Are you stuck on a bass that is a blast to play but has a bad sound? Here's a quick test and the resulting experience of upgrading the stock pickups to the Artec POA4 Precision bass pickups for an HB DIY bass kit I built. The difference with the stock pickups is very detectable, in my opinion, but the newer pickups come with their own issue... Luckily, it's an easy fix! Check out the video for sound samples, my opinions and a before / after comparison of the bass sound.
Stuck on a mediocre bass sound?
Hi there! back in 2009 I bought a precision bass kit from Thomann, it was made by a then unknown brand called Harley Benton (!), it was way before they started selling complete instruments for very low price points. Of course, they're a pretty popular brand as of today, but I guess you already know that...
DIY bass package
I've checked the order confirmation email I got from Thomann and it seems I spent about 89 euros for mine. I checked on their website and I was able to track it down even today, it's now priced at 99 euros, and that's not too bad, less than the inflation rate anyway!
If you want to try building your next bass, I suggest you give one of these kits a try, as this was such a good learning experience for me. Of course it's a pretty basic instrument, right now my biggest issue with it is that the pickups sound a bit muddy.
I went to Amazon to look for cheap alternatives to the onboard pickups. That's when I found out these alnico V pickups by Artec, for the low low price of 27 euros, a deal that looks pretty juicy to me!
While I was at it, I also decided to replace the pickup covers with these cream colored ones, it's 6 euros more to shell out but I found it useful to better match the color theme of the bass, which is what makes it so lovely to me.
A pleasant (sonic) surprise!
After replacing the pickups with the new ones I was pleased, these have more high end, a better low end and less muddines in the mids. I would call these Artec pickups more modern sounding alternatives to the stock pickups.
After a bit of playing with the new pickups onboard, I've realized there's a new issue I didn't experience with the old ones... it happens when you accidentally touch the pole pieces when not touching the strings. It's an annoying buzzing noise that drives me crazy!
Ground those poles, ladies...
After a bit of research online, I finally figured it out, the Artec pickups sound nice but the manufacturer didn't bother to ground the actual pole pieces! I've learned that even Fender original pickups often have the same issue, and that's pretty crazy, if you ask me, especially if you pay premium price for these. Thankfully, that's absolutely not our case ;)
Luckily, the fix isn't hard to do, you just have to apply some adhesive foil or metal strip to the back of the pickups, touching the exposed poles, then solder a wire from one coil to the other, and finally wire a jumper to the pickup grounds, takes about 20 minutes with a soldering iron.
That's all for now, I hope you enjoyed my little test of the Artec Alnico V precision bass pickups, if you're the kind of person that subscribes to youtube channels, feel free to do so... or not!
Here's my Youtube channel link.
See you next time!