Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounder P-Bass

Split Coil

This pick-up was installen in a 1970's P-Bass, to replace the the stock pick-up, as the sound was not to my liking

The output of this pick-up is very strong, it will peak sooner on the preamp side of an amp, it has a very rich warm sound, seems that this pick-up is easier to EQ than the old stock Pick-up. I play through a SWR Stuido 225 Bass amp for small gigs and a Crate BT-350 Bass Amp for larger gigs and I can get a warm thick fat tone out of both amps, I'm running 2 4x10 crate cabinets, which have ports in the back

If your thinking about replacing your pick-ups on a P-Bass, try this first, you'll get a great tone and you won't be disappointed, I've almost have done all my P-basses (4) to the Quarter Pounder pick-ups, I've been playing for 35 years and this is the best sounding pick-up that has evolved (IMHO), no batteries to deal with, just as simple as it can get

Split Coil.

High Impedance (12.5K I think)

I bought these as a replacement for the stock pickups on my MIM P-Bass. The stock ones were kinda dull and didn't have the sound or the output I was looking for.

These are pretty high output pickups. I use it with either a silverface Bassman with matching 2x15 or a Crate BT-350 with a Mesa 2x12 and a custom 1x15 with JBL speaker. The tone favors the mids and highs, but there is plenty of bass. If you need more, adjust your EQ accordingly. I play in a metal band that plays a lot of Metallica and Pantera stuff. Works very well for me.

If this pickup was taken out of my bass...bad things would happen. I would replace it IMEDIATELY. I compared it to the EMG passive and the DiMarzio, but they all paled in comparison. The EMG active one sounded pretty good, but I wasn't looking for an active pickup.

Pretty much identical to a stock P-Bass pickup except it has larger 1/4 inch magnet poles. It also has about the same amount of ohms.

I installed the Quarter Pounder on a Japanese P Bass with a Warmoth neck. (I more or less have a Pino Palladino type of P Bass. A 1961-ish model.) I have several other Fender P Basses including an original 1966 model so when I compare the Quarter Pounder with a stock P Bass pickup, I am able to make an accurate comparison. My MIJ P bass came with a ceramic magnet pickup which is totally un-Fender since Fender uses alnico magnets. I never tried out the ceramic pickup because my experience with them is that the sound is too "crispy", lacks warmth. So, for a change from stock alnico Fender P-Bass pickups that I already have on 3 other P-Basses, I thought I'd give the Quarter Pounder a try. Seymour Duncan states that this pickup is their most popular bass guitar pickup ever. Duncan's website tells of some of the artists that use this pickup. I won't mention them because they are no reason why I bought this pickup.

Sound....I LOVE THIS PICKUP! If you are a P Bass man, then you probably also will really love this pickup over a stock Fender. Why? Without being excessive or exaggerated, the Quarter Pounder slightly improves the weak points of a stock pickup. In my opinion, you will hear an 8% to 15% improvement in sound. The lows are richer. An open low E is awesome! The mid lows are richer too. The mids are slightly thicker and the highs are pretty much about the same. I use flatwounds strings so, I'm not really sure about the highs but they seem about the same. The pickup is richer without being muddy. The difference is like a beautiful 5 foot 8 inch woman that weighs 118 pounds and you put some "meat" on that woman and now she weighs 135 pounds. She looks much better with a slightly fuller and richer figure. Well, that's the way the Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounder is in sound. Also, the output is about 10% to 20% stronger. So, I either cut the gain down on my amp or cut the volume. A stock pickup can be made to sound pretty close to the Duncan with EQing but if you want to improve the sound of a stock P-Bass pickup, you can't go wrong for $65 dollars! Sell your stock pickup on eBay and you'll probably only be spending $15 to $25 for the Quarter Pounder.

If you have more than one P Bass, I would highly recommend putting the Quarter Pounder in one of them. If you want to make an improvement in your P Bass' sound without spending too much money or getting excessive in changing the original sound, this is the pickup for you! Been playing bass for 40 years. I play the bass to sound like a bass and not like some twangy lower octave guitar. Big speakers, carved out mids, lots of "balls" and flat wound strings. The older the strings the better. That's the sounds! The Duncan 1/4 pounder will do it all, twang or mud. The only thing I dislike about the 1/4 pounder is that Duncan prints...Basslines on one of the pickup covers! Looks bad! So, take some fine liquid polish and rub it out! They didn't use to print that but about 7 or 10 years ago, they started doing it. I really like it's sound and I don't see how a P Bass could be made to sound better!!!!! Yeah, one other negative point, better packing would be nice! One of the damn wires broke off the sodder joint on the pickup and one other wire was frayed down to one or 2 strands holding on. I had to re-sodder the wires. No biggie! But still.....don't we get tired of buying something new and it's not RIGHT???????!!!!!!

Pickup features: ?
Impedence or other specs: ?

Model of guitar or bass: Japanes Fender Precision
Position: middle
Pickup being replaced: Stock pickups
Other pickups on guitar: none
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Rock, funk, metal
Reason for pickup change: Wanted to try something new

Perceived output level: Loud...very loud. My other bass is a passive Warwick Corvette and I`d say this pickup is about one third higher in output.
Tone: Wonderfull deep lows and defined highs. Makes my precision sound more precisiony
Sonic evaluation: Fender P-bass with badass II bridge going through a Laney RBW300

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I`d say this pick up is suitable for most styles of music if you approach the playing the right way. It lacks in thick mid-range sound (which is a specific kind of sound anyway), but all in all I think it wouldn`t souynd out of place in any type of music. It also has the added bonus of creating a auditory assault when needed.

Comments: Outstanding pickup with no draw backs I can think of. For a good old passive bass sound, I don`t think you could do better. It is also surprisinly good for slap and pop, having a scooped profile. If you have a P-bass and are thinking of getting a new pickup, try one of these.

Pickup features: Passive
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: USA Costum Guitars P bass
Position: middle
Pickup being replaced: This is the first pickup I have put into this bass
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup: I believe the bassist from Candlebox is using this. I also believe that Steve Harris of Iron Maiden is using this pickup.
You musical style(s): Hard rock, Metal, Jazz
Reason for pickup change: I chose this pickup because it came highly recommended.

Perceived output level: the output is unbelievable. It is as good as any active pickup I have used.
Tone: Beautiful tone. Every note is clear, even when played as a chord.
Sonic evaluation: My bass and neck are made from mohogany, which is probably effecting the tone, but I think this pickup is nearly perfect. when I finger the bass, the tone is very thick. When I slap and pop, the tone is clear. I cannot believe how good my bass is sounding.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I believe that the combination of bass and pickup here could be used for virtually any style of music.

Comments: I could see why some bassists might not want this pickup. Some people don't like the P Bass sound. For what I am doing, I cannot imagine a better pickup.