has any other players had experience with the Kloppmann PB63 yet? I’ve been trying precision-bass pick ups, for a long long time. These still sound like the best pups on the market today. Don’t get me wrong I love bartolini p pups and all barts are pretty stellar. However there’s just something about the Kloppmann tonal that other p pups don’t have. Any others with experience? If not what is your favorite p-pup
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
Welcome to TalkBass! Want to remove ads? Register an account and login to see fewer ads, and become a Supporting Member to remove almost all ads.
Kloppmann PB63 vs. All
- Thread starter PleyswethSqwerl
- Start date
Hey, it’s regarded that kloppmann pb63 and arcane experience 65 pickups are neck and neck.
head over to this thread. Laurent who created it has both and has tried ALOT of pickups will be able to give you his first hand experience.
https://www.talkbass.com/threads/ultra-boutique-p-bass-pickups.1126480/
out of Curiosity which Bart do you prefer in a p bass?
head over to this thread. Laurent who created it has both and has tried ALOT of pickups will be able to give you his first hand experience.
https://www.talkbass.com/threads/ultra-boutique-p-bass-pickups.1126480/
out of Curiosity which Bart do you prefer in a p bass?
My fav is the bartolini 8cbp classic p bass pup
Never tried barts. They do have this sweet smooth tone.
definitely head over to that thread. I joined this forum specifically from the information on there. Knowledgeable, and Friendly people.
I don't know that we can say there is a best P pickup on the market?
It's the equivalent of what's the most beautiful woman or the most handsome man in the world?
It's a matter of taste!
The Kloppmann PB63 is certainly amongst the very best pickup I have ever tried but again there is no absolute. The pickup has to work with your ears and your instrument and your strings. Some "marriage" work better then others. The Kloppmann main drawback is its price, but in my case I would rather have a really good pickup than several pedals.
Top pickups on the market: Arcane, Lollar, Fralin, Seymour Ducan Antiquity II, Aguilar, and yes Fender! Lots of choices and lots of variations on the same theme!
It's the equivalent of what's the most beautiful woman or the most handsome man in the world?
It's a matter of taste!
The Kloppmann PB63 is certainly amongst the very best pickup I have ever tried but again there is no absolute. The pickup has to work with your ears and your instrument and your strings. Some "marriage" work better then others. The Kloppmann main drawback is its price, but in my case I would rather have a really good pickup than several pedals.
Top pickups on the market: Arcane, Lollar, Fralin, Seymour Ducan Antiquity II, Aguilar, and yes Fender! Lots of choices and lots of variations on the same theme!
out of all the ones you named I’m my opinion the Kloppmann is the best. The price is a little up there but it’s worth it. You only have to pay at one time pick ups last a lifetime. I like fralin and nordstrand but the Kloppmann “In my Opinion” is the best you can buy for money. IT’s equalizer is the bartolini classic p bass pup. That thing is amazing. This is all “Opinionated” stuff however it’s my honest opinion
what does the kloppman do better than the others you have tried? What strings do you play?
Bartolini? Huh. This is an interesting comment as I’m in the hunt for a PJ set and Kloppmann was at the top for me in regards to my interest. Have you heard these two pickups side by side? What experience do you have with both pickups? The Barts are prob 1/2 the cost of the Kloppmanns. That’s a substantial savings if the Barts are every bit as good as the K’s. But, we’re only talking a few hundo….but a few hundo is still a few hundo.
I’m not gonna lie. The barts are killer, and very modern. However the Kloppmanns have this thick powerful soulful voice especially paired with optima gold round wound strings. You’ll love the Bartolini stuff though it’s really good if you’re trying to save money, the Kloppmann is just very boutique and it’s really good
Here's a couple of insights.
1. You're comparing a relatively modern sounding pickup (the Bartolini) versus a really vintage pickup (Kloppmann); they're completely different animals and comparing them is tricky because it depends what tone you're after.
2. When looking at a PJ set, the balance between the two pickup is really important. It's nice to have them balanced particularly if your bass does not have a volume for each pup (as in a front, both, back switch configuration). Another element is to consider is if the J pickup will hum or not when soloed. Hum can be really annoying, at least to me. So with this in mind, there two PJ sets that shinned when I when through my round of PJ testing a few years back: the Aguilar PJ set (for vintage warm sound) and the DiMarzio Model PJ set (for modern, heavy, high output tone). They were both balanced and the J pups are hum cancelling.
Good luck to you!
Last edited:
The Kloppmann PB63 is a superb pickup. It's easily one of my favorite P-bass pickups. I wouldn't say it's head and shoulders above the rest though. The difference compared to other "vintage voiced" P-bass pickups is rather subtle. Let's be honest, most of them sound like SLIGHTLY different takes on the vintage P-bass tone. But the PB63 is definitely one of my absolute favorites. Great pickup, if a little expensive. I mean, for less than half the price you can get a more or less equally good (IMO), custom made pickup from The Creamery, and he will even wind it to your exact specs, if that's what you want.
So you are one of the best reviews pick up people ever, so I’m not gonna step on your toes. However the bartolini 8CPB classic p. Is bartolini vintage voicing. Yes, the Kloppmann sounds different. However I find that I can get any sound out of the Kloppmann. Vintage, modern, etc. Especially recording it rules you can’t tell that it’s vintage at all. The Bart has a very distinctive color added to the sound. I personally think it’s hit or miss I like it, but I’m not sure if everyone will like that color. It’s a p tone with something very distinctive. I like the fralin also. However, I’m a finger style guy. With the fralin and the barts I feel like you get more “clank” Especially if you do a lot of punk rock or something. Just my opinion.
