Same here!
Only issue I had: in combination with the EMG pots they were too smooth and changed position (level or tone) when moving the bass.
So now I put some foam under them to make them a little harder to turn.
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That’s a very interesting concept. Not sure if I understand it. 
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I don’t know if it’s an upgrade but it’s a pickup change. I replaced the Fralin on Greenie for a Frender Pure Vintage 63.
Why it’s not really an upgrade ? because both pickups are really excellent and it’s hard to say that one is “better”. But clearly the goal is not the same.
The Fralin is designed like … Eric Clapton asks you to be his bass player for a concert ; there will be 3 guitar players (+ Eric Clapton himself), 3 trumpets, 2 saxophones, 4 backing singers including at least one excellent black woman with a huge “gospel” voice and an incredible power in the midrange. As a bass player, you sweat asking yourself how your Precision Bass will possibly will be heard in this mix. Then, Fralin. The pickup is precise, focused, with a substantial but not extrem bump in the high mids, right in the frequency that will make you shine in the mix. It’s really sensitive, reactive, a little bit grainy with a very nice vintage vibe. Excellent pickup for sure … but it does not sound exactly like a Precision Bass should sound, in my opinion. It’s somewhat a PB pickup spiced with some JB tone. It’s very good, definitly, but it’s not 100% PB.
The Fender is way more what you expect from a vintage Precision Bass. Fat, full, possibly too much actually. Still punchy and with nice harmonics. It’s just a basic vintage Precision Bass tone. If you want to play some country, motown or rock, it will bring you this pristine PB tone. Not much more to say, that’s it.
So … for me it’s the Fender.
One interesting thing is that I find that a 47nF (or 50nF, same thing) cap in the tone filter is too light for both those pickups. a 68nF will be better, and it will obviously be the next upgrade for Greenie.
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Really cool observations, @terb. Thanks for sharing.
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Those are both really good and in fact are the other two in the top three pickups I narrowed my choices down to for my P-bass as well. I liked the DiMarzio Model P more than both but that was purely genre-specific, and also my preference for ceramics showing through. For more general vintage sounds both of those are clearly better choices.
Both are outstanding sounding pickups to me.
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Ive got a Fralin split 51 p bass pickup, ended up trying a .022 (way too light), .047 (sounded good but not quite) and a .068 which was perfect for me.
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yeah the ideal cap value is not the same from one pickup to another. 47nF is usually the best go-to value but it’s not always ideal.
I still have mine, it was mounted on Greenie from 2012 to 2024 
excellent pickup for sure !
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The other day, I noticed more buzz than normal on the latest sonic P bass with the tone all the way up. It would get better when I touched the strings, so I figured it was some kind of ground problem. Rechecked wiring/connections, everything looked fine, no wires touching things they shouldn’t. But, those sonic P’s aren’t shielded at all. There was also not ground wire going to body. There was a bridge ground which was connected appropriately. So, I put a ground wire in. Actually, soldered a ground to both the volume pot and the jack and used a screw connector. The buzz got a little better but still not great. So, I thought, what the hell and soldered a ground to the tone pot as well which didn’t change much. Ordered some copper tape, started at the bridge, took it off and put a strip on back of bridge with the idea of getting better contact with the bridge wire. Still didn’t fix it, but maybe a little better. Went to pickup cavity, put a strip across back of pickups (stock pick ups) and shielded the whole cavity including the little foam spacers. Buzz was still there but better for sure. Probably within acceptable range. But since I was there, I shielded the rest of the control cavity which got it pretty quiet. When I turn the volume up on my amp way past where I’d normally play, there’s still some noise, it’s not dead silent. It also lessens when I touch the strings. So, technically, there’s probably still a ground issue, but I’m not sure what else to do.
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If it improves when you touch the strings, are you sure there is good bridge grounding contact with the wire?
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As sure as I can be, bridge wire looks like it’s crimped flat when I take the bridge off. I did put some copper tape across the back of the bridge just in case.
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Actually the tape on the bridge would probably do more harm than good. What you want to ensure is good conductive contact between the bridge and the wire. I would take the tape off the bridge, and clean off any adhesive residue.
Then maybe tape the body and sandwich the wire between the tape and the bridge. The wire will ground the tape and that will increase contact area with the bridge.
Also if the bridge is cheap and plated you might want to try sanding the area the wire will contact it a bit.
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Done, also re soldered the bridge wire just in case, unfortunately it’s still there. It’s not loud, can only hear it if I turn my amp , and even then it’s not terrible. But it does decrease when I touch strings/bridge/control knobs. After all this, I’m not sure there’s a problem with the controls. I’m thinking may be a pickup issue. I do think there’s probably some environmental noise that’s getting picked up. But, there’s definitely a ground component. It’s not really that noticeable, I’m betting with some background noise even less so. I’m not sure there’s anything left to do other than replace the pickups.
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So, today I replaced the 47nF cap for a 68nF one. I had some old SMD Wima 250v caps so SMD it is.
The 68nF filter works much better with the Pure Vintage 63 in my opinion. I almost want to try a 100nF.
Currently I have a 500k lin volume pot and a 250k log tone pot, and the tone filter is very reactive, including from 8 to 10, which means that I could use a higher resistance pot. I will probably try a 500k log pot to open the pickup a bit more.
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do you have a multimeter ? did you measure the resistance between the strings and the jack’s ground ?
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I don’t, but I can get one. What would that tell me?
it will tell you if your strings are correctly grounded or not
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Been busy as hell with work and family life, but I finally had a chance to change the strings on my Sire V8. I really, really never cared for the D’Addarios EXL 170 set that were on it. Their rough, stiff feel isn’t for me.
So since the bass was designed by Marcus himself, I figured I’d try the strings he uses: Dunlop Marcus Miller Super-Bright.
Wow, even though these strings have hex cores, they are intentionally made by Dunlop to be much more flexible than conventional hex cores. They totally blow away the D’A for feel under the fingers, for damn sure. (For the record, these Dunlop MM S-B are not TI Jazz Rounds smooth-feeling, but no other rounds are either. )
Bottom line: these strings feel, play and sound killer. They might be named Super-Bright, but they’re not trebly, brittle or screechy in the least. The range of tones they produce is remarkable and, of course, they love to slap. They make my V8 sound even more amazing, which is saying a lot. 
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how… ok I want a picture of using a SMD cap in a bass 
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I charged up my custom Jabba for the first time today. I’ve played it for months, checking its charge level every now and then. Given the amount of hours played on it, I’m amazed it’s held its charge so long.
The bass also has a battery compartment for a 9-volt backup, but I’ve never added a battery to it. The internal battery has handled everything, including powering the preamp’s built-in headphone amp, without it.
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