New pickups for Spector 4-string

[Rich]

I'm going to change the pickups in my Spector Q4 - it currently has EMG HZ soapbars and they're ok, but I want to swap them out for something a bit more... well, more. 
I've looked at Aguilars and Delanos but they're well out of my reach £-wise, and active EMGs seem to be the Spector thing so I'm going with them. The 35DC is my current favourite for the bridge, but the 35TW is also a possibility. For the neck, I'm quite interested in the 35P4. A good ballsy P tone is ideal for much of the stuff I play, and the P4 seems like the perfect candidate. Or would I be better with the reversed-coils P4X?
Any experience-based advice welcome.

Edited November 4, 2023 by Rich

[NancyJohnson]

If you've read enough if my posts, you'll know my stance on swapping out pickups, especially if they're actually functioning without issue.

 

At this point, I suppose it's worth looking at the bass itself; I'll try and be the voice of reason here as we all suffer this affliction of throwing £££ at 'upgrades'.  The Q4s are selling on the used market at (Reverb) £200-400, which actually surprised me.

 

Until I saw what they're selling for, I was going to suggest sticking a John East Uni-Pre 4 in it, but at £220 well, you can do the maths.  If you went the upgrade path and sold the old/original pickups, you're still going to be potentially £100 (or more) out of pocket.  (Do the maths, again.)

 

End of the day, you've pretty much made a decision here.  Me, I'd be thinking, 'Do I love this bass enough to throw a bunch of money at it to make it something it's not and understand I'm never going to make any of that money back if I decide to sell it on because I'm still not happy?'

[Baloney Balderdash]

In my experience swapping pickups can make a huge difference and is potentially capable of taking a bass from decent sounding to amazing sounding (of course though depending on the specific bass and pickups in question, as said potentially).

 

I upgraded the pickups in one of my cheap budget basses with a set of pickups that nearly costed as much as the bass, and I don't regret it one bit, it really was it all worth.

 

It's hard to calculate the value of tone in money, in fact it doesn't really make any sense at all, unless profit and not tone is your goal.

 

Also isn't the point exactly making the bass something it is not currently, but has potential to be?

 

In fact just the right pickups can even help bringing out the true character of a bass, which certainly far from is always the case with the stock pickups.

 

 

Edited November 6, 2023 by Baloney Balderdash

[Paulhauser]

@Rich My first hand experiences based on swapping different EMGs in my Euro and US Spectors:

- The P works really well in the neck position and the pairing with the DC in bridge position is an ideal match. The 35J works well there, too, but its output is lot less than the P and has to be matched by pickup height. Mind you by default "soapbar" housing EMG P's are reversed, the "normal" position (treble side closer to the bridge) can be ordered as custom from EMG.

Also MAKE SURE you get the 35P4, not the 35P as the latter is for five string basses with offset magnets (2/3) 

- The TW is a great sounding pu, but if you go that way make sure your get the X series TW ("TWX") as the original TW suffers a huge volume loss when using the coil tap and that is fixed with the X series one. Be aware that you need to change the wiring and also have to drill larger hole to accomodate typosthe push/pull pot that does the coil tap (included in the package) because its shaft has a larger diameter.

- In my experience I like the X series EMGs better (marked by and X in the modell name, like 35JX)

Edited November 6, 2023 by Paulhauser
typos fixed

[Cosmo Valdemar]

I always liked the EMG HZ set in my NS2000. They were more to my taste than the full-fat EMGs in my Euros, but they were PJ so not a direct comparison.

 

It might be cheaper an easier to swap the preamp - I'm not sure which one is it the Q series but my 2000 had the EMG BTS preamp which worked very well.

[Rich]

My preamp is the EMG BTS, I'm happy with it. TBH my main driver for the pickup change is to get more beef and aggression especially from the neck pickup.

[cetera]

I'd go the 35P4 in the neck and 35DC in the bridge, all day every day....
Night and day from the Hz pickups and ideally matched with the BTS circuit.

[Rich]

On 05/11/2023 at 08:17, NancyJohnson said:

If you've read enough if my posts, you'll know my stance on swapping out pickups, especially if they're actually functioning without issue.

 

At this point, I suppose it's worth looking at the bass itself; I'll try and be the voice of reason here as we all suffer this affliction of throwing £££ at 'upgrades'.  The Q4s are selling on the used market at (Reverb) £200-400, which actually surprised me.

 

Until I saw what they're selling for, I was going to suggest sticking a John East Uni-Pre 4 in it, but at £220 well, you can do the maths.  If you went the upgrade path and sold the old/original pickups, you're still going to be potentially £100 (or more) out of pocket.  (Do the maths, again.)

 

End of the day, you've pretty much made a decision here.  Me, I'd be thinking, 'Do I love this bass enough to throw a bunch of money at it to make it something it's not and understand I'm never going to make any of that money back if I decide to sell it on because I'm still not happy?'

I'd probably keep the original HZ pickups, and re-fit them if I move the bass on (which at the moment I think is highly unlikely).

 

 

[thisisswanbon]

I'd be inclined to agree with @NancyJohnson on this one... I had a Spector Rebop 4MM that I loved the look of and in headphones but struggled in the mix.  Spent upwards of £450 on an Aguilar MM pickup and a custom commissioned routeless pick up.  Made a difference tonally but it still wasn't what I expected and didn't drown out the other niggles I had...

 

If the bass doesn't do what you want it to, then I'd change the bass; not the electronics

[Rich]

On 06/11/2023 at 09:34, cetera said:

I'd go the 35P4 in the neck and 35DC in the bridge, all day every day....
Night and day from the Hz pickups and ideally matched with the BTS circuit.

And so that's what I'm now doing. New 35P4 and 35DC are on their way to me now 😀

[iconic]

Have you tried playing about with the BTS Dip switches. 

 

I believe they only alter the treble but sure alters the overall sound😎

[cetera]

I like the dip switches with both ON....

[Rich]

I've had an extensive fiddle about with the DIP switches. Still experimenting. They're both Off at the moment but that's sure to change as I keep fiddling.  

[Rich]

Woohoo  new sonic toys.

 

[Paulhauser]

@Rich have you done the swap? If so how're you liking the result?

[Rich]

Not yet... I need a gap between gigs. 

[Rich]

Here's a thought. Obviously the new pickups are active, and so is the eq. So... will it all work off a single 9v PP3? The installation instructions suggest that 2x9v is preferable in such circumstances, but it doesn't say it's mandatory. Problem being that if I want to go 18v, I will need to do some routing first -- thus making it all a substantially bigger job.

[cetera]

No. 9v is fine.

[neepheid]

I used to run 2x EMG-HB (a 35P4 in a guitar humbucker sized housing) and an EMG-BQC control off a single 9V battery in my Les Paul without issue, if that helps?

Edited November 14, 2023 by neepheid

[Rich]

Yup, thanks for the reassurance chaps. 👍