Squier p-bass

[rushfan]

ive had a squier p-bass that was my workhorse for many years, but its pickups are dying. i want to get a few more years of use out of her before the neck or body goes. anyway, can any of you reccomend a good pickup set? the tone pot and the pickups both are up and down and i cant keep constantly fixing it.

[richbass939]

You could always go for Alembic P-shaped activators.
http://www.alembic.com/prod/pickups.html
Rich

[2400wattman]

Bartolini's hands down if you can't get Alembic's P pickups

[elwoodblue]

G&L's are great for a low budget passive set-up.
 
I have some NOS Basslines I bought from Andy here that I would pass along to you for what they cost me if you like.They have white covers.

[terryc]

Rushfan - I put a PJ set Alembic Activators with twin vol, bass & treble in my Squier some years ago. It transformed the sound although I did have to route the rear of the body to accomodate the PU.
They say the early japanese vintage series(JV with serial number on the neck plate,around 1980 to 1986ish) are worth a bit now. If you want to keep the original look then Alembic do a Precision pick up with volume and filter.
I think the battery just fits inside although widening the cavity with a router wouldn't be too much a problem as it is hidden by the scratchplate.
Mind you you could put an original Fender PU in which wouldn't be detrimental to the value.
Lots of choice to a classic design!

[rushfan]

the instrument isn't worth much more than i paid for it. i was thinking maybe emg's or a fender custom shop pickup set.i was going to make it look like a 60s fender p-bass. im still sorta borderline on that, maybe a hybrid set.

[terryc]

Is it Korean or Japanese, as I said the JV series are getting as valuable as the Tokai guitars. As previously mentioned look for the JV number on the neck plate See pics

 

  (Message edited by davehouck on October 08, 2008)

[rami]

Why not go for a set of original Fender pickups?  Great sound and long lasting, plus they'll keep you Bass original if you ever consider selling it.

[hieronymous]

As long as we're showing pictures...
 

 
Got these for $250 off of someone selling on the forum. Keep your eyes peeled! A bit of routing did need to be done in order for the pots to clear the bottom of the cavity and not make the pickguard bulge a teeny bit...

[white_cloud]

Simply has to be Bartolini - the best (apart from Alembic) that money can buy!
 
I swear by Bartolini and have fitted thenm to every Fender I ever had!

[rushfan]

its indonesion but it has a lot of sentimental value to it.

[LMiwa]

I have a set of DiMarzio Model P pickups that I'm not using. A little brighter than OEM's. They were the hot setup back in the day...   (OK waaaay back in the day! )
 
$5 to cover shipping and they're yours. If you're interested, let me know.
 
(Message edited by lmiwa on October 09, 2008)

[terryc]

rushfan - sounds like a good offer from Imiwa if the bass is for sentimental value other than monitary.
My Squier was my first bass and now in the hands of EMO/Metal bass playing son.

[terryc]

hieronymous - SO what does it sound like, is it unbalanced?. Is the big Fender pu a humbucker and passive??. If it is then is there a impedance mismatch or do you switch between the two??  Very interesting..shed more light please!!!

[hieronymous]

Here's the thread that I originally posted the bass in, but I'll run it down quick (yeah twist my arm to talk about my basses!) - I actually asked to have the pickups wired completely separately. So he used a jack plate from a fake Rickenbacker. One is the passive humbucker all by itself, with no tone knob. I hate passive tone knobs, never ever use them. So that's the single chrome knob. Then, the Alembic pups are the other two knobs, volume and filter. It's a great bass, an early-mid '70s Telecaster, big fat neck, strung with flats. Here's a couple of soundclips (that are also buried in the other thread):
 
rays of sound
 
8B4X4
 
I never thought I would like the sound of slapping with flats, but with the filter full open I thought it sounded pretty good!