pbass tone from 5 string soapbars?

S

swarfrat

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I'm a NARB (not a real bassist).My lone remaining bass is a Yamaha. BBN5 with soap bars. I want more of a classic Pbass tone, that deep semi-articulate thud with a nice burp to it when slapped, but the bass pretty much wants to pretend its a Jazz.

Were I to buy a bass right now, it would probably be a 4 string tuned to C# or D rather than a 5 string. Its not at all a bad bass, its just not me.

I believe there are aftermarket pickups for this housing, but my impression is they're virtually all for Jaco wannabees and what I'm chasing is known as "Bog Standard P bass".

Should I play with pickups, or sell it, take my beating on a used Yammy and go buy someone elses Craigslist squire pbass?
 
swarfrat said:
I'm a NARB (not a real bassist).My lone remaining bass is a Yamaha. BBN5 with soap bars. I want more of a classic Pbass tone, that deep semi-articulate thud with a nice burp to it when slapped, but the bass pretty much wants to pretend its a Jazz.

Were I to buy a bass right now, it would probably be a 4 string tuned to C# or D rather than a 5 string. Its not at all a bad bass, its just not me.

I believe there are aftermarket pickups for this housing, but my impression is they're virtually all for Jaco wannabees and what I'm chasing is known as "Bog Standard P bass".

Should I play with pickups, or sell it, take my beating on a used Yammy and go buy someone elses Craigslist squire pbass?
Click to expand...

Bartolini makes a series of split-coil soapbar pickups, where the coils are configured in a P-bass style, but housed in a soapbar shape.
I've never tried them, but it would be a good place to start some YouTube research ......
 
Also ... if you want to try active pickups, the Duncan ABS-5 has a similar design ....
 

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A quick search leads me to suspect $250 ie the going actually sold for price. squire pbass runs less than that new. Hmmmm
 
Well, IMHO, the only way to get a P bass sound is with the split P pickup.  Kinda like how a "real" Strat sound comes from the angled bridge pickup.  The soapbar pickups I suggested at least have the split coil design ... whether that actually gives you an authentic P bass tone is up for debate ... but at least it is a step in the right direction.
 
For what it's worth..,

Save up and buy the P Bass of your dreams. 

Keep the Yamy as a backup for those 'scary' gigs.
 
Plan B. Bought a used squire p bass for $80. Yehah! Yamaha's officially for sale now. I can even get my Roland hex pickup with the difference
 
for what it's worth, I am really diggin' SD's Steve Harris P-bass split-coil. -Noticeably more articulate than my SD QP's, then again, the pick-up costs as much as your Squier is worth, so...  :dontknow:
 
I really liked what I've heard of the Quarter Pounders. I'm gonna sit on this one a while before I do anything to it. Though the white pickguard might turn into red or brown  tortie.
10400040_10203189342568095_3006949849320491871_n_zps39a8d919.jpg
 
Don' get me wrong! -I love the QP's (-got 'em in three other builds, fretted and not, and they ARE cool), but if ya want a different take on the traditional P sound, the Harris model is really sweet.  :icon_thumright:
 
Like I said - "Bog standard P-bass" is pretty much what I'm shooting for. I tried it through the board last night after my kid was in bed, using my Behinger GT21 clone for a preamp. That was excessively bright, but I'm blaming that on guitar eq'd distortion pedal with the gain turned down. I'll stick the Yamaha PB1 back in the rack tonight and try again.
 
I bought the squire for $80, threw a set of tapewounds on it and fell in love. I then stuck the Yamaha in a gig bag so it wouldn't get beat up when my son wants to play guitars.  After a few insulting offers from the same guy who creeped me out so much I refused to deal with him even when he offered full price, I finally decided I wasn't going to get enough for it and it was better to keep it.

So the pickup housing appears to be EMG45 size, even though its a five string. I see EMG makes a 45P and a PX. Bartolini and a few others also make P sounding pickups in a 45 housing (although Bart seems to not want to use industry standard terms. As someone here says talking about music is like dancing about architecture, but at least you learn the cliches after a while. Deep, split quad WTH?)

The perennial question with any P coil and odd numbers of strings is "where does it split and does it matter?"  Anyone have experience with any of the split coil pickups in the 45 housing? What's the X mean on EMG's? Guitar pickup descriptions are like "wound under a new moon with magnets forged in an active volcano, this pickup will get you laid, while sounding like Jimi".  Bass pickups are more like "55PTx4Mqj. Buy it. Or not. We don't really care, unless we have to turn the pickup winder back on. We all hate that machine, Janet is the only person who knows how to start it, and shes on maternity leave."
 
I like the EMG P soapbars as one of the best EMG variants, but I don't really think they sound like a classic P-bass PU.

EMG's X series just have a supposedly better internal preamp.
 
I'm actually in the process of putting a Batolini 5-string P pickup into a MIM Fender Jazz 5 string.
With the Fender 5-string P pickup, the bass side is actually longer than the treble side, so it covers the top 3 strings (B, E, A), and the treble side the bottom 2 (D, G).
If you look at the coil config of both the Batrolini 5 string P, and the Nordstrand 5 string P, they work exactly the same way, except that the housing is the "normal" shape.

Incidentally, I plan on putting my 5 string P pickup "reversed" (bass side closer to the bridge), like Warwick and some old Ibanezes.
 
Exactly, which is why I'm hesitant to throw a 6 string Pwannabe in there. The 45 housing is a 6 string housing. Yamaha put it on a 5 string bass.  I'm leery of spending $100 only to have my A string fall in the cracks  (or Bb, I usually tune CFBbEbAb, 34 inches make a heack of a lot better C basses than thy do B basses)
 
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