Seymour Duncan SPB-3 Quarter-Pound for P-Bass

Passive

Late 2000 Highway One P-Bass.

Used to replace stock pickups.

Old pickups went bad.

These pickups add alot of bass to the sound. The output is alot higher then stock Fender.

These took awhile to install due to the lack of any type of backing. For me, without a backing pad the pickup will fall out of the cover and wont line up right anymore. Another thing I did not like was the pickup looked like it had been thrown together in the factory. There was glue all over the wires and the solder points were not vary good and come off easy. This is easy to fix just by re-doing all of the joints. Lastly the cover had to have one of the pole holes drilled bigger and it did not line up right.

- Passive
- Both block
- Hottest output of their series.

- Squier PBass SP, standard series '98.
- Neck position
- Replaced by stock pickups (weak pickups, muddy sound)
- My current SPB-3 pickup are now working together with a SJB-3B pickup in the bridge position.
- I replaced the stock pickups because they were extremelly weak, has a lot of hiss and a awful muddy sound.

- Very high output level, actually I'm connected to the active input jack of my amp, in the passive input my amp clips like hell!.
- I'm using a BX3000T head, VX115 and VX410 Hartke cabinets, effects: BOSS ME8B, BOSS CEB-3, sansamp clone (BDI behringer) and jim dunlop GCB-100 (wha). Through this setup I'm able to get the whole sound spectrum, without those toys the bass sounds totally outstanding; you can get that "post punk" sound totally natural out of it as well as that trebly sound special for slap touch.
- I'm playing british music of mid - late '80, it matches perfectly for my sound.

- If stolen?, I'll kill the mofo because I'm in Chile (Southamerica) and there's no serious seymour duncan representatives around, I've bought it at ebay.
- I've been playing for around 10 years now, I own a Ibanez SR-400 with active EQ, there's no point of comparission between both basses because those tones, punch and deepness are totally different in both cases.
- I really love those trebly tones and deep bass tones, just like Paul Simonon or Gallup.
- I've also added a leo quan badass bass II bridge (if you're planning to do that kind of upgrade in your bass, you have to include this piece of metal on it, it really delivers a lot of sustain and an extreme clean sound even unplugged).
- I'm totally satisfied with those pickups (SPB-3 and SJB-3B, working together turns a cheap bass into a pro one).
- An advice, add the badass bass II bridge in your bass if you're in the upgrade stuff, it really changes your sound.

Humbucking, passive P-bass style. Pretty straight forward.

A custom Ash-bodied parts P-Bass. I built the bass for my new alternative/emo band, as I needed a more agressive sound than my Fretless Jazz bass! I also heard that alot of bands playing in the same genre use them, especially Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy, and Mark Hoppus of Blink-182 and +44 (as well as Steve Harris of Iron Maiden!)

These are hot pickups, but not as extreme as I had heard (that's a good thing, I've heard of these pickups blowing up amps of those who don't understand the concept of the gain knob). I use it with a BBE bass pre-amp into the effects loop of a SWR workingman's 4004 (then I can blend the two pre-amps), and then out to either an Avatar 2x12, or an Ampeg 6x10. The tone is exactly what I wanted; its VERY bright. There is a very hollow sort of grind, with excellent agressive treble. The bottom end is very clear and clean, while the mids are actually a bit subdued. I usually crank the mids, but I haven't found that this PU likes that; there is plenty of natural upper-mids to cut through two Marshall stacks, so pumping up that defined bottom end sounds great. This pickup is great for what I wanted it for; cutting, agressive punk and emo styles (I don't use a pick, so it was important for me to get a strong attack, even with my fingers). This pickups is NOT vintage; rolling off the treble makes it a little more vintage-y, and I can even get some good classic P-sounds (like you would hear in an Elvis Costello or Blondie record), but certainly not vintage, or motown at all. If you're looking for a dub-style, reggae tone, look elsewhere.

These are great pickups, they just aren't terribly versatile. Thats ok if that's what you need, but I wouldn't be bringing this bass to any jazz or pop gigs anytime soon. The pickup height is a little hard to adjust with the given foam; I ended up stealing the much denser foam off the bottom of a pair of Jazz pickups I had laying around. They are also quiet, natural for a humbucking design. I also play a custom bartolini J-Bass loaded active bass, as well as my fretless Fender Jazz, and this bass is much more suitable for straight ahead, ballsy rock tones.

