There is just volume and tone, but there is plenty of range on that tone pot, and the custom-wound Seymour Duncan split-coil is an excellent all-rounder, putting a little teeth and hair onto the Mustang’s tone, a vintage passive voice that holds its own in a band setting. Do not install any suspicious software.. So ensure that they are in a safe place. It was introduced in 1951, and while it wasn’t the first electric bass, undoubtedly it changed the way musicians thought about the instrument. The BB435 nails that vintage-modern vibe, and like all great instruments it has a timeless quality, capable of holding its own in any company. People often talk about the Warwick growl and, really, it is officially a thing and a joy to behold. Which of these basses is right for you, only you can answer that. You’ve got a pair of redesigned humbuckers, an 18-volt preamp and 3-band EQ for some of the fattest bass tones you could imagine, or some of the sharpest, or with a midrange upper-cut that could draw blood. The build is exceptional, as you’d expect from Warwick’s Teambuilt Pro Series, and the balance between the long-scale neck and compact, ergonomic body is really a kind of magic. Remember that it’s crucial to have a good tin on the tip of your soldering iron. Meldal-Johnsen is a renowned session player who has played with Nine Inch Nails, Garbage and Beck – and there is not really a Venn Diagram you can draw with much overlap between those. Nowadays, there are several precision bass pickups available, and in the following article, we’ll take a look at some of the best of them and which ones you should invest in. Well the six-string format makes possible all kinds of progressive and outré jazz-funk styles, and the EMG 45Hz humbucker pairing and comprehensive 3-band EQ let you dial in pretty much whatever you want. Best P Bass Pickups 2020 – For Incredible Deep Lows and Clear Highs P bass, which is also known as a precision bass was Leo Fender’s first electric bass design. Start by taking a good look at your setup. And while the topic of pickups is quite complex and outside the scope of this article, it’s worth noting that neither of these two pickup designs is better than the other…just different. The tuners are open-backed, old-school. Last but not least, the final product on our list of five best lightweight bass guitars is the Sterling Bass, an original design from the import line of the Ernie Ball Music Man Brand Family. Now, as you can see on the image above, there IS a difference between P-bass pickups and humbuckers (both double coil pickups)… Because, although they both are humbucking pickups, humbuckers have 2 coils under each string, allowing them to ‘pick up’ a wider area under the string, and creating some phase cancelation…. And you have old cut wires to show you exactly where you should be soldering your new ones. All rights reserved. Typically one is black, and the other is white. The not-so-slight return of an early ‘80s favorite, Price: $699/£679 | Body: Swamp ash | Neck: Maple, bolt-on | Scale: 34” | Fingerboard: Maple or rosewood | Frets: 21, medium jumbo | Pickups: 2x G&L MFD Humbuckers | Controls: 1 x master volume, 2-band EQ, series/parallel switch, 3-way toggle preamp mode, 3-way toggle pickup switch | Hardware: Leo Fender-Designed G&L Saddle-Lock bridge | Left-handed: Yes | Finish: Natural, 3-Tone Sunburst, Olympic White, Clear Orange, Redburst. If the switching and EQ controls seem a little esoteric at first – and you’ll have a fun time finding the sweet spot – the performance of this modestly priced four-string puts it firmly in the workhorse category. Bath The build quality is what we would expect from a South Korean Schecter, i.e. DiMarzio of course, make quality pickups and there Precision bass … The modernised flagship P remains the best bass guitar, Price: $1,899/£2,099 | Body: Alder (ash on Plasma Red Burst and Aged Natural models) | Neck: Maple, bolt-on | Scale: 34” | Fingerboard: Rosewood | Frets: 21, medium jumbo | Pickups: Ultra Noiseless Vintage Jazz Bass (bridge), Ultra Noiseless Vintage Precision Bass (middle) | Controls: Master Volume, Pan Pot (Pickup Selector), Treble Boost/Cut, Midrange Boost/Cut, Bass Boost/Cut, Passive Tone, Active/Passive Mini Toggle | Hardware: 4-saddle HiMass bridge, Fender"F" Light-Weight Vintage-Paddle Keys with Tapered Shafts | Left-handed: No | Finish: Aged Natural, Mocha Burst, Arctic Pearl, Ultraburst. Original Fender specifications, with modern output Superb articulation for a clean and clear tone When the inevitable ding comes it will be painful. But just plug it in and play again; that’ll bring the smile back to your face. It contains large quarter inch-wide pole pieces which expand the magnetic field and extend the frequency range from low to high end for a full, fat and punchy sound with midrange presence. It contains a hum-canceling split coil pickup which provides