Which J bass pickup to get into Ric territory?

[Supernautilus]

I just picked up a Harley Benton JB-75. Cool guitar but the pickups are a little weak. I’d like to get some pups that will get me a bit closer to a Ric-like growl if possible.

So far I’m looking at either the Heavy Weather or Quarter Pounder sets. Any thoughts on those? Or other options that might fit the bill? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

[idsnowdog]

A J-bass and Rickenbacker are completely different animals due to different scale lengths, pickup style, and pickup placement. I have the SD Rickenbacker set and they don't sound like the originals. It still sounds like a Rickenbacker bass but the pickups have their own voice. The bridge bass humbucker is great sounding for any bass. The neck got lost on my Rick copy because it is fairly low output, bright, and transparent. The bridge overpowered it. I moved the neck pickup to the neck position of a P-bass and its the brightest pickup on the bass. I replaced the neck pickup with a 20K ceramic mini-humbucker which sounds massive in the Rick copy.

[Mincer]

Ricks are their own thing. I honestly never heard a J and a Rick sound close, except when Chris Squire used a J on a few tunes. It was going through his Rick rig, though, in stereo, so that had a lot to do with it.

[Supernautilus]

Thanks guys. I understand a Rick is not a J. But I can already get something close to it by cutting back on the neck pup a little bit and tweaking my VT Bass DI to get a nice growly tone. It’s just that the pickups are a little weak. I feel like some hotter pickups would get me a little closer. Maybe I’ll just try a QP in the bridge position to see what happens before I change both.

[Demanic]

I just picked up a Harley Benton JB-75. Cool guitar but the pickups are a little weak. I’d like to get some pups that will get me a bit closer to a Ric-like growl if possible.

So far I’m looking at either the Heavy Weather or Quarter Pounder sets. Any thoughts on those? Or other options that might fit the bill? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

If you put a Quarter Pounder set in your bass, you won't regret it.