EMG Geezer Butler P/J passive bass pickups mini review!

[KaosCill8r]

I made a thread in the I love Doom section of the forum regarding these pickups a few weeks ago. I installed them in my Squier VM Jag bass the other night and thought I'd share my findings here too.

Fitting them was a breeze. I was initially skeptical of the solder less design, but they seemed to plug in quite firmly. Time will tell I guess. I ended up only having to solder the jack socket because my bass has one of those barrel sockets. No big deal.
No damas whatsoever fitting the actual pickups in my Squier Jag. No modding at all, everything lined up perfectly. The access hole for the bridge Jazz pickup cavity was big enough for the cable plug to pass through into the control cavity. Neck Precision pickup again fitted perfectly, and everything reassembled without a problem also. I couldn't use my original splined knobs because of the solid shaft pots that came with it, but I knew that they wouldn't before I ordered them. I ended up ordering some genuine Fender Jazz bass knobs with the set screw fasteners. And also orderued a genuine Fender 3 hole control plate because the original one on the bass was a 4 hole plate. Stupid fucking bass boost circuit. Why the fuck did they bother putting that crap in? Useless and it sounded like shit
Now how do they sound? They are Geezer Butler pickups, but I don't have his rig or his fingers so I'm not going to tell you they nail his sound perfectly. They are very quiet, no hum whatsoever. I think they would be great for playing a lot of styles of music, not just the heavy. Very full sounding pickups. They have a nice balance across the sound spectrum though they have a nice lower mid presence. I'm guessing the sound will cut through nicely in a live band mix. I'm not in a band so I can't tell you for sure. The P bass pickup sounds very much like you would expect a vintage P bass pickup to sound. They have a very nice thump. The J bass pickup has that midrange growl that you want from a J pickup. Combined the sound is fantastic all the way up the neck. Great for riffing down on the far end and middle of the neck. Nice growling lead lines up high on the neck. Sound nice through dirt and fuzz pedals. Don't know what else to say but I like them a lot. I would give them a 10 out of 10. The original pickups with the bass boost crap I would of given a 3 out of 10. And that's being generous. But don't take my word for it. Read the reviews. Check the Talk Bass forum. There is a 50+ page thread on them over there. Far more love than hate for them, but you will always get some knockers no matter what.
It is still early days and I'm still setting everything up, but it's close to perfect. I love these pickups. Buy these pickups if you want a vintage bass tone but with a modern punch and noiseless sound quality.
Just so you know I don't work for EMG or Fender.

[SPACERITUAL]

I want to punch geezer butler in the face and shit.

[SPACERITUAL]

Srs though i kinda really like that lapland bass he just put out.

[waltdogg]

I was interested in these for my P-Bass until I found out it had left-over stock 70s pickups in it.

[Kacey Y]

I just finished soldering up the Dimarzio Model P and Emerson wiring harness for my homemade P body yesterday and I was mentioning to someone about how I kind of wish I had bought the EMG Geezers, since I'm a menace with a soldering iron, but I've never tried them and know I love the Dimarzios. Maybe if I sell one of these pieces of gear that's sitting on CL for months, I'll shell out and compare them head to head for fun.

[KaosCill8r]

I want to punch geezer butler in the face and shit.

Sounds to me you want to punch everyone in the face and shit I think you just need to go out and pickup a root dude A little bit of pussy would do you some good.

[KaosCill8r]

compare them head to head for fun.

Sounds like a good idea. I'd like to hear some clips if you do. As far as being a menace with a soldering iron. Keep trying.
Just takes practice, a good soldering iron (not necessarily an expensive one, just good. Mine only cost about $30AUD and I love it) and some decent solder. Practice making your own patch cables and build some simple fuzz pedals prom kits.
I had a bit of a leg up when it comes to soldering though. My dad was an electronics technician for a telecommunications company and he taught me to solder when I was about 10 years old.
I've seen some pretty good soldering tutorials on YouTube that will get you soldering like a pro in no time.

[SPACERITUAL]

I want to punch geezer butler in the face and shit.

Sounds to me you want to punch everyone in the face and shit I think you just need to go out and pickup a root dude A little bit of pussy would do you some good.

Or maybe I'm just kidding.

[Kacey Y]

Sounds like a good idea. I'd like to hear some clips if you do. As far as being a menace with a soldering iron. Keep trying.
Just takes practice, a good soldering iron (not necessarily an expensive one, just good. Mine only cost about $30AUD and I love it) and some decent solder. Practice making your own patch cables and build some simple fuzz pedals prom kits.
I had a bit of a leg up when it comes to soldering though. My dad was an electronics technician for a telecommunications company and he taught me to solder when I was about 10 years old.
I've seen some pretty good soldering tutorials on YouTube that will get you soldering like a pro in no time.

Yeah, I've been trying for several years. Watched all the tutorials, read articles, had friends who are great at it teach me. I can't quite express why I'm so bad at it. I did manage to solder up my pickup without burning anything up this time, barely.

[KaosCill8r]

Yeah that sucks when there is something you practice and just can't get right. I can't whistle Been trying most of my life and still can't do it. Ah well, atleast I can blow a mean blues harp.

[Kacey Y]

Yeah that sucks when there is something you practice and just can't get right. I can't whistle Been trying most of my life and still can't do it. Ah well, atleast I can blow a mean blues harp.

I can draw, play guitar and bass, I'm an excellent woodworker. Put a soldering iron in my hand and it just shakes like crazy and I burn everything. I still give it the ole high school diploma try though.

[KaosCill8r]

Yeah that sucks when there is something you practice and just can't get right. I can't whistle Been trying most of my life and still can't do it. Ah well, atleast I can blow a mean blues harp.

I can draw, play guitar and bass, I'm an excellent woodworker. Put a soldering iron in my hand and it just shakes like crazy and I burn everything. I still give it the ole high school diploma try though.

As long as you try, that's the main thing. I once read that Albert Einstein couldn't tie his own shoe laces. Strange but true.

[Swordfishtrombone]

My soldering ability was iffy until I decided to wire my tele up like a broadcaster. Trying to attach everything to such a small space changes a man...

[KaosCill8r]

My soldering ability was iffy until I decided to wire my tele up like a broadcaster. Trying to attach everything to such a small space changes a man...

Yeah those Tele control cavities are very tight. I've modified my old Ibanez Lawsuit Tele electronics (my noise guitar). Ended up squeezing 2 big pots, a momentary stomp switch as a kill/stutter a 2pdt toggle switch for dual tone caps and the output jack socket. Had to move the pickup selector switch over to the pickguard. With all that and the wiring is chaos in there.