P bass pickup to change or not to change

bandmaster188

I bought a p bass last year  and it came with a Seymour Duncan quarter pounder fitted. 
I don't really have a problem with how it sounds but was thinking of trying something more vintage, something like the SD spb1 or the fender original.
any thoughts on how these pickups compare to the quarter pounder or do I stick with what I've got?
cheers.

ICBM

If you’re used to the QP and like it, any vintage-style pickup will sound weak.

If you can, borrow another P-Bass or just take yours to a shop to compare...

guitarfishbay

If you are finding it cloudy then a vintage pickup will likely have a bit more clarity to it. I found o preferred vintage P style pickups myself, even though I do like hotter pickups too like the Dimarzio model P. 

bandmaster188

Trying a p bass with a standard pickup would probably be the smart option.
i suppose I'm curious to see how my bass will sound with a more vintage pickup. The quarter pounder seems to cover a lot of ground and I don't find that it's woolly. But I think I might be missing out on that proper p bass clunk!

guitargeek62

I’ve got a vintage-styled tonerider OEM one in my squier bass if you want to swap for a bit? Oddly enough I’ve been toying with getting a quarter-pounder for it anyway!

Funkfingers

bandmaster188 said:

p bass ... Seymour Duncan quarter pound ... don't really have a problem with how it sounds ... thinking of trying something more vintage

• What exact make/model is your bass guitar?
• What strings are you currently using? 
• What amplification do you use?
• What musical style(s) do you usually play?

bandmaster188

guitargeek62 said:

I’ve got a vintage-styled tonerider OEM one in my squier bass if you want to swap for a bit? Oddly enough I’ve been toying with getting a quarter-pounder for it anyway!

Might consider this but have a few gigs coming up over the next few weeks so will need to wait until there is a gap in proceedings.

Funkfingers said:

bandmaster188 said:

p bass ... Seymour Duncan quarter pound ... don't really have a problem with how it sounds ... thinking of trying something more vintage

• What exact make/model is your bass guitar?
• What strings are you currently using? 
• What amplification do you use?
• What musical style(s) do you usually play?

Fender USA standard p
currently has d'addario rounds on but will be changing back to the EB cobalt flats soon.
fender rumble 500
covers band is quite varied.rock and pop stuff mainly but blues and soul stuff is where my heart is.

Funkfingers

bandmaster188 said:
Fender USA standard p,  d'addario rounds. fender rumble 500. quite varied rock and pop stuff mainly but blues and soul stuff is where my heart is.

Fender upped the spec on the pickup in the American Standard instruments a few years ago from a mediocre offering to the AVRI '62 unit. The latter is worth trying for vintage tones. In my opinion, the former is not.

The Duncan SPB-1 will not be much different to the Fender AVRI '62. My favourite is the Seymour Duncan Antiquity for P Bass.

In your position, I would make one change at a time.
1) Flatwound strings
2) Replace TBX tone control (if present) with regular 250k passive treble roll off tone control
3) Replace SPB-3 with vintage style pickup

bandmaster188

I've tried a couple of different sets of flats and absolutely love them and i definitely get that classic p sound even with the quarter pounder. Unfortunately I found they weren't really working in the band situation. The Cobalt flats do offer a good hallway house between flat and rounds.
bass is a 2002 so no tbx. 
Which leaves option 3 
i think I might just bite the bullet and buy something vintagey. If doesn't work out, I can revert back to the QP.

Funkfingers

bandmaster188 said:

bass is a 2002 

The 2002 stock pickup is the not-so-impressive version. It may have plastic bobbin forms rather than vulcanised fibreboard. Give it a go anyway. It will give some impression of the general output of a vintage style pickup.

bandmaster188 said:

the band situation

What does your band situation demand? More output? Articulate high frequency detail? Tight low frequencies? 

If the classic blobulent throb of a P Bass with flatwound strings does not answer the brief, you might need to go active. [Pause whilst Bridgehouse narrowly avoids vomiting in disgust.] 

If you like Seymour Duncan pickups, check out their APB-1 Pro Active and APB-2 Lightnin' Rods models. My favourite is their long-discontinued Active EQ series pickups with the little white switches set into the top of the plastic cover. Those little switches save needing to have a bunch of active EQ rotary controls.

KKJale

Appreciative LOL for blobulent throb. 

bandmaster188

Whoah back there Mr Fingers. What is this active 'p' blasphemy you speak of??? I may need to borrow bridgehouse's puke bucket.
just to recap, I like the way my P bass sounds with the QP but as the bass came with it, I've not heard it's vintage side which I'm curious to try out. Blobulent throb is definitely something I need to experiment with.

Funkfingers

KKJale said:

blobulent 

The word blobulent has been brought to you today by the letters F and Z.

Bridgehouse

I dunno about a puke bucket, but any throb my blobulent P basses might have had has stopped at the horror of having a 9v battery shoved liberally up their private cavity.

Matron..!