P Bass Pickups - Worth the cost?

[BassApprentice]

Currently building up a P bass in fits and starts and the last piece I need is the pickups. I've never had an extended spell with a P bass before so not sure on quite what I'm looking for.

 

I know there's always a good selection available in the classifieds, but I can't decide if I need the more expensive ones (like the Lindy Fralins for sale) or will I really be just as happy with a set of Tone Riders and half the price, or even the eBay specials for £10?

 

I'm an occasional player at moment and want this P bass to be that classic P bass with flats/tapes funk machine. So what would others do in my shoes?

[acidbass]

I recently replaced a V Mod with a Lindy Fralin standard and the difference was night and day.  I guess it depends what sound you're after but it seems like a good all rounder.

[uk_lefty]

All I can say is that I bought some diMarzio model Ps for a bitsa and they were worth every penny. They go for about fifty quid second hand. Really nice pickup for a vintage P bass sound. Not all P bass pickups are the same, they were a long way different from the Steve Harris Seymour Duncan pups I had in a previous bass, so try to find some sound samples and see where your preference is. 

[Lozz196]

The Fralins are going to be better, pretty much the top end of Precision pickups, but imo Toneriders punch way above their price tag and are worth looking at.

[Groove Harder]

5 minutes ago, uk_lefty said:

All I can say is that I bought some diMarzio model Ps for a bitsa and they were worth every penny. They go for about fifty quid second hand. Really nice pickup for a vintage P bass sound. Not all P bass pickups are the same, they were a long way different from the Steve Harris Seymour Duncan pups I had in a previous bass, so try to find some sound samples and see where your preference is. 

Yup,

Can't go wrong with DiMarzio Model P's. 

 

If you wanna go really cheap the Entwistle PBXN's are very good bang for buck but are probably too aggressive and modern for what you require them for.

[Maude]

1 hour ago, Groove Harder said:

 

 

If you wanna go really cheap the Entwistle PBXN's are very good bang for buck but are probably too aggressive and modern for what you require them for.

 

I really like the Entwistle budget P's. 

PBXN (neodymium) for modern aggressive tones, very similar to the Seymour Duncan Quarter Pound. 

Or PBX (ceramic) for a more vintage tone. 

Or Tonerider (alnico) for proper vintage tone. 

 

All a similar price and very good value for money. 

[skidder652003]

https://www.bareknucklepickups.co.uk/pickups/p-bass

[Guest]

I love the Model P in my Squier, but tbh its never occurred to me to think that it's giving me a "vintage" sound, I bought it to do quite the opposite (sound like an Ibanez Blazer)

[BassAdder60]

Dimarzio model P 👍

[Paolo85]

I was just considering a pickup change for a Squier Affinity PJ so I am reading with interest.

I personally was considering doing it in stages: start with affordable pickups and see if I am happy. Ultimately the bass is making me happy even as it is, although it is maybe a bit muddy.

 

I'll take the opportunity to ask a question: what do people think of the Wilkinson alnico 5? How do they compare with Toneriders?

 

If you want to spend money, I suggest also checking some sound samples of the Aguilar 60s. I have only heard them on Youtube, never tried them, but if I wanted to invest more I personally think I would go for those

[fretmeister]

My favourite traditional one is the Aguilar 60s wind. The AG 4P-60

 

And I’ve got a Dimarzio Relentless that has just been fitted. Very different!

[Lozz196]

@Paolo85 I had a Wilkinson pickup in a Vintage Tony Butler Precision and to me it sounded very near the Tonerider & Fender CS62.

[kodiakblair]

4 hours ago, BassApprentice said:

I'm an occasional player at moment and want this P bass to be that classic P bass with flats/tapes funk machine.

I'm wondering if the folks suggesting DiMarzio have read that sentence.

