Pickup search

I’m thinking of upgrading pickups on my current build, Tim suggested I start a thread so here goes, what have others done? Not looking to break the budget on SD’s but not looking at Temu specials either.
Thanks guys

I have only upgraded the pups on a few of my builds. I have only used Toneriders from PBG for my 6 strings. I think they are great. FWIW though, I don't have a great ear. This topic is a very deep rabbit hole!

Yeah I’ll blame fender when I’m deep in the hole with the rabbits. I used ferrets when I was very young to catch rabbits so maybe I’ll need them again :)

I always upgrade the pickups, but have never paid SD prices. This started with mods.

I upgraded my Chinese Frankenjazz bass first with DiMarzio J's and then after routing for a p-bass pickup in the middle, a set of passive EMG Geezer Butler P-J pickups, that are really great.

I have gotten three sets of pickups from a custom winder (with great prices) in Michigan called Epic Custom Shop. I have installed two of them. First a "black gold" quarter pounder style P-bass pickup that is part of what makes this bass my favorite. I put a set of his Strat pickups in a modded Jaguar build for my daughter. I have a custom set of his Tele pickups waiting for me to finish a Tele build. Hoping they'll be as good as the others.

Another set I really like although they are hard to get are Bill Lawrence EB-50 bass humbuckers. These are a traditional sized rail humbucker optimized for bass. A bit like a p-bass sound but with more articulate highs. I have these in a bass that is similar to a PB ESB-4 body, but with a Fender Jazz style neck. I have one more of these pickups that I am planning to put in a headless Frankenbass project TBD.

I have a set of GFS "modern vintage" Lil' Punchers, Tele-style dual rail pickups that are in my Telestart. I love these pickups. In single coil mode they sound like a pretty good Tele pickup. In dual coil mode they are hotter and break up really nicely. Sort of like a P-90 but with less noise.

Lastly, in my Fretless ESB-4 I have alnico V lipstick tubes, a that I modded to get humbucking mode. This bass really got me thinking about nodding pickups. I wanted to do a Weirdbits mod on the stock pickups, but when I pulled off the covers I discovered they were ordinary 6-string humbuckers and not bass pickups at all. Went through several inexpensive bass pickups before settling in the Kmise lipstick tubes that are in it now.



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+1...this is definitely a rabbit hole. But it's also what got me, at least, started on this path. I have a couple of old Fenders that I love, but can't really mod without obliterating their value. But I got a G&L bass that was too beat up to be worth much and modded the wiring extensively. I didn't change out the pickups. That would incur the wrath of everyone who has ever logged in to a G&L site. But I did change them out on a cheap bass I bought and it was off to the races...

Tonerider seem to be the go-to importer for a lot of folks at PB. That and Wilkinson. GFS and Dragonfire seem to occupy similar niches in the US. I have heard that the quality control can be a little spotty at GFS, but I have been really happy with what I have gotten from them. I used to be very tempted by some Australian pickup winders that looked great, and were very reasonably priced (at least until factoring in shipping to the US). Would be curious if any are still around and what folks think. The only one I know that seems to be still operating is JJ's Guitar Pickups...but they are not exactly what I would call budget friendly.

Pretty sure I’m going with toneriders fender, after listening to endless sound samples and reading reviews until my eyes drop out I thing their rock song will be a good option for this mod. Plus supporting PBG is a bonus. My playing along with my hearing is probably not going to be able detect much difference but we shall wait with anticipation and see how it goes. Thanks for all your input.

Makes sense. I have yet to see anyone on this board who ended unhappy deciding to go with the Toneriders. Also, definitely the coolest name for a pickup mfg ;-)

Thanks fender, I Will give my opinion on the toneriders after I get them up and running.