Product: Lindy Fralin '51 P-Bass
Price Paid: USD 150
Submitted
02/26/2008
at
10:33pm
by
Micah
Features
:
My pickup is a split coil pickup, underwound to 6k, I believe but I got it a while ago, so I don't quite remember.
Instrument
:
This is in a Warmoth jazz bass, slightly closer to the neck then the standard p-bass sweet spot. The bass is made of alder, with a spalt maple top on it, but they told me the top is so thin that it does not affect the tone.
I also have a Seymour Duncan alnico Music Man pickup.
This pickup was not replacing any pickup, it was the first one I am putting in this bass.
Sound
:
9
The output level is decent. When I got it installed it was fairly quiet, but I found I like the tone better when the pickup is closer to the strings, so I have raised it up a lot and the volume is pretty good. It is equal to the MM pickup when it is tapped.
I am using this instrument with a Markbass Little Mark II amp with a Markbass 4x10 cab. I use a Diamond Compressor on most of the time, and a Sonic Stomp always on with both dials at about 3 o'clock.
When the amp is set to flat, the pickup is very bright, too bright for my styles of playing. With my playing style, I like to dig my fingers in really hard and aggressively, and I get a very unpleasant clicking noise. However, with the right EQing, I can get exactly the tones I want.
I play in a blues/rock/funk band, and I use this pickup by itself most of the time. I find I like the sound of the MM pickup better when the amp is flat, but with the proper EQing I greatly prefer the Fralin P-pickup.
This pickup is suitable for pretty much everything I play, which is pretty much everything except metal, which I think this pickup would be unsuitable for.
This pickup also produces a very nice overdriven sound, which lends itself to harder rock styles.
Overall Rating
:
9
If this pickup was recked or stolen, I would for sure buy it again. I would probably get it to stock winding, not under wound, but I am not sure about that yet.
The only thing I really dislike about this pickup is the clicking sound I described earlier, but I think that is a combination of my playing style and that the pickup is under wound, but like I said, the problem was taken care of with some EQing.
Another thing to note is that the split coil version is not a "silent" pickup. From switching between the humbucker MM pickup and this one, you will notice a significant buzz, but it is not unbearable.
One other thing to note, is Lindy made me this pickup from scratch mid last year, a while before they started producing them. He has told me that they are very similar, but they could be different. Also because it was made from scratch, so there was a $30 upcharge.