Replacement pick ups for Squier tele bass - single coil

[Paultrader]

I have a Squier Precision Bass - I think it's a Classic Vibe 50s bass (tele bass) with the early single coil pick up. I use it as a back up bass or when I'm booked for an outdoor gig and I'm not sure of the conditions - you know what I mean.

 

I love it, it's a joy to play, but the pick up just seems to lack something and I'd like to try an alternative. Seymour Duncan do four different types but I can't decide which one to try. Looking at the specs, I think the Hot Single Coil P-Bass might be the one to go for - has anyone got experience of these?

 

Opinions and advice welcomed!

 

Paul

[Paul S]

I have a Retrovibe short scale 50s telebass style thing and the pickup in that is phenomenal.  The pickup can be bought on its own and is incredibly good value - the overwound 9.2K one is in stock at £35.

 

https://retrovibe.co.uk/product/retrovibe-51p-replacement-single-coil-bass-pickup-for-50s-precision-alnico-poles-cloth-wire-string-binding/

[kodiakblair]

4 hours ago, Paultrader said:

Opinions and advice welcomed!

Can't say I've been too impressed the Seymour Duncan single coils.

 

They're are a bit like Nescafe ; well known brand but not particularly good coffee 😀

 

 

 

Herrick in Wales do a couple of nice 51 single coils , both straight singles or split singles (if you worry about hum get the split).

Jess Loureiro does split and single too, really like his split 👍

Dave at Bloodstone does a really nice single, the custom super overwound split he made is great. 

Martin Harmer built me an Alnico 2 single , that turned out really well 🙂

 

On eBay you can find a brilliant low wire count alnico 5 from China for £12 .

 

Bootstrap in the US do another single at £40.

 

There's also Haussel in Germany and Bare Knuckle though I haven't tried them.

 

Keep your eyes peeled for somebody selling a Roswell from a Harley Benton PB-50 , same alnico slugs as Duncan QPs but a more balanced tone.

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

20 minutes ago, kodiakblair said:

Keep your eyes peeled for somebody selling a Roswell from a Harley Benton PB-50 , same alnico slugs as Duncan QPs but a more balanced tone.

I'd second this advice. I recently acquired a secondhand PB-50 for £50 and have reshaped the headstock & applied a new decal, made a loom with CTS pots, puretone socket & orange drop capacitor, fitted super-knurly domed knobs, squier tuners, a Fender HiMass Bridge, chrome pickup cover, and a well worn-in set of thomastik flats. I'm so knocked out by the tone with the stock Roswell pickup that there's no way I'd consider changing it - it punches well above its weight.

[Boodang]

Creamery pickups come highly recommended. I've got several jazz and P basses with his custom pickups in and they are amazing. The P bass needs no eq with his 'custom '14' solo pup in it. He also does a '52 tele in either alnico 5 or 2 magnets but you can have discussion with him about the tone you want and he'll wind to suit. Why go off the shelf when for the same money you can go custom!

[Doctor J]

I built a 54 style P recently and spent a long time listening to videos of different single coil and dual coil variations of that pickup style. I listened to demos of small custom pickup builders as well as the big brands and was completely open-minded as to what pickup I was going to go for. Based on what I heard, the Seymour Duncan SCPB-1 Vintage Single Coil is, unexpectedly, what sounded best to me so that's what I went with. It's exactly what I wanted from the pickup in real

life, too.

 

 

I used it for last month's composition challenge. This is the bass strung with Chromes, DI'd with a very small smidge of EQ and some compression applied.

 

 

[JohnDaBass]

11 hours ago, kodiakblair said:

Can't say I've been too impressed the Seymour Duncan single coils.

 

They're are a bit like Nescafe ; well known brand but not particularly good coffee 😀

 

 

 

Herrick in Wales do a couple of nice 51 single coils , both straight singles or split singles (if you worry about hum get the split).

Jess Loureiro does split and single too, really like his split 👍

Dave at Bloodstone does a really nice single, the custom super overwound split he made is great. 

Martin Harmer built me an Alnico 2 single , that turned out really well 🙂

 

On eBay you can find a brilliant low wire count alnico 5 from China for £12 .

 

Bootstrap in the US do another single at £40.

 

There's also Haussel in Germany and Bare Knuckle though I haven't tried them.

 

Keep your eyes peeled for somebody selling a Roswell from a Harley Benton PB-50 , same alnico slugs as Duncan QPs but a more balanced tone.

Agree totally with the above. Jess Loureiro '51 split is very authentic and versatile,  but I would add Lindy Fralin '51 split 5% over wound to @kodiakblair 's list. It's a top notch Fender 51 tone without hum and with a very wide range of useful tones. (But pricey)

Edited May 31, 2022 by JohnDaBass
Correction

[Paultrader]

Hi Everyone, thank you very much for the advice here - I'll certainly follow it up. 

 

I'll let you know what I end up with.

 

Cheers,

 

Paul

[zitherman]

Ive recently built 2 x 51 style precisions.both fitted with spirit pickups by alan dingwall.superb pickups at a very fair price.highly recommended.

Edited June 3, 2022 by zitherman