a huge full-range tone that sits in a mix incredibly well for lots of styles of music. Of course, you’ll find these here, too, but also more exotic choices such as ovangkol, bubinga and panga panga – each with their own frequency response. The Fender Precision Bass (often shortened to "P-Bass") is a model of electric bass manufactured by Fender Musical Instruments Corporation.In its standard, post-1957 configuration, the Precision Bass is a solid body, four-stringed instrument equipped with a single split-coil humbucking pickup and a one-piece, 20-fret maple neck with rosewood, pau ferro, or maple fingerboard. You’ll typically have a 2- or 3-band EQ that gives you a little more control over your tones. Hey, when you get it right first time, why change? In terms of pushing instrument design forward, bass manufacturers have been early adopters of alternative tonewoods to the ash/alder/mahogany paradigm. The American Ultra Series’s approach presents a more evolutionary than revolutionary approach to modernising Fender’s top-line US-built instruments, and we think they found the sweet spot. Thanks to the flush mount pole pieces, you’ll experience even string response each and every time. You get more treble and middle out of the sound than the Ps lower register. Fender Deluxe Active Precision Bass Special, Maple Fingerboard. The P Bass features split 4-pole single-coil pickups, while the Jazz Bass features dual 8-pole humbuckers. There are compromises, and though I am not saying Squier basses are as good, they’re not a million miles away. The extra jumbo frets reward a light touch and the neck-through build, which sees the neck dissolve into the body, leaves a heel that offers zero resistance to your reaching the summit of that fretboard. Best Free Bass VST Plugins. The two biggest defining factors are the pickups and the neck. It’s almost like having a neck pickup…, A state-of-the-art five-string of supreme quality, Price: $1,599/£1,199 | Body: African mahogany core, panga panga and figured maple top | Neck: Panga panga/purpleheart 5-piece laminate | Scale: 34” | Fingerboard: Panga Panga | Frets: 24 | Pickups: 2x Aguilar Super Double Single-Coils | Controls: Volume, pickup pan, bass, middle, treble/passive tone control, three-way mid-frequency switch (250Hz, 450Hz, 700Hz), active/passive selector switch | Hardware: Ibanez MR5S Mono-rail bridge, Gotoh machine heads, gold | Left-handed: Yes | Finish: Caribbean Green, Brown Topaz Burst. Squier by Fender Affinity Series Precision Beginnger Electric Bass - PJ - Olympic White As with all of the designs that Leo Fender had a hand in, there is an understated brilliance and a sense of practicality – and it’s a bolt-on construction, too. P/J bass is a hybrid of precision and jazz bass. The Classic Vibe Jazz Bass is based on those original ‘60s models, and Fender’s entry-level brand Squier will give you a supremely comfortable ride and some uncannily vintage tones and plenty of change from 500 bucks. Since it was first introduced – disingenuously billed as the “two-pickup Precision” – in 1960, the Jazz Bass has inspired countless imitators, and has consistently been tweaked and revised by Fender through the ages. Some of the new ones are alder some are ash, some are something else. Sure, a nut width of 54mm might bring tears to an avowed four-stringer’s eyes, but the neck’s thin C profile is shallow enough to ease you in and help adjust to all that extra fretboard territory. You have two leads on a P bass pickups set. No matter the product, the best Fender bass guitars will surely bring out the best in you as a player due to its fair share of exceptional features. Best Audio Interface for Live Performance, Best Home Recording Studio Equipment Packages, Seymour Duncan Quarter Pound P-Bass Pickup, If you play bright strings, you may need to fit a capacitor. A precision bass or more commonly referred to as the P bass was first introduced by Fender in 1951 to replace the classical style base as the need for volume arose. You’ve got short scale vs long scale and four-string vs five- or six-string bass guitars, and that’s before we get to the theological schism with the electronics: active vs passive. However, in the 1970s the company Ibanez started producing the first true hybrid precision and jazz bass. Please deactivate your ad blocker in order to see our subscription offer, Today's best Fender American Ultra Precision Bass and Yamaha BB435 deals, You’ve got some excellent P/J tones on tap, Outstanding sustain and solid on that lower fifth, This is another well-put together Epiphone, Not the most versatile bass in the Thunderdome, It’s already relic’d so no worries gigging this. Thereafter put the pickup screws in using your hand. P Bass . A PJ bass is a Precision bass, with an added Jazz pickup for some added brightness, or for Jazz bass solo bridge tone. Fender is one of the most well-known and