EMG Geezer Butler Signature PJ Set 

you need repeat this demo on squier bass, because the stock pickup sounds really fantastic too

Glad to see that EMG makes a more ballsy pickup. My experience with EMGs is from back in the 80s when they were known for their brightness and clarity. They were way too clean and modern for me back then. I recall a popular bass in the mid 80s was the GUILD "Pilot" Bass which had a p/j configuration. Some models arrived at music stores with EMGs and others had Bartolini p/ups. EMGs were for the slap-pop bassists and the Bartolinis had a warmer more "vintage" tone.

as an owner of this same bass i have to say the stock pickups sound great too

Hello Chris ! What a sounding PJ Bass !!! Great updating with Geezer's PJ set ! Love it !

pbass stock fulltone 0:30, 5:23, 5:44, 6:04 vs pbass emg fulltone 3:08, 5:33, 5:54, 6:14

Some of the best bass pups I've ever played. Got mines in a Squier PJ. Love them!!

Got a set of these on my Squier Jag SS. Now it is awesome. Fab p'ups and pots too. Well Done EMG

I like the stock p pickups more but not diggin the stock j pickup. The p pickups did have more growl. The Geezer set, though, sounded a lot more consistent and a little more clarity. They really worked well together and separate, while the stock set didn't seem to mend well as a set. When the Geezer set was run through distortion, it became clear why Geezer has this set.

I have those pickups on my cheap silvertone p bass and that bass now sounds like a monster

Thanks for this review/comparison!

How the GZR P/J set fares against -lets say- the SD Quarterpound P/J set ?

Love the tone !!!

I have these pickups on a regular pbass and they are fantastic well worth it

I never thought I’d like pj pickups besides the way it’s supposed to be but I really like the sound of them on my squire jaguar

Very nice. You let me know I don't need to upgrade, my pups are just fine

Even through my phone speaker the Geezers sound amazing in comparison to the stock pick ups.

GREAT JOB!! ....LOVE THE GEEZERS!!!!!

I put these in a squire pj bass, and tbh I didn’t notice much of a higher output, but that’s because the only way I could get them to fit had them so far sunken into the body. I may need to add some more foam under the pickup

I own the same bass and have been considering these pickups! I might just do it now!

Yeah, like some others have said, I’d like to see a cheaper bass upgraded with nicer pickups so you can see a bigger improvement in sound.

I love these geezers man they are sick

Yeah, these are most badass when run with a natural overdrive (I use a BOSS ODB-3 pedal set per the manual). Sorry about the multiple posts, I'm just posting as I'm learning.

Sounds great

Just ordered a set of these for my cv 70’s squire should be interesting to see how well they sound

Stock pickups sound pretty damn good! Geezer's sound a little deeper and punchier. Like to see EMG'S on a Fender! Love to hear your comments on the tonal difference. Please oblige us, realizing you try to stay neutral.

Just saw this again and thought you were playing Fugazi's Waiting Room in the very first notes 😃

I wonder how different mine would sound since my Alvarez has a reversed P pickup

Nice tone during the pickup install montage.

Suffice to say that the basic pickups on this bass sound better than the ones on my Squire P bass although I notice that the J bass pickup seemed really low output on the example shown. To my ears the Geezer set seems to give a slightly fuller sound where the original set seemed to have a very hollow sound and rang out in a piano kind of vibe.

I'd love to hear a comparison between the Steve Harris SPB-4 and the EMG GZR P-bass pickup. They both have a bit more push and grind in the lower mids that really screams classic rock tone to me.

love it

I have the same bass but a prior model I believe because the pick up selector is a toggle switch, will these pick ups work on mine, and will they be plug and play out the box?

Great review! Those Geezers have a bit more snot on 'em! Snarly man thanks for the hard work.

Will this set of pups work with an active preamp?

The best pickups I have ever put in a bass.

Both Pickups are fantastic but EMG has it by a hair it was pretty close until towards the end when they were comparing direct input with distortion and it definitely came out that the EMG high ends are more clear and can make that kind of riff stand out in a metal bass riff where the stock ones would hide behind the rest of the distortion from the rhythm guitar. Almost wanna go get me a PJ bass just to put a set of these in it

Nice demo Will excellent demo Paul Liverpool UK

I wonder if you can get the replacement pots if they screw up.

Will these fit in a squier affinity p j bass?

The original pups sound good but god damn these emgs have some real authority. It sounds deeper and richer for lack of a better term too.

Great demo Will, i always prefer to see you on here as opposed to other people they occasionally have. I wish you would have included what you did or did not like about these pick ups as i am definitely considering to put these in my Mikro bass. Thanks.

Installed these in a Fender Aerodyne and i cant seem to get a high output in these pickups. Is there a reason behind this?

Care to do the same demo on a Squier bass?

The emg rocks the stock ones imo.

I've been thinking about throwing a set of these into my Yamaha TRBX 174

Video, on how to install them?

Those sound amazing! O_O

an interesting concept....you get to play the guessing game of what settings are being changed to generate the sound being heard.

Mine just shipped today after being on backorder forever.

Gotta get me a set of these

I have a question,does any PJ pickups can go on any bass with PJ pickups system?? I have an Ibanez GSR200 and I'm searching other pickups,but Idk if those pickups can be installed on my bass, another thing is that I can't find any diagram of the GSR 200 pickups system connection,so Idk what to do,if someone knows something I will appreciate it so much!

i got the set but somehow it doesn't have the same high/treble as this video. I use Dr's DDT strings which are not particularly dark. Not sure what to make of this. I mean, the lows sound good but that's almost