse and I like it, but as I got it when I was younger (one of few things I've ever bought new) and since then it's usually been a spare bass, I never bothered upgrading it in any way. I've been looking at other P's, as you do, I'd like an MIJ one really, or a lawsuit, basically mainly for playability (I like the MIM P but it does feel a bit clunky, I've had a go on MIA and MIJ's that have much thinner necks and lighter bodies), but then had the thought to changing the pickups - I've never done this before. The sound I get with the stock pickups is alright, but if there was something I can get that would either give it more of a vintage sound, or a gnarlier sound (vague terms, I know), it'd be interesting to try them out. Basically, any ideas, tips or experiences.... opinions, philosophies and deliberations.... much appreciated.

Also - I've had a look at the Geezer Butler EMGs, what do people think of them? I've had a look at some demos but the differences seem extremely subtle, if anything at all!

Cheers

[Lozz196]

The Geezers are very well thought of, not used the myself but not read a bad word about them. Vintage and old-school gnarly, well the Fender Custom Shop 62 is a good choice for that.

Also if changing pickups then changing pots/jack/capacitor is worth doing at the same time. If not confident with soldering Ki0gon on here does wiring looms that don’t require solder - they’re a good upgrade on stock Fender Mex parts.

Edited January 17, 2020 by Lozz196

[nilebodgers]

If you are diving into the electronics the main thing that needs replacing is the jack socket, the stock socket is a fairly crappy imprecise thing. A switchcraft socket sorts it out for £2-50-ish.

On my 2012 mim the pots are absolutely fine. I replaced the capacitor with a better part while I had it in bits, but it didn’t really need it.

[hooky_lowdown]

What strings do you use, and what budget do you have?

Many people think they need new pickups when a different set of strings (which has a massive impact on your sound) can give you an entirely different sound.

The geezer butler's are a perfect match for the sound you've described, if not a little too hot for a true vintage tone.

For a vintage tone with a bit of bite I'd suggest Wilkinson alnico if on a budget (£23). Or as Lozz said, fender custom shop 62 if you have the budget (£100+).

[JohnDaBass]

Go back to bassics! Take a look at the Split P DiMarzio Pups. Individual humbucking with a fantastic range of tones. John at KiOgon will help on the best value cap you need. 

[Paul S]

Tone is a very subjective thing as we all have different versions of the perfect P bass tone in our heads.  What I did  while back was use one of my bitsa Precisions as a kind of test bed for different pickups to see which I preferred.  I got a Ki0gon solderless loom and then it was easy to keep switching pups.  You can usually get them at reasonable cost in the classifieds here and move on again for very little loss.

[hooky_lowdown]

56 minutes ago, Paul S said:

Tone is a very subjective thing as we all have different versions of the perfect P bass tone in our heads

I don't think the OP was looking for the perfect tone. Instead they were fairly specific - vintage sounding with some bite?!?!

[Paul S]

19 minutes ago, hooky_lowdown said:

I don't think the OP was looking for the perfect tone. Instead they were fairly specific - vintage sounding with some bite?!?!

Gosh, nit-picking or what!  Not much planned for today?  How about 'the perfect vintage and gnarly tone in his head' which may be different to the perfect vintage and gnarly tone in your head, and also mine.  Does that work for you any better? 😁

 

[Jonse]

For a no-cost solution, maybe try raising the pickup height? 

 

A string change could be a good idea. Daddario chrome's are vintage with a bit of bite all over. 

[hooky_lowdown]

42 minutes ago, Paul S said:

Gosh, nit-picking or what!  Not much planned for today?  How about 'the perfect vintage and gnarly tone in his head' which may be different to the perfect vintage and gnarly tone in your head, and also mine.  Does that work for you any better? 😁

 

Ooooooh, someone got out of bed the wrong side this morning. 🤔

[Delberthot]

Something surprised me and not something that I had intended it for was adding a Behringer compressor sustainer. It added a bit of vintage, slightly overdriven bite to the sound to the sound of my Precision.

It was about £18 on Amazon.

YMMV of course, I may have just got lucky with the combination of pickups, strings, etc

Edited January 18, 2020 by Delberthot

[Skybone]

4 hours ago, Jonse said:

For a no-cost solution, maybe try raising the pickup height? 

 

A string change could be a good idea. Daddario chrome's are vintage with a bit of bite all over. 

I would check the pickup height first before anything, simply raising the pickup may well give you the kind of sound you're after.

If you want specific measurements, I'd say that you should have the treble side at around 2-3mm below the strings, and the bass side around 3-4mm below.

Also think about what strings you're using, I prefer stainless steel rounds, but it can get expensive trying different strings. Still cheaper than trying different pickups & getting your bass set up properly again.

[Powertripper]

22 hours ago, Lozz196 said:

The Geezers are very well thought of, not used the myself but not read a bad word about them. Vintage and old-school gnarly, well the Fender Custom Shop 62 is a good choice for that.

Also if changing pickups then changing pots/jack/capacitor is worth doing at the same time. If not confident with soldering Ki0gon on here does wiring looms that don’t require solder - they’re a good upgrade on stock Fender Mex parts.

The wiring loom sounds interesting, in all honesty I haven't seen these about so will look into it, cheers

21 hours ago, hooky_lowdown said:

What strings do you use, and what budget do you have?

Many people think they need new pickups when a different set of strings (which has a massive impact on your sound) can give you an entirely different sound.

The geezer butler's are a perfect match for the sound you've described, if not a little too hot for a true vintage tone.

For a vintage tone with a bit of bite I'd suggest Wilkinson alnico if on a budget (£23). Or as Lozz said, fender custom shop 62 if you have the budget (£100+).

I use Rotosound RB50/110s roundwounds and I'll have a look at the Fender Custom 62, I've seen the name for that come up a few times
 

[Lozz196]

I used to use the Roto 50-110s and had a very low bassy sound, switched to 45-105s and midrange growl was suddenly there, may be worth a try before a pickup swap?

[fretmeister]

Aguilar 60s wind P.

Fat with bite when digging in.

 

[Powertripper]

On 18/01/2020 at 20:06, Lozz196 said:

I used to use the Roto 50-110s and had a very low bassy sound, switched to 45-105s and midrange growl was suddenly there, may be worth a try before a pickup swap?

Yeah I'm just gonna try changing strings and have a play about with that. I've used Rotosounds without question for years, and I change them every 2 gigs - I used to use 40/100s* when I did more stuff in standard, and I have a bunch left over, so I might try a set of those on them, if that's not too drastic without a big setup

*edited from accidental typing of 40/110's

Edited January 21, 2020 by Powertripper

[Wilson_51_]

if your playing in b standard with 45-105s i personally would try upping it. bottom 4 strings of a 5 string set.

[pintspiller]

If in doubt about pickups give Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounders a try.

I agree with replacing pots and jack socket. I did this with my VM Jazz and bitsa Precision. If you're on a tight budget or don't want to sink a lot of dough into a full upgrade, this was a great improvement. I got my kits from a guy on eBay at something like £15 each.