Kent Armstrong VPV Vintage P-Bass

The pickup I am reviewing is the Hot Vintage P Bass Pickup. The spec says Alnico / D.C. =10k P bass direct replacement. Its passive with no battery termials to worry about. Just whip the old pickup out and put this one in.

I've installed it on a 97 Squier P-bass. It was cheap and sounded cheap too. I bought this pickup to give it some clout as it was sadly lacking. The neck was also bowed but I got it cheap so cannot really complain. Installing was easy, just solder the two wires to the pots and away you go.

As for the sound, these pickups really kick some serious arse. The output (as the model suggests it HOT). 10k of pure P-bass vintage sound. I played this through my 30 watt 1x12 practice amp and through my 300watt 1x15 trace elliot combo. Both sounded great. I have been playing since 1983 and years ago used to own a USA '62 reissue which had a great vintage tone. With this pickup I get the same round tone, but with loads more output. Its clear, defined and as you would expect from a p-bass. For the money, these really are great value and I would recommend them to anyone. I haven't tried the Seymor Duncans or EMGs but I cannot imagine them being a whole lot better than the Kent-Armstrongs.

I would recommend anyone who has a Squier P-bass that they like, to get a set of these and improve the tone of your bass 100%. They are reasonably cheap compared to the other replacement pickups out there but if its a vintage P-bass tone you are after then you could do a lot worse than getting a set of these. If you play blues, rock, metal or even 60s soul, these babies can give the tone you need in an instant.
I have also recorded with these and they sound great.
I recently changed the neck and bridge on my Squier, I would have sold it ages ago but these pickups kept me hanging onto it. I am glad I did. with a new mighty mite neck and BADASS II bridge, this bass really does rock, and for the fraction of the cost of a vintage reissue.

Pickup features: Passive split colil (Precision-Bass style)
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Squier Affinity P-Bass
Position: middle
Pickup being replaced: Original Squier
Other pickups on guitar: N/A
Artists using this pickup: ?
You musical style(s): Alternative
Reason for pickup change: My back-up bass is a Squier P-Bass (fair playability) and the sound at hi-volume was kind of saturated, unwanted distorsion. Since my other bass is a Fender Jazz, I use this bass to play tunes with a pick to get different sound. I decided to try this Pickup that seems to have the exact same specs as the vintage Fender.

Perceived output level: More define than the squier, no more weird saturated distorsion
Tone: Bright but balanced
Sonic evaluation: Fender solid state Bassman 60 at home, Tube Yorkville head with Peavey 4x10 in rehersal/gig.
The sound of my bass is better and more defined, a little brighter. I was expecting a little better but the Squier is still made of wood essence and other components that were not to Fender specs.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I am a big U2 fan, Adam Clayton is usins a Jazz-Bass most of the time but used a P-bass in the past, I can now reproduce his whole spectrum of sounds.

Comments: I installed it myself and found that the original Squier Pickup was featuring a single ceramic magnet on the back of each coil and cheapo thin wiring. The Kent Armstrong is featuring AlNiCo magnets for each poles and wires are bigger and cloth-covered. Paperwork in the package were not featuring P-Bass type split coil instructions, but it is easy to figure it out since there is only 2 wires to terminate, the two independent coils are already wired together.
So if you have an entry-level bass with cheap pick-up that has a playability that you consider fair, you will improve its sound with this pick-up, but you will not turn it into a Fender. But 65$ will be spent rather than 1000$.
My goal was achieved, I now have a 2nd bass with a decent different sound. A P-bass played with a pick , what a sound.
I'm playing since 20 years but more seriously since 4 years, my main bass is a Fender Jazz Bass (Geddy lee made in Japan, a really good one...)

Pickup features: P-Bass Split Coil Humbucker
Impedence or other specs: 10k

Model of guitar or bass: Kramer PJJ
Position: neck
Pickup being replaced: Stock Schaller
Other pickups on guitar: Stock schaller? double J
Artists using this pickup: Me
You musical style(s): Classic Rock, Blues, soul, pop, R&B
Reason for pickup change: bass was missing (?) Pickup actually swapped out to another bass.

Perceived output level: About the same as stock, 10 k as expected
Tone: Fat, balanced, lots of low mids, smooth highs, deep as you want
Sonic evaluation: Tried thru various amps in shop

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: great for fingerstyle, and pick esp trad.rock blues, etc.styles.not modern sounding imo

Comments: I have been playing since 1967, and own a number of different Precision type basses.I have been wanting to try one of these and I am not disappointed.The construction is good, with Alnico 5 polepieces,, matte black covers, mounting screws and foam, braided cloth wire.To my ear,it really does have a vintage P bass type of sound.Very fat and punchy. Depending on your EQ, you can get the fat finger style, or mid grindy sound with sharp pick attack, and variations thereof.I tested with a set of DR Lo Riders and it was versatile, as single pickups go of course.It Can get really deep and dubby, and you can roll the treble on for an aggressive rock tone.With the bass tone backed way off it was really boomy,as expected, but rolling on some highs really cleaned up the definition while retaining the characteristic fatness.Lets face it, P basses aren't big tone chameleons but they do what they do very well, and in the hands of an experienced player are no one trick pony.This pickup for the money, is IMO a tremendous value.a great replacement if you have a pickup that is harsh or clanky, or for a ceramic magnet slug pickup in a Squier, MIM or ??? I highly recommend it for anyone looking for a traditional P bass tone with out spending a pile.