Are you based in the UK?
I’ve only found one video example of creamery p bass pickups
I'm based in Europe but not in the UK.
My personal experience with The Creamery pickups is limited to:
-Epiphone Casino
-Musicmaster Bass
-'58 Precision (I asked if he would wind it closer to 11k, so kinda midway between his '58 and '65 P-bass models, which he did).
All of these pickups were absolutely superb. Easily as good as anything out there.
The pickups are built to order. Like many other small "boutique" pickup manufacturers you can expect a long waiting list and also very poor communications. Do not expect replies to emails anytime soon, if ever. But I can say the same about guys like Curtis Novak, and his pickups are far more expensive. With The Creamery the prices are almost unbelievably reasonable for such high quality, handmade pickups. Highly recommended, as long as you don't need the pickups fast and can accept almost non-existent customer service.
Thanks for sharing your experience
Funny you comment on communication as on the English forum bass chat they state the same thing. I tried to call him but had no luck. They state his a one man production.
Have you any sound clips of the 58p?
I’ll reach out to him again.
I should try my hardest to give creamery and other pick-up makers a try so then other bassists have options. I found Monty’s guitars pickups, bloodstone guitar works and Toltec here in uk.
I don't have any sound clips I can share I'm afraid. Personally I think sound clips online are useless for comparing pickups. I mean, we're talking about very subtle differences when comparing different pickups of essentially the same type. Lots of other thing will affect the tone too: Different bass, different signal chain, different strings... All of this can have a much bigger impact on the tone than the pickup. Even where (and how) a player attacks the strings will matter. In fact, where/how a player attacks the strings will have a MASSIVELY bigger difference on the tone than the relatively subtle difference between two "vintage voiced" P-bass pickups. And this is the reason why I find online sound clips to be totally and utterly useless for comparing pickups.
You are right that many other factors are at play in the chain. It’s a good form of a loose reference of characteristics. For example I have found the Lindy fralin pickup made with the same material and similar winds sounds slightly different to lollars. Just ever so slightly different. Both great by the way.
Your 58 is slightly more overwound so I presume that the treble is a tad smoother?
Tried calling him no answer. I’ll send a email.
You are right that many other factors are at play in the chain. It’s a good form of a loose reference of characteristics. For example I have found the Lindy fralin pickup made with the same material and similar winds sounds slightly different to lollars. Just ever so slightly different. Both great by the way.
Your 58 is slightly more overwound so I presume that the treble is a tad smoother?
Tried calling him no answer. I’ll send a email.
Good luck with that. He's utterly useless when it comes to dealing with customers. But the pickups are great!
I've never compared my Creamery P-bass pickup with any other pickup using the same bass and the same strings so any comparisons will be more or less guesswork. Also, like I mentioned before, I asked if he could make mine around 11k, which is in fact slightly UNDERwound compared to his stock '58 (but overwound compared to his stock '65...). I guess it depends on how you define overwound. Personally I consider 10.5k - 11k (ish) to be "normal" for P-bass pickups. From 11.5k (ish) and upwards would be overwound in my world. But of course, the DCR reading is only part of the puzzle. Other things will affect the tone of a pickup too. In fact, comparing DCR specs doesn't really say much unless we're comparing two pickups from the same manufacturer, using the same type of wire, the same type/strength magnets, etc.
Anyway, on this particular bass with a broken-in set of Pyramid Pure Nickels my 11k Creamery definitely leans towards warm/smooth. But then again, pretty much ANY P-bass pickup will sound warm/smooth with a broken-in set of Pyramid Pure Nickels... It basically sounds like a P-bass.
Lollar/Fralin (both standard wind) are two pickups I actually HAVE compared on the same bass, using the same strings. Lollar definitely had a more aggressive upper mid presence. Fralin definitely had fatter lows/low mids and a smoother tone overall. But it was still a relatively subtle difference. Both sounded like classic P-bass pickups and both are great. On that particular bass I slightly preferred the Lollar, but on another bass, with different strings it might have been the other way around. Both delivered a nice traditional P-bass tone and I could easily have used both for the same song/genre. Simply moving the point where I pluck the strings 2 cm closer to the bridge will change the tone considerably more than the difference between Lollar/Fralin.
lol thanks regarding my luck with creamery responding.
I see your points. Regarding the little nuances in the examples.
I played my friends p bass with the olinto signature
beautiful tone.
I don't have much experience as I just purchased my 1st P-bass to trial, to see if I like them. So currently, they have the standard pups that sound pretty good for a cheap Precision (Newen - Made in Argentina). However, I've purchased 3 sets to try.
(1) Kent Armstrong Hot Vintage
(2) DiMarzio Relentless Middle
(3) Bartolini 8CBP
I picked these 3 for various reasons.
The Kent Armstrong because I have the lipsticks in my passive J-bass and love the sound.
The DiMarzio because the design, the look (in chrome) and the reviews and sound clips I've seen.
The Bart's because I love the sound regardless what bass I've had them on and reviews and comments (like yours) made me want to try them on my first p-bass.
I'm actually unsure which set I want to put in first.......