recognizable guitar and bass guitar brands in the world. The P Bass is so legendary that quite a good number of past and present-day musicians such as Mike Dirnt of Green Day, Nate Mendel of The Foo Fighters, Tony Franklin and James Jamerson are considered to be the precision bass enthusiasts. Some bassists just can’t get on with the Thunderbird. The next generation of Fender’s American-built Precision, the Fender American Ultra Precision Bass, is a doozy. First off, it is so playable, with a whip-quick neck that’s a joy to breeze along – its profile offers ample compensation for the nut width (45mm) to accommodate that fifth string. The jazz bass was introduced in 1960 as an ergonomic, streamlined construction more akin to a jazz master guitar. The thumb rest will come in handy too for those who do their picking up by the neck. In the following step, you’ll need to solder your new pickups. Well, it ain’t nothin’ but Ibanez has stacked the features high on this. Get just your iron warmed up and good to go. You’ve got a choice of an alder body or ash, retro pick-guards in three-ply mint green or 4-ply tortoiseshell. Both precision and jazz bass pickups come with a wealth of benefits. If you’re after the best … Our price comparison widgets will display the best prices you'll find online, too. Scoop the mids for some effervescent slap, or boost them and the treble for some really up-front, bass-as-a-lead instrument tones. There was a problem. Here we’re looking at some of the best cheap bass guitars currently available for around £500/$620 and under. For example, my ’73 P-Bass has a set of La Bella 760FMs on it from 1998, and if a string ever broke, I’d have to give the bass a fiery Viking funeral down the Cumberland River. The BB435 is an absolute hoot to play, lively, dynamic, and it has a fuss-free control system where a master tone serves both pickups and you can adjust the balance via independent volume controls. Since its introduction in 1976, the Music Man StingRay has come to define the company’s bass-making. This Epiphone reproduction of the Gibson ‘Bird ($2,299) hits all the right notes, stylistically and tonally. © Leo plays piano, bass and drums, mixes and masters tracks, and runs everything from his home studio. And the price? It seems to me the lighter the bass itself the fatter the sound. Four and five string players instantly recognize jazz and precision basses. Guitar World is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Short-scale basses – such as the Mustang we list below here – can be more approachable from a playing point of view, especially from guitarists who wish to take part in the rhythm section for the first time. What you want to do is cut the pickup leads about half an inch away from their connections just so they’re free. It ain’t cheap but the smart new finishes, the player-friendly amendments (improvements?) For this installation, you can use pickup foam. That can make all the difference in the mix. The onboard preamp of active basses can compress your tone slightly, whereas those dynamics remain up for grab on a passive bass. It might feel a little short to some, but if you have recently moved onto bass from guitar this will feel incredible. This kit contains everything you need to build your guitar. Still seen as the funk/metal choice by purists? The slap players will find a lot of funk-ready tones here, with the 3-band EQ and pickup pan offering a panoramic vista of Planet Tone. Squier Vintage Modified P-Bass. If you want to eliminate noise, then this pickup gets rid of the noise and hum that is often associated with early 70’s bass pickup. The BB435 would make a superlative choice for any player looking for their first five-string. Warwick German Pro Series Thumb BO 5-String Bass Guitar, 8. The back contours, as well as the offset shape body, are designed with comfort in mind. We've rounded up our favorites right now, and listed them in price order to make it easier to find the right one for your budget. This jemmies open the sonic possibilities even before you get to the two-band EQ. However, if they too tight, then you may need to include an extra step to loosen the strings and give yourself a little bit of slack or room to work. However, what separates the two and which is the best one for you? Hardware wise, it’s fairly similar to the precision, but that depends on the company as well. Well if we are going to talk bass … Lots of companies that make jazz shapes equip it with single coil pickups making it extremely versatile. This is a smart choice for the gigging bassist and especially for those whose style is that bit more effervescent. All basses are not created equal. The EMG Geezer Butler Signature PJ Bass Guitar Pickup Set is a passive pickup with vintage tone. Some might decry the 2-band EQ – many players want explicit control over the mids and that’s cool – but if you think of the