Single coil or humbucking? Split coil P-Bass
Active or passive? Passive

What model guitar or bass did you install this in? ESP B-50 (P&J)
What position is it in? P
What pickup are you replacing? Stock - whatever cheapo ESP stuck in it.
Other pickups installed on the instrument? Duncan SJB-3, Jazz 1/4 #r.
Any artists using this pickup? Yes.
Reason for changing the pickup? Upgrade from Stock p.o.s.

Output - Moderate, according to the Duncan tone chart. Definately louder than the stock pup it replaced, but volume was not the reason for the swap.

What amps and effects are you using it with? - So far...only a Behringer Ultrabass BX1200 practice amp. See Overall Rating.

Tone - Very balanced and articulate. Not a lot on the high end compared to the Jazz pup in the bridge of course, but that's the beauty of the P&J blend option. When paired with the SJB-3, these two are as close to subjective perfection as I care to imagine...and I'm yet to explore the realm of possibilities they have to offer.

Anything else you'd like to share? - As I mentioned above, I've really only tried this pickup through a less than perfect amplifier with what I thought was a blown speaker. With the stock pup, the speaker would do a rattle-n-fart at mid to high levels. With this one the obnoxious noises are virtually non-existent, obviously due to the overall clarity of the pickup itself. You don't have to be a Tech to understand why I thought this was an acid test worthy of praise.

The guitar I installed this pickup in is not pretty. In fact, it's sublimely hideous but the neck is staight and fast, the action is near perfect and it intonates very well. I've upgraded and star-grounded the electronics, sheilded the cavities and set it up fast and clean. It reminds me of some of the old street cars we used to build when I was a kid. We'd take our fastest drivetrain and drop it in a beast, then go drag for pinks. Took home a few nice paint jobs that way. I'd put this bass up against most of those available today with much higher price tags, and come home with the rent. Undoubtably due in part to this outstanding pickup.

I've recently added bass as an instrument I play semi-professionally. I've played guitar on and off for 25 years and Seymour Duncan has been my choice ever since I was able to tell the difference one pickup made over another. I've played Dimarzio's, EMG's, Gibson and so on. They all have their highlights but in my experience, Seymour Duncan has delivered on every product I've ever tried. If you take the time to figure out what you want in a pickup, Seymour Duncan has it.



I've got a new stage rig on it's way, but I don't think an update will be necessary. I'm sold.

Humbucking passive P bass pup
12.5k

Ibanez GSR 200
Middle
Stock
Stock J pup in bridge
Don't know or care
Needed more output

Hotter than hell
Crate BT100 (main) Drive 20 (bedroom)
Balanced with crushing mids and lows
Classic rock, 80's metal

I love the SPB-3. Turned my low end Ibanez into a monster. I highly recommend this pickup to anyone wanting to upgrade for more power and a modern tone. This is better than the DiMarzio P and I like DiMarzios. Makes any bass sound great. Tons of balls and well defined with no appreciable mud. Get this!

Pickup features: Hum Cancelling
Impedence or other specs: Hotter Than Hell - Louder F*ck - Clear and Kicks Maximum Ass

Model of guitar or bass: Fender Standard P-bass 1995
Position: middle
Pickup being replaced: Stock Fender
Other pickups on guitar: No
Artists using this pickup: Don't care
You musical style(s): Rock, Classic Rock, Blues
Reason for pickup change: I was very hesitant at first but had heard that the SPB-3 Quarter-Pound for P-Bass was a great choice to widen the frequency response, add more punch and attack, add more bottom end growl, oh yea!

Perceived output level: Loudest I have ever heard period. You'll swear its active but its not.
Tone: Deep and Wide, very balanced with noticably more clarity throughout the frequency range
Sonic evaluation: My P Bass is always strung with Dean Markley Blue Nickel or Blue Steel strings and runs through my rig that consists of a Peavey MAX 700 (750 watts) with both a 2x15 and 2x12 custom made birch 13 ply cabs with Eminence LF Pro drivers.
The Bass runs through a Rane 31 band graphic Eq to DBX compressor gate limiter then to a Presonus TubePre Tube Pre-amp with a vintage 68 RCA 5751 command tube and finally
into a Fulltone Bass Drive. All of this is run through the effects loop and is completely by-passable except the tube preamp which stays on all of the time. I do not use all of these items all of the time, sometimes it just the preamp, bass and amp. For large/outside venues I have another 2-12 with a supplemental 600 watt power amp.
I own a new Fender Jazz, Fender Standard 1995 P bass, 1974 Gibson Ripper, and an Ibanez SRX-300 basses.
The Fender Standard P-Bass has become my favorite because of the Seymour Duncan SPB-3 Quarter-Pounder that is installed.
When the bass was stock it sounded better than most all of the American P-bass and American Deluxe that I?ve previously owned and played. I was very hesitant at first and did not want to change the pickup because I felt very lucky to find a keeper with this bass. Now that the Seymour Duncan SPB-3 is installed, the whole world has changed.

