PU Option for bass

[did291]

Well ,i am at the point of chosing a pu for my new mahagany body ,maple/walnut /maple neck.

First i should say that i am looking for a 'the who' type of bass sound.

second, i am not extremely rich,so one pu, maybe tow but need to be affordable.

third it is my first bass so no active electronic,too hard for a first try.

so be gentle with your suggestion and give me all that you could think off.

[skibum5545]

Active is too hard? Think again, my friend! Active is no harder than passive.

In terms of affordable pickup sets, check out EMG. The P-J set is very versatile.

[Wademeister]

Hey did291,

I'm no expert by any means, but I have been researching bass pickups a lot lately for my own project. From what I have seen, you will probably be happiest with a J style pickup. Looks like most of them are good passive pickups, and it seems like you can get just about anything you want inside that cover. That way you can start off with a real budget job to get going and easily try different things later on.

For your reading pleasure:

Bass Player Online J-pickup shootout

TalkBass Forum pickup discussion- I haven't read all of this one yet, but it seems to focus mostly on J-pickups as well.

Happy reading!

[lovekraft]

Have to agree whole-heartedly with skibum, on both points! Unless you're going to get hinckey with lots of active tone controls, the only additional hassle to using actives is finding a place for the battery! EMGs in particular wire exactly like passives except for the power lead(s), so don't let that scare you.

A P/J set with a 3-way switch, two tones and one or two volumes will probably give you exactly what you're lookin' for, and offer some versatility if you want to stretch your "tonal palette" a bit, without overtaxing either your budget or your wiring skills. Over the years, I've used Bartolinis, Duncans, EMGs, DiMarzios, and some cheap Asian knock-off sets, and found things to like about all of them - any decent P/J set will probably do a good job for you, once you've found the "sweet spots". Let your ears and your budget be your guide.

[skibum5545]

I just read up on Entwhistle's gear, and found something out. He used Fender P-basses, then Gibson Thunderbirds, and then alembics.

Here's the alembic prices for pups:

http://www.alembic.com/prod/prices.html#ACTIVATORS

P-basses, and T-Birds, shouldn't be too hard to find.

[Speedbass]

Ever considered making pickups yourself? Great hobby! It saves you money too.....

[did291]

Thanks for the info

[did291]

well i was looking at some emg select.cheap and emg is suppose to be good.Well i read on this and the opinion are very mix and i would said that mostly it is bad.

So now i a looking at SD Lightin' Rods™ for Jazz Bass( active pu) or Bartolini model #9J pickup set for USA Fender Jazz bass or similar, passive pu. close in price .way more than i was expecting .I will only order them after i try the bass ,if it play nice (first bass project),then it will be worth it if not ,maybe back to the emg.What are the view on those.

[Executioner606]

Bartolini's are godly pickups. I love them to death. If you get a chance check out the ibanez GWB it has a single bartolini in it. Awesome tone.

[skibum5545]

Man, barts are officially some KICKASS pickups. They'd suit you just fine.

Have you looked into www.billlawrence.com pickups? Relatively inexpensive, and great pickups. I haven't used them personally, but I've never heard a bad review.