70's P Pickups: Serious Help Needed.

#61
SanDiegoHarry said:
I'm still confused as to what defines, pickup-wise, the "'70s sound" - my recollection was that aftermarket pickups, in addition to being hotter, just had more *sound* - you know, more richness / harmonic complexity - noticeably so. So the "stock sound" would be... what - deader? Duller? I'm not trying to troll here - I'm really curious (as a guy who owned multiple CBS Fenders and replaced the pickups in *all* of them)

thx
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IMO the 70's tone was the opposite of rich and warm. Those pickups were defined and had less low end. Lots of string noise and harmonics. Most would say they are thin sounding due to the lack of richness. They were replaced on a regular at the time. It's not a very appreciated era in the history of Fender basses and that's why that tone is not heavily replicated.
 
#63
DD Gunz said:
IMO the 70's tone was the opposite of rich and warm. Those pickups were defined and had less low end. Lots of string noise and harmonics. Most would say they are thin sounding due to the lack of richness. They were replaced on a regular at the time. It's not a very appreciated era in the history of Fender basses and that's why that tone is not heavily replicated.
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I would disagree. My fretted '78 P, which has been my main bass since the late 80s, has a tone that everyone not only loves, but prefers to nearly everything else I've ever played. It records well, and there isn't a situation it doesn't work. At the same time, the 60s P I had was not as versatile. It had a totally different tone taht did not sit properly in every mix. It sounded great, but a very different vibe.
 
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#64
FenderP said:
I would disagree. My fretted '78 P, which has been my main bass since the late 80s, has a tone that everyone not only loves, but prefers to nearly everything else I've ever played. It records well, and there isn't a situation it doesn't work. At the same time, the 60s P I had was not as versatile. It had a totally different tone taht did not sit properly in every mix. It sounded great, but a very different vibe.
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Some like it and some don't. I love it myself and so does my band. I was really meaning that pickups are not normally marketed as being 70's. Since the inception of this thread there has only been one production example of a 70's clone pickup. However, if I google 60's precision pickup, I will have to take a day off of work to sift through the available products.
 
#65
DD Gunz said:
Some like it and some don't. I love it myself and so does my band. I was really meaning that pickups are not normally marketed as being 70's. Since the inception of this thread there has only been one production example of a 70's clone pickup. However, if I google 60's precision pickup, I will have to take a day off of work to sift through the available products.
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Fender Japan did some "70s" replicas and I hesitate to call them they. They did not play, sound, or feel like any 70s P bass I ever played. My pickups have good tone (high and low end). Part of the problem with the 70s Fenders is they were so inconsistent in general in terms of builds - especially necks. I've played many a dog that was a 70s Fender.

I once played a 60s P that had its pickups replaced with 70s P pickups and it was all wrong. I heard it and knew that "sound" immediately. It wasn't labelled as having 70s pickups. If you've played/heard both, it's easy to tell.

Whatever my fretted 78 has, it sits perfectly in nearly every mix live or recorded, direct or amped. It's one of those basses that just has the mojo that many basses don't - including many 70s ones that I've owned over the years.
 
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#66
DD Gunz said:
IMO the 70's tone was the opposite of rich and warm. Those pickups were defined and had less low end. Lots of string noise and harmonics. Most would say they are thin sounding due to the lack of richness. They were replaced on a regular at the time. It's not a very appreciated era in the history of Fender basses and that's why that tone is not heavily replicated.
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Hence my confusion.
 
#67
now i am very interested in hearing this difference. my first real bass was a 72 SB RW and i never thought of it as lacking anything. I always thought of other later 70's i have played as sounding different but mostly because they all were maple necks. and of course we all lnow tort has a different sound than black pickguards... LOL

i have several 60's pbass so i may have to compare but will have to wait for a mojo pup. I too did the dimarzio changeout and i have no idea what i did with the grey bobbin pups.
 
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#68
jumbodbassman said:
now i am very interested in hearing this difference. my first real bass was a 72 SB RW and i never thought of it as lacking anything. I always thought of other later 70's i have played as sounding different but mostly because they all were maple necks. and of course we all lnow tort has a different sound than black pickguards... LOL

i have several 60's pbass so i may have to compare but will have to wait for a mojo pup. I too did the dimarzio changeout and i have no idea what i did with the grey bobbin pups.
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If you are a believer in the relationship between wood and tone (I am) the ash maple thing does make a difference IMO. I am a maple fan and all of my basses are maple necked. That being said, I have also swapped pickups on all of my basses but one and the 70's pickups were a definitive contribution to the tone. I'll do a comparison on the same bass if I get my hands on these 78's.
 
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#70
Couldn't agree more! I have a stock 76 and feel exactly the same way.
AMJBASS said:
My stock '76 is the best sounding Precision I've ever owned(including pre-CBS Fenders). The stock pickup is a bit brighter and higher output than a 60's Fender, but you can turn the tone knob down a 1/4 turn and its big fat and growly. I love hearing people just rip these basses haha. There are a lot of dogs out there, but there are also some real gems if you look. The 70's pickups did have a different sound.
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#75
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Just a little more help from those of you that are pickup swap happy. I am looking at picking these up and want to know how I would install them without lead wires attached. I have never installed pickups without the wire pre attached. Is it just a matter of soldering the existing wires to the pickups?

Please excuse my ignorance.
 

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#79
DD Gunz said:
So these shouldn't be an issue? Heat up the contacts on the existing pickups, remove wires, solder them to the 78's and I am good to go?
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Were it me, I would remove the old pickups by disconnecting them at the pots. I would leave the existing wires connected to the pickup contact points. I would use new wire to connect to the pickups you are installing, and then connect the new wire to the pots.
 
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