balance control between both pickups as an auxiliary mids control you will find all the control you need. Place those screws aside in a safe place, so you have them to put the pickguard back on after the installation. The Fender Precision Bass Pickups contains an enamel coated magnet wire for a warm vintage tone. New models also date back to the mid-20th century designs because they tick all the boxes for retro style. Price: $699/£519 | Body: Mahogany wings | Neck: 7-ply mahogany/walnut through body | Scale: 34” | Fingerboard: Rosewood | Frets: 20, medium small | Pickups: 2x Epiphone ProBucker Bass #760 Humbucker | Controls: Neck Volume, Bridge Volume, Master Tone, 3-way pickup selector | Hardware: 1960s TB-Bass Tune-o-matic with Claw tailpiece | Left-handed: Mo | Finish: Alpine White, Tobacco Sunburst, Ebony. Now, Yamaha does a very neat line in pro basses – the BBP35 is an exceptional top-line version of the BB435 that we’d recommend in a heartbeat – but this is an exceptionally priced instrument. Visit our corporate site. The hardware won’t let you down. There’s an upfront, pugnacious quality to the active MEC J-Style pickups that, should you turn it up loud enough, will deliver all the thunder you need for rock settings. Gibson Les Paul Junior Tribute DC Short-Scale Bass. However, unlike the pickups on a jazz bass, P base only features one split single coil pickup. Read the full Fender American Ultra Precision Bass review, Because no ‘best bass guitar’ round-up is complete without a StingRay, Price: $2,199/£2,199 | Body: Ash | Neck: Roast maple, bolt-on | Scale: 34” | Fingerboard: Roast maple, ebony or Rosewood | Frets: 22, stainless steel | Pickups: 2x Neodymium humbuckers | Controls: Active 3-band EQ, master volume, 5-way pickup selector | Hardware: Vintage Music Man top loaded chrome plated, steel bridge plate with vintage nickel plated steel saddles, Custom lightweight tuners with tapered string posts | Left-handed: Yes | Finish: Charging Green. This preamp boosts the pickup’s signal and the bass’s EQ can be used to cut or boost frequencies. Yamaha has really nailed the ability to make super-playable instruments at accessible prices and yet the really gorgeous Yamaha BB435 5-string is remarkable. The active bass has an onboard preamp, typically powered by a 9V or 18V battery. It also has a period-correct cloth output wire and fiber bobbin and also comes complete with the installation hardware. This allied to the clever 45-degree string-through bridge helps set the BB435 apart. Bass guitars come with four, five or six strings depending on the model. There’s a reason for this; the design looks cool and it works. What blew minds then and still does is the switching system. This Seymourized design balances the coils with the magnets for great harmonics and sustain. One of the worst things aside from having screws left-over after installation is not having enough screws. And they’ve got individually adjustable pole pieces, just in case the switches and EQ didn’t present enough choice. Cut the pieces to size, remove the backing to expose the adhesive and place them into the pickup cavity. If everything is good, then you can replace the pickup guard, find the screws that you set aside and install the pickup back to the bass. A five-string bass guitar has an additional low B string that widens the range of tones you can play. But with a new Modern D neck profile, the 10-14” compound radius fingerboard, HiMass bridge, lightweight tuners and a newly designed preamp, it’s an altogether more contemporary proposition. There is a shorter space between frets, the neck is – by definition – shorter. But it’s the pickups and electronics that people will ask you about after the show. How a bass feels can be a question of scale. Fender literally wrote the book on electric basses, laying the foundation for musical innovation and evolution. I will try to find a pic. Just add your finish materials to the body and neck. But considering this minimalist design, the P bass is one of the most versatile instruments ever created. There are certainly more detailed onboard EQ shaping options on a bass guitar, but few as simple or elegant. On top of that, these basses are also both active and passive. Instructions: Click each link below and look around each website for the download link or button. Say you were blindfolded and thrown into the bass section of your local music store and asked to retrieve the first bass you found, chances are you will return with something inspired by the Jazz Bass. There’s a pair of Epiphone ProBucker Bass #760 Humbuckers to bring the thunder, a good and clubby ‘60s style neck profile, and the ‘reverse’ body shape is there to be swung around. Very cool. It was introduced in 1951, and while it wasn’t the first electric bass, undoubtedly it changed … If you are a slap or fingerstyle player, the jazz bass will surely suit