comparison starts 5:42

The crackling noise is usually fixes by sx screwing down the pickups to stop overloading them.

Really impressed by those EMG's - tight low end and crisp top end response. Pretty balanced tone after all.

The slap tone makes a big difference 😱

ha-ha!! :) "looks like somebody's just had a bad day at the cutting machine at the wood store, and just... cut random pieces out of a beautiful guitar" love this ! @ 3:00 + @ 5:30 "I don't know if I'm the only one who loves to play around before the guitar is properly tuned up" LOVE this, too :) :)

Something similar can also be done passively - active EMGs have their own and pretty aggressive sound which is not always what You want. But the neck - the most critical part for tone - is good enogh for more or less any pickup, and most other split coils woud be a reasonable upgrade. So You might also try something like a Di Marzo Model P - i did that with the shortscale version of that bass. Very powerful tone. Or- if You ant that tone - some vintage sounding split coil. The pots: like often with those cheap instruments suffer from wrong characteristics - just use the vol pot for tone and the tone pot for vol ... and don't forget to buy a quality output jack.

I did the upgrade myself, i didnt dig the low end of the bass after the upgrade, it was a bit boomy for metal tones, but i loved it on jazz mixes! The walking bass tone was sick, i think thats how the P bass works, i sold my P bass upgraded and i ve ordered a stingray 5 strings HB copy along with the EMG mmtw and an emg bcq pre amp looking for that killer mid range punch on my djent mixes. This video made me upgrade my P bass and sound was awesome! But then i realised P bass wasnt the right choice on the first place, maybe my exp will help someone out there!

It sounds better with the new pickups. More versatile, too. You have more tonal range.

I like passive pickups more and hope you upgrade those passive pickups into better passive pickups instead of active ones .

I got an indio jazz bass for about 80 bucks. Was surprised how well it played. I'm not a pro so it was a great guitar for the money. Did change the strings.

Did the same to my 87 vester p bass, but with passive DiMarzio pickups. What a boost! It's my main bass for my rock band!

06:28 - shades of 'John Wilson's" playing on Penthouse And Pavements, the first Heaven 17 album. Great demo, great playing and the Fender Precision design at any price scale will give you THE classic bass guitar sound!

I kinda prefer the stock pickups. They are more of an old school p bass sound, which I like.

A friend of mine brought me that bass with the original pick up and sounds very different from your video. I have a Fender Bronco amp and seriously, for 88 euros that bass is already amazing. I think im going to buy one for me for my birthday JAJAJA. Good video bro.

Nice :) I made the same change, but on the PB-20 SBK version. ( I referenced your video in my video) The Highs (well, D and G strings especially) are so much better with the EMG P pickup ! I maintain that you had the original pickup way too high for it to clip like that 😏

I am new to the world of bass guitars and I hate active pups in guitar, in your video they were very convincing and the video was really educational. Thanks.

lower the dang pickup! It's pretty much impossible to screw up a P-bass pickup at the level of manufacturing that Harley Benton is at. Pickups don't get overloaded, it's a passive circuit, they only output what you are putting down... the input on your preamp might be overloading as well, but it is likely just the harshness in your tone due to the strings being way to close to the magnets in your pickup... all that can be solved by actually setting your pickups to the proper height, this will not only make them sound less harsh when you play harder, it will also even out the overall output from playing intensity. There is a sweet spot, there is a point where pickup height is way too close, and there is also a point that they're too far away as well. KNOW YOUR INSTRUMENT!

The popping will happen on any standard split coil pickup, at least in my experience. Tighten the screws either side of the pickup to move them away from the strings. I use a custom shop fender 63 split coil and that still happens. Also what gauge of labella flats were u using at 0:47? Cheers

Great video....you took the fear out of changing cheap pickups!

Im buy a harley benton diy kit, and made a sameb pickup upgrade, and the result is incredible!

Great seeing some cheap instrument love. Nice video!

with that a new bridge, tuner, nut, strings (i hope theey where new after PU switch) and BAM. awesome!

Expensive pickup usually has more treble, the cheap pickup has more bass, the cheap one usually sounds more vintage!

Hi Lubo. Are these active pickups? Did you have to make a cavity for the battery?

Dude. You are going to have to remove the strings and pickguard to change the battery.

The stock ones sound like they're about to fail. About time you replaced them 👍

Great video, point well made, I will try this with my HB. :-0 Good job!

I’m very late to the party of seeing this, but consider swapping the battery with a rechargeable and then stick a usb port on to charge it.

7:14 nice theme

That was cool , I like the way you play

Awesome video! Amazing how a pair of good pickups make such a difference. Sounds solid!

Badass bridge!

What a great video I am thinking of doing a similar thing to a Ricky bass copy (Rocktile).

thanks...i am going to try this ! good video !

Can you not get a similar sound with just better passive pickups? Should have made a comparison with those to.

Cracking video Lubo!!

I have a stock 2001 fender precision base made in Mexico works perfect. I’m thinking about switching pick ups to Seymour Duncan quarter pounders is this going to affect the value of the guitar

Hello, I liked your video. The idea is very good. The only bad thing is that to change the battery you have to disassemble half an electric bass. One question about that Harley Benton bass model, how is the construction in general? It is worth to buy it. Greetings

5:36 you are not the only one, trust me xd

Hi, ( IM using my wifes youtube , so... ) I thought I saw an option of Passiv tone for the EMG,s .. I got tired of all my basses having "boosted" sound so I go mostly passiv now. But otherwise nice review, like it, as you donbt get into all the obvious (Maybe not for all , but..) stuff and spend most of the review there, but stick to the important stuff that a Bass player is interested in; sound, neck. TNX !!

