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Thunderbroom · December 21st, 2008, 03:33 PM

I have been playing an Active Deluxe P-Bass Special, which is the Mexican-made, active version of the PJ combo bass. Jazz neck, p body, p and j pickups. The more I've played it the more I want to tweak the pickups. Here's my dilemma. Here's a link to Sweetwater's site with the specs:

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/PBassDASMBP/

A friend of mine installed some Duncan Quarter Pounds in his passive PJ combo Fender bass. It truly sounds awesome. I'd love to get that kind of sound in something I can install on this active bass without getting too modern sounding but also not breaking the bank. Duncan doesn't seem to make active QBs as far as I can find on their site. Any ideas you all have for replacements would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for your help.

Dave W · December 21st, 2008, 06:38 PM

Your pickups are passive. It's your EQ that's active (as opposed to passive tone controls). There's no reason you can't use the SD QPs or any other passive pickups. OTOH, with an active EQ you'll have to do a little experimenting to get a sound like your friend's bass has.

Dave W · December 21st, 2008, 07:21 PM

Another thing you might want to consider: your existing J pickup is a noiseless. The SD QP J pickup is a single coil, you can expect some 60 cycle hum from it.

Thunderbroom · December 21st, 2008, 09:54 PM

Sorry, I feel a little stupid for not understanding which bits are active and passive, even on my own bass. Thanks for establishing what should have been the obvious for me. And, yes, I thought about the noiseless issue. I might try swapping out the split coil pup first and see how it gets along with the noiseless. I can make a decision about the other later.

Again, thanks for the clarification.

Vince a · December 23rd, 2008, 11:00 PM

Sorry, just saw this post . . . but, I have that bass (black, black pickguard, maple neck), and after a great setup - lowering the action, adjusting the pickup heights (E/A side down really low and D/G side high, changing the strings to DR Blackies - I set the "pan" knob to about 90% toward the front pickup, bass (lower tone knob) slightly past the center detent, treble at about center detent, and the mid knob about 25% increased . . . great sounding bass!

Don't give up on those pickups . . . I don't think you'll hear that much difference for the $$$ spent!

Shoved BassVIII · September 16th, 2009, 04:31 AM

My reccomedation goes to EMG

December 21st, 2008, 03:33 PM	#1 (permalink)
Thunderbroom TDPRI Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Arlington, VA Age: 43 Posts: 23	Replacement Pickups Question I have been playing an Active Deluxe P-Bass Special, which is the Mexican-made, active version of the PJ combo bass. Jazz neck, p body, p and j pickups. The more I've played it the more I want to tweak the pickups. Here's my dilemma. Here's a link to Sweetwater's site with the specs: http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/PBassDASMBP/ A friend of mine installed some Duncan Quarter Pounds in his passive PJ combo Fender bass. It truly sounds awesome. I'd love to get that kind of sound in something I can install on this active bass without getting too modern sounding but also not breaking the bank. Duncan doesn't seem to make active QBs as far as I can find on their site. Any ideas you all have for replacements would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for your help.

December 21st, 2008, 09:54 PM	#4 (permalink)
Thunderbroom TDPRI Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Arlington, VA Age: 43 Posts: 23	Thanks (d'oh) Sorry, I feel a little stupid for not understanding which bits are active and passive, even on my own bass. Thanks for establishing what should have been the obvious for me. And, yes, I thought about the noiseless issue. I might try swapping out the split coil pup first and see how it gets along with the noiseless. I can make a decision about the other later. Again, thanks for the clarification.

December 21st, 2008, 06:38 PM	#2 (permalink)
Dave W Friend of Leo's Join Date: May 2003 Location: Guadalupe County, TX Age: 62 Posts: 2,038	Your pickups are passive. It's your EQ that's active (as opposed to passive tone controls). There's no reason you can't use the SD QPs or any other passive pickups. OTOH, with an active EQ you'll have to do a little experimenting to get a sound like your friend's bass has.

December 21st, 2008, 07:21 PM	#3 (permalink)
Dave W Friend of Leo's Join Date: May 2003 Location: Guadalupe County, TX Age: 62 Posts: 2,038	Another thing you might want to consider: your existing J pickup is a noiseless. The SD QP J pickup is a single coil, you can expect some 60 cycle hum from it.

December 23rd, 2008, 11:00 PM	#5 (permalink)
Vince a Tele-Holic Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Modesto, CA Posts: 808	Sorry, just saw this post . . . but, I have that bass (black, black pickguard, maple neck), and after a great setup - lowering the action, adjusting the pickup heights (E/A side down really low and D/G side high, changing the strings to DR Blackies - I set the "pan" knob to about 90% toward the front pickup, bass (lower tone knob) slightly past the center detent, treble at about center detent, and the mid knob about 25% increased . . . great sounding bass! Don't give up on those pickups . . . I don't think you'll hear that much difference for the $$$ spent!

September 16th, 2009, 04:31 AM	#6 (permalink)
Shoved BassVIII Tele-Holic Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Lima Ohio Age: 27 Posts: 632	My reccomedation goes to EMG

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