Fender Lace Sensor PJ Pickups Issue

[essarache90]

Hi guys,
So I recently bought a 1990 USA Fender Precision Plus. It has Lace Sensor pickups and some funky electronics to it (3-way selector switch, series parallel switch, 1 volume, 1 TBX tone control.) See attached picture.

The problem is, these pickups are so bleh. I don't know if anyone has had experience with them or not, but the volume output is laughably quiet, and so thin. It doesn't sound like a P bass.

I would like to try and replace the pickups, but I have never done this before and I am afraid with the advanced electronics, I would have issues.

So, could anyone recommend some good PJ pickups? And do I have to wire them to have the series/parallel etc? Or should I just take it to somewhere like Guitar Center?

Thanks

 

[Lammchop93]

I think those are active pickups. Did you try a new battery?

 

[essarache90]

I think those are active pickups. Did you try a new battery?

No they're not active pickups - we checked all under the pickguard and there is no battery.

 

[groooooove]

funny that this is such a recent thread,

i was just thinking about replacing the pickups in my exact same bass in black. was my first bass 15 years ago.

compared to another bass with dimarzio willpower in it, the fender sounds kinda soft. i'd like something with a little more character, nice midrange hump p-sounding pickup.

no idea where to begin looking for replacements, though.

 

[feterpatch]

I have the same bass in black which I bought new back in '91. They are truly great playing basses but I too found the pickups to be somewhat tepid with little character. They don't sound bad, just kind of "meh". I eventually had a tech swap out the P pickup for a late '70s Dimarzio and the bass came alive. Also bypassed the series/parallel switch. I still run the lace J pickup but want to swap that out too.

 

[Growlmonkee]

I love my EMG GZR pickups, the set, (either just P, or P/J) comes with pots, and jack, all plug in, no solder, and sounds amazing. If you go with that setup, it probably would do best to remove everything, and just use the EMG plug in setup. You can read quite a few reviews on them in this section of TB. To my ears they sound like Vintage, with an edge, and a bit more bottom.