you. Otherwise, consider 34” to be the industry standard, with basses such as the Squier Jaguar Classic Vibe coming in somewhere down the middle with 32” scales. Now bassists have always modified the instruments by changing and tweaking the pickup. Bridge replacements offer better aesthetics over stock hardware along with the added benefit of further control of variables like intonation, string action height, and string spacing. The black wire from the pickups goes to ground, which is on the back of the potentiometer. Its neck is on the fat side but make no mistake, this plays perfectly. To this day, the P-Bass is still the best-selling and most commonly replicated electric bass guitar on the market. With an Ultra Noiseless Vintage Jazz Bass single-coil in the bridge and its split-coil counterpart in the middle, the American Ultra P-Bass is one hugely versatile instrument. Yes, you may have that powerful electric screwdriver that saves you a lot of money and is a pleasure to use; however, it is not the right tool for this job. Dimarzio Model P Bass Pickup. Just how do you choose the right one for you? Use your good old screwdriver and work slowly to make sure you get the screws back in the holes and get the pickup at the desired height. There has never been a better time to pick up one of the best bass guitars for a number of reasons, but chiefly because players have never had so much choice, such high quality instruments to choose from and, most importantly, so many great deals on great gear. One definitive element… Indeed, what feels like the best bass guitar for you is what’s best, too. Whether you’re looking for a funkifiable four-string bass to put some bounce in your slap, or a more understated instrument for old-school jazz fingerstyle, there is no shortage of options – and, crucially, options at every price point. Due to its popularity and worldwide replication, you can find a P Bass to fit any budget. Like the precision bass, the jazz bass nailed it so well the first time around that they didn’t change much for decades. This is a higher-end middle/bridge pickup made with flush-mount Alnico V magnet and high-quality enamel-coated wire. to an all-time classic and the tones are worth it. The low B string is tight. Short scale bass guitars aren’t for every taste, that’s for sure, but they did happen to be big enough for perhaps the best-known band in history. A classic bass! It is making it’s comeback now because of its full, fat sound without piercing highs. The new Modern D neck profile feels incredible, complementing a newly contoured body for a truly superlative playing experience. It is the most-recognisable model – well, the Bongo might be more of a head-turner, but this is the one that made it famous. The rise, fall and rediscovery of the Fender Jaguar, How to set up a Les Paul: 7 essential tips, (Image credit: Fender/Yamaha/Ibanez/Ernie Ball), We check over 130 million products every day for the best prices, Best bass guitars: Full round-up & reviews, 9. The tones are on-the-money as far as the Jazz Bass goes – thumping, in your face, but elastic and alive – and the controls that offer a wide sweep of tones. Well the 30” scale makes for one incredibly accessible little bass. Super wrong, but the good news is that once you understand how this works (and it's super simple) you'll never struggle with understanding PJ basses again. The build is solid, with the six-bolt miter neck joint doing a pretty good job of imitating a neck-through, and you can get all kinds of tones out of the ever-reliable P/J pickup combo. It has since become one of the most popular base models of all time. In this step, you’ll need to remove the screws from the perimeter of the pickguard. Oh, and the body and neck is ovangkol – a sustainable tonewood introduced by Taylor that sounds somewhere between rosewood and koa – and the BO of the name stands for bolt-on. Includes a finished, predrilled body, fretted neck, all electronics and hardware. Second Hand Fender Mexican P-Bass. Maybe we should start there. Lace created the USAB Ultra Slim Acoustic Bass Pickup Black … If you want a ‘P’ Bass (Precision bass), a Jazz bass, a Mustang Bass, an Affinity bass or a Jaguar bass technically made by Fender without the expenditure, Squier could be your savior. Some say it can be a little imbalanced, prone to neck tilt. At Fralin Pickups, we believe the best sound comes from the highest quality materials available, not fancy gimmicks. Flawless build – and from a sustainable tonewood, Active MEC J-style pickups and electronics are excellent. Squier by Fender Affinity Series Precision Bass PJ Beginner Pack, Laurel Fingerboard, Black, with … Put the plug in and see how it works. There are other differences, too. Sustain Punch. there is a late 70's ibenez p bass knockoff that is very nice and often dirt cheap. What do incredible Black Sabbath songs like Iron Man, War Pigs, and Paranoid have in common? PJs are just crappy versions of a P and a J mashed together. Lace USAB Ultra Slim Acoustic Bass. There’s a trio of knobs, a trio of toggle switches, and a cornucopia of tone options to be had here – toggle between active and passive modes, between neck, middle or both humbuckers, and series/parallel mode. The Stiletto Studio 6 challenges the notion that the six-string bass can feel a little intimidating, that it’s perhaps a niche instrument, with an exclusive price tag to boot. Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, The bread and butter of the P Bass is it’s ability to “sit in the mix” and serve the music. P bass, which is also known as a precision bass was Leo Fender’s first electric bass design. Thank you for signing up to Guitar World. And, furthermore, it’s very cool, played by the likes of Kim Gordon, Krist Novoselic, and John Entwistle. What’s the difference? England and Wales company registration number 2008885. Fender American Ultra Precision Bass Guitar, Watch Sarah Longfield take the Universal Audio Luna Challenge, Ty Dolla $ign pays tribute to Kurt Cobain with a faithful take on Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit, Wes Borland and Bill Kelliher join The Kings of Quarantine for a virtual cover of Jane's Addiction's Mountain Song, Best acoustic bass guitars 2021: Unplug and play with our pick of 7 top acoustic basses, Affordable Mariposa model headlines Sterling by Music Man's 2021 lineup, Need an amplifier with that? Leo Tilton Jr. left college after being two years into a four-year degree to pursue music. In this step you need to place the pickup foam. Fralin P-Bass Pickups offer a significant upgrade. © 2020. If you’re looking for high output with lots of clarity and high-end punch, choose this system. In the past, the basses used springs to maintain string height. Ample Bass P … The build is exceptional throughout – this is a bolt-on but the six-bolt miter neck joint is so strong you might swear it’s a string-through. Alas, I bring you the best P Bass pickup available right now, the Fender Custom Shop ‘62 P Bass split-coil pickup. Please refresh the page and try again. BA1 1UA. These are the. While some are passive others may be active; however, they all offer great benefits such as a multitude of highs, hum cancelling abilities as well as split single coils. P-bass wise, I think the alder body ones sound better. If you’re wondering whether you can put a jazz bass neck on a P bass, then the answer is yes, you definitely can. Being owned by Fender means the models of bass available are pretty much the same. We never had the Fender Mustang down as a do-it-all bass but it’s telling that Justin Meldal-Johnsen swears by his ’67 Mustang as his number one bass. The Ultra Noiseless pickups are an excellent pairing also, with the punchier Vintage Jazz single-coil in the bridge position offering a nice counterpoint to the rounded warmth of that middle position split-coil. Best Bass Gear stocks a wide selection of bridges in a variety of different string spacings, finishes, … If you’re looking for full-on power, then this is the bass that you want. But if you love it, you love it; and there’s really nothing quite like it, with its dual-humbuckers providing all kinds of thumping low-end radness and the mahogany winged, neck-through body rounding it all out. It also has Alnico five magnets for more enhanced dynamics and focus. There is also a push-pull on the volume control to bypass the active electronics for another range of passive tones. However, it was not until the 80s that Fender started making its own models and it took them several times before adopting the definitive PJ pick up setup. Created by Leo Fender, the Precision Bass was the first commercially produced model of the electric bass. Then carefully lift the pickguard over the pickups and slide it out from under the strings. Six-string bass has both the low B string and a high C string, and these have a very wide neck. The Les Paul Junior Tribute DC is a great fit … Those US-made G&L MFD humbuckers are overwound with a ceramic core and they’re powerful. Okay, so the SR2405W is a bass you’d think twice about playing down the local dive bar for it has a finish that deserves a cordon sanitaire and 24/7 security to protect against dings and theft. The American Ultra body is also more heavily contoured across the back, with a newly sculpted heel allowing a free pass to the upper frets. All rights reserved. Best bass guitars: Our top picks The next generation of Fender’s American-built Precision, the Fender American Ultra Precision Bass, is a doozy. Well put simply, passive basses have no onboard preamp and so their output is generated 100 percent by their pickups. If you are a musician looking for maximum output and extended frequency range, then this Seymour Duncan Quarter Pound P-Bass Pickup is just for you.