Awesome video! Do you think Seymour Duncan quarter pounder passive pickups would help? Thanks

I'd still reattach the ground wire to the bridge, because it will help keep you from getting electrocuted lol

So no ground wire?

Hello Lubo! Great review! How does the battery lasts? Best regards from Portugal!

"I hate tone knobs" is like saying I have no requirement of nuance or control of my bass fundamentals whatsoever, despite having paid for the circuit! Also EMG tone controls are highly musical in range.

That's not the cheapest... that's the cheapest LONG scale, there is a version of this bass in short scale that is even cheaper.

Brilliant brother, loved the vid

great video

great job dude!!

As of Dec 30 2021 it is 83.19 Euros / $94 US Dollars.

The first time i opend up a human i was mortified! It looked all gross and goopy like someone just had a bad day at the human factory and just smushed everything in. But dont worry guys, they all look like that on the inside. :)

Awesome change !!!

So what happened to the tone pot?

I’m curious about that wood finish 5-string on the left on the wall, what is that ?

i need to set up speed at 1,75 to watch the beginning of this video xD

excellent job ! thanx

How much does the Harley Benton PB-20BK weigh?

cool video, thanks!!

Great vid 👍

So you pay 88 Euro for the bass, and to make it sound "better, you spend another 86 Euro for active pickups and wiring? Seems like putting a hi-tech sound system into a Yugo. For about 1 Euro, you can get a phillips screwdriver and lower the pickup height to get rid of the hot crackle, as well as turn the volume knob to 9 (instead of full 10) so that a bit of resistance can fight off any distortion (you can make up for the loss of output by turning up the amp). For about another 10 Euro, you can get a can of TV tuner cleaner and spray those pots so that dirt crackle will disappear (of course, after a few years, you will have to replace the pots, but if it's brand new, that should help a lot). There! I just saved you about 75 Euro. The bass is 88 Euro for those beginners who can't afford much more starting out, so why wave a bunch more costly items in front of their faces?

the old pickup just sounds way too mid focused or something, I'm not sure. A lot of Cheaper P-Bass pickups can be pretty meh

Why you dont put the other pot ??, The tone pot ??

ow does the Kemper work on bass?

impressive

If you're going to make a bunch of mods to these basses then it's better to just save up for a CV or VM Squier Bass. The pickups with these basses are good enough. Inexpensive fixes like shielding or swapping the pots for something higher quality can go a long way. Take a file to the fret ends, etc.

It doesn't look like the pickups are properly spaced. I noticed this more w/ the EMGs but the largest string almost crosses the pickup at its halfway point and the other split pickup is spanning 3 strings. The bass sounds great, but I'm going to assume this is an issue with the fact that it's an inexpensive instrument.

Mi chiedo, perchè acquistarte un basso super economico e poi modificarlo cambiando i pick up con altri di qualità superiore? Tanto vale acquistare fin da subito un basso con qualità migliori o no?

i wish i'd seen this before

is it okey for low tunings.. something like two steps down ?

Surely the who point of active circuitry is there to gain tone control. So why not fit the tone knob. The pick ups are always the weak point on basses and an easy cheap upgrade on a precision type bass. Lots of choice.

Nice wall

Hello! Would you recommend this short scale for a beginner? or is it better normal scale? Thank you!

What pickups do you suggest

Are active pickups just for heavy metal stuff or not

having an expensive amp helps too

Something must have been wrong with the original pickup. This is not normal behaviour.

Active pickups without a battery?

Whats the track used for comparison?

The jack didn't fit so you took out the tone control??? Are you unable to cut a bit of wood so it would fit? Total rookie.

Sioux Bass at eBay !

I have one of these cheap basses. The tone control doesnt do anything until the last 10% of the sweep. Then it just drops out completely. I may just get a cheap loaded pick guard from Ebay. About $16. I'll toss it in the trash before I put hundreds of dollars of electromics and hardware on the bass. Its simply not worth it.

Es mejor el sonido natural ( pasive sound )

🤔

if it sounds like that right out of the box,it's pretty useless even for gigging.

Sounds like you wasted your money. Sound was as good before.

In my case the weakest link in the PB-20 was the awful thick neck. Changed the one in mine for a beat up '90s Samick neck I got used (19mm thick front to back @fret 1) and it plays like a dream now. The neck fitted, but shortened the scale so it required to push the bridge a little back. The pickup is not that bad. Still I of course can see the more focused lows and great barking mids in your EMGs. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/bNhziJV9qLW8lKM.html I've recently got to upgrade the (still cheap) P-bass section of my quiver with the addition of a USA Peavey Fury III and a Squier CV '70s Precision. The way I use my basses (highly compressed SansAmp or Darkglass flavors at varying gains) the PB-20+Samick neck hybrid is totally competent compared to those. At the same time the pickup in the Squier CV has the nicest most growling mids. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/jJOIrLFiv7udlIk.html kzfaq.info/get/bejne/oJmqptlzrLu0qas.html

You have no battery compartment ,so you lost your tone control!!!!!

Why? No point whatsoever if you replace the whole electronics. Then there is no point in "having the cheapest". Also you intentionally show the originals in bad way, without any effect, no compressor, no EQ. Also you just spent the price of the instrument on the electronics. WTF?! Shameful cheating overall. Anyway, that was a faulty pickup set as it shouldn't "pop" whenever.

A shitty P-bass is always going to sound like a shitty P-bass,....no matter what you do to it.

Spent all that money and it still sounds crap, well done!