The SPB-3 Quarter-Pound provides massive amounts of crystal clear solid bottom tone that is not muddy or hallow. Lots of low end growl that sounds like an angry beast. I?m not really sure how to describe the enhanced bass frequencies to you but the bottom end has an absolute extreme punch to it, not like mid or treble punch but more like a clear aggressive attack and presence. You?ll really have to hear it to understand. I like it, I love it.
The mids are extremely wide compared to stock with lots of added punch there if you need it, if not just dial it out with your eq for a more conventional ?v? eq setting. The high end has lots of crack to it without being tinny or unnatural sounding. The high end is nice and tight and not thin. The pickup is well balanced and with proper eq settings on both the bass and the amp, the world is yours. It is indeed versatile and will open up your options and playing. There is a night and day difference when comparing stock to the SPB-3 Quarter-Pounder. The SPB-3 has an extremely wide pallet of sound and it is all loud and clear.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I use this bass for everything, Rock of all types, grunge, metal, new and old, blues and even soft blues and soft pop type ballads. When the hammer is cocked for Rock n Roll, stand the f**k back. When the trigger is pulled, this gun fires off a salvo that will blow your damned head off !

Comments: If it were stolen, I'd replace it, if it were stolen I'll track the thief down and he'll need medical attention.
I like this pick up in every respect. I have yet to find any gripes.
I keep finding things that I like. The more I use it, the more I like it. The more I tweak the bass and my rig, the more I realize how great this pickup truly is. I've got 25 years of music and gear experience. I consider myself not to be an expert but just experienced and very much up to speed.
I've used and played Fender and Gibson gear as well as many makes and models of basses and pcikup combonations like EMG, DiMarzio and others. I have to say that Seymor Duncan delivers more than any other, you can belive the advertising and the specs. They are honest with thier claims.
I think that the SPB-3 is well suited for most styles of music, you simply have to turn the knobs and adjust your gain to tweak and soften or dime the knobs and let the monster attack. For Rock and Roll, you?ll never find a better pickup for P bass. When is the last time you ever had a product that delivers 100% of what the manufacture claims? This is one of those products. I rarely would even consider giving any product a mark of "10". This is a no brainer and an absolute 10.

Pickup features: Passive, humcancelling
Impedence or other specs: :S i only managed to just pass electronics in school....

Model of guitar or bass: Fender Precision Bass (Fretless)
Position: neck
Pickup being replaced: Stock Japanese
Other pickups on guitar: none
Artists using this pickup: Alot of bass players, specifically rock/punk players.
You musical style(s): Mostly rock, jazz, blues.
Reason for pickup change: Old pickup was muddy with low output. I had the pickup installed when a professional luthier defretted my bass. I knew that a fretless pbass with flatwounds and the stock pickup would be very undefined, so i wanted a pickup that would be high output, lots of treble and high mids.

Perceived output level: Hot, very hot. Uber hot compared to the stock.
Tone: Very wide pallet. With tone cranked to full on the bass, very trebly. Standard p bass tone, but more expanded.
Sonic evaluation: I have 2 basses at the moment. Fender US Dlx Pbass V and a Fender Precision bass fretless. I run these babies through an Ashdown ABM500 (575watt hybrid amp) into a 4x10.
Due to the output of the Quarter Pounder, it really drives the preamp tube in my amp. With my fretted pbass, you need to put the input gain of the amp to about 4 o clock to get some nice bass overdrive. You get the same tone with the Quarterpounder at 12 o clock. If u turn the input gain up to full, the overdrive turns into all out tube fuzz. Very creamy :D
However, if i dont want overdrive, i turn the tube off. Best of both worlds :)

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: very good for rock, tone rolled off a bit is best. Tone up is gr8 for pick work.