 

 DiMarzio's place in the market was helped by roundwound becoming the norm. The combination of roundwounds and the overwound Model P (output further boosted by ceramic magnets) was a breath of fresh air to jaded alnico/flats players , louder/brighter = better 😄

 

Want old P-bass tone ?  Stick with Alnico 5 👍

[3below]

DiMarzio P in one of my basses with TI flats.  Aggressive, thumpy, no shortage of highs, can be tamed with volume / tone.  Approaches my G&L SB-1 MFD for hotness :).  Cheapy (but very good) Wilkinson Alnico vintage P in another bass with TIs (again).  Thumpy, complex, darker, good highs if needed.  Much more relaxed than the DiMarzio.  When you take a basic P pickup and analyse it, fibreboard, magnetised Alnico rods and copper wire of a given gauge wound to a given resistance and inductance, how hard is it to reproduce 'vintage' or other specs?  Hence (imo) the quality / price ratio of Wilkinsons (and some others).

[PaulThePlug]

Kent Armstrong (Korean) Hot Vintage... from WD Music... £58...

Edited June 10, 2022 by PaulThePlug

[Geek99]

“Blues tribute” from eBay 

totally immense sound for pennies 

 

folks at bass bash said it ‘sounded just like a p bass should’

[LukeFRC]

As someone’s currently selling a Fralin and a bass with a Dimarzio Model P they are both very good and both utterly different. 
Fralin is more vintagey I would guess mid-late 60s sound, DiMarzio is hotter, punchy and with ceramic magnets and sounds very different.

my Bravewood P is going for a early 60s vibe and having tried the Fralin decided to keep the Alan Dingwall spirit of pickup it had been built with - lower output, warmer and more open sounding and a different take on vintage fender sound compared to the Fralin.

I’ve also enjoyed a SD spb-1 in the past. And hate the sound of active EMGs 

YMMV 

 

what’s worth spending? Depends what sound you are going for and really on the amount of time and money sunk into the project. If you are trying to do a build to a low budget then £100 on a pickup seems daft. If you’ve already spent a reasonable amount, a p bass is a fairly  simple instrument and after the neck the pickup is probably the most important thing in it. 

[jezzaboy]

19 hours ago, Lozz196 said:

The Fralins are going to be better, pretty much the top end of Precision pickups, but imo Toneriders punch way above their price tag and are worth looking at.

I have a Tonerider in a Nate Mendel with Fender flats and they are a great pickup. There was a story that it was these that were fitted to the original made in China Classic Vibe P basses. I think that you can end up going down a rabbit hole when it comes to changing pickups and I have been guilty of this in the past.

[kodiakblair]

1 hour ago, jezzaboy said:

I think that you can end up going down a rabbit hole when it comes to changing pickups and I have been guilty of this in the past.

All too easy done.

 

Drawer at my feet is a doss house for 12 split-P, 10 sets of jazz singles, 8 P-bass singles and about 9 humbuckers 🤣

[Maude]

Someone should incorporate a pickup into the heel of a neck, so that the last two frets are also humbucker rails, and then have series/parallel/single coil switching. 

 

Absolute genius or delusional idiot? You decide. 

[LukeFRC]

1 minute ago, Maude said:

Someone should incorporate a pickup into the heel of a neck, so that the last two frets are also humbucker rails, and then have series/parallel/single coil switching. 

 

Absolute genius or delusional idiot? You decide. 

Aye would be great if you slap down onto the fret too... 

[Maude]

1 minute ago, LukeFRC said:

Aye would be great if you slap down onto the fret too... 

Yeah, that would make quite a noise, as would using those frets. 

 

 

 

Let's go with delusional idiot then... as you were. 

 

😄

[chris_b]

Many years ago, I replaced my original Fender Precision pickup with Bartolini. My sound went from average and anaemic to a glorious dynamic, punchy and warm sound.

 

The Barts that came on my early Lakland 55-94 produced an equally fantastic sound.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Maude said:

Absolute genius or delusional idiot? You decide

 

Dave Mustaine used to use the neck humbucker as a fretboard extention.

 

(I appreciate that this observation does nothing to answer your question)

[sky]

7 hours ago, kodiakblair said:

All too easy done.

 

Drawer at my feet is a doss house for 12 split-P, 10 sets of jazz singles, 8 P-bass singles and about 9 humbuckers 🤣

any cool ones that youre looking to sell?