Comments: Very satisfied. Loud, clean tone when running through a transistor preamp. Very warm and creamy wen running into a tube preamp. It's suitable for pretty much any style, a bit trebly with the tone up full, so i roll it off a bit. Only muddy with the tone back all the way back. Im very satisfied with the sound. I dont see how people say that you can't play anything but rock with this pickup just because alot of rock bassists use it. If i roll back the tone a bit, and play up the neck, i get a very very double bass tone. I use the bass with the quarter pounder in for all my jazz and blues work due to the lush tone i get. It's a pain sometimes due to its very high output cause it has caused some PA systems that ive DI'd thru to distort like hell. Thats the only real prob with it. Apart from that, i love the tone i get running straight into my amp. I'd definately consider getting another if it were stolen, but the high output makes it a pain with some gear. Ill give it a 9 cause despite the fact it sometimes distorts stuff, the tone that i get with my rig is so sweet and creamy.

Pickup features: split single coil passive
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Peavey Unity Series Dynabass
Position: neck
Pickup being replaced: stock Peavey Precision Pup
Other pickups on guitar: Seymour Duncan SJB-3 Quarter Pound Jazz Pickup
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): rock, pop, blues
Reason for pickup change: bigger tone, hotter output

Perceived output level: significantly louder than stock p up.
Tone: deep clear bottom, grinding highs
Sonic evaluation: I run this bass through a Mesa Buster Bass tube head. The difference in tone from the stock pups to the Duncans is like night and day. Huge output, and a wide bandwidth of tone.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: this pickup is right on the money for a deep grinding rock tone. Great!

Comments:

Pickup features:
Impedence or other specs: 12.5k Ohm

Model of guitar or bass: TangleWood Rebel
Position: neck
Pickup being replaced: Standard Korean Piece of c**p
Other pickups on guitar: Standard J-style (Disconected - tone sapping)
Artists using this pickup: Steve Harris - Iron Maiden
You musical style(s): Classic/Prog/Melodic/Blues Rock
Reason for pickup change: The standard pick-up just wasn't up to the job

Perceived output level: This is probably the highest output pick-up I've every tried. A friend borrowed my bass, pluged it into his amp at the same settings he uses with his own bass and his amp blew - This may be a good thing or a bad thing. This pick-up will really drive those pre-amp tubes!!!
Tone: Sweeeeeet. Smooth and bassy with a creamy mid. Not that trebly but if you wanted trebly you'd have a J-style, wudn't you!
Sonic evaluation: Tanglewood Reble -> Phaser -> Chorus -> -> Overdrive -> Limiter/compressor(on amp) -> Peavey Mark VI XP Head -> Laney 4*10" cab

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I play all kinds of blues/rock/metal.. everything from Peter Green's Fleetwood MAc to Slipknot and everything in between and this pick-up suits me just fine. It has a massive frequency responce so all the sound is there to be filtered by my amps graphic EQ. This makes this a very versitile pick-up - perfect for anyone like me who just can't make up their mind. This gives an all round good tone. Probably isn't the best for funk/slap players but I hate those guys anyway.

Comments: I would buy this again if it was stolen(even though I've never heard of anyone steel a pick-up off a guitar!!). I've been playing for 6 years and I'm happy with the many many sounds that this pick-up can give me. I've tried to emulate 'my sound' with many other pick-ups on the market but nothing has come close.
The only thing I can find wrong with it is the price I paid. It's so much cheaper on the net. But thats what I get for living in Ireland. Thats the only reason I havent given these pick-ups a ten.

Pickup features: Humbucker, Passive
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Fender Precision
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: Stock
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup: Myself, mark hoppus(blink 182) steve harris(iron maiden) and the ex bassist from queens of the stone age
You musical style(s): Punk Rock
Reason for pickup change: I felt that the stock pickup wasnt giving me the power that I needed. I had bought some SPB2's and put them into another one of my fender precisions and it sounded good but still not what I wanted. I read a lot of reviews on here and I decided to purchase the quarter pounder

Perceived output level: Warm
Tone: Bassy but a lot of mid and high
Sonic evaluation: Fender precision bass going through a trace elliot ah300-7 into a trace elliot 4x10.i got many other bases but this is my fav

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Punk - Green day etc i think this pick up is really good for this type of music its warm but has that punchy feel at the same time

Comments: If it was stolen I would buy it again as its such a kool sound.i been playing for 3 years and i got 7-8 other fender and squire basses.i am happy with the sound that i am now using from this pickup.Anything else I would like to share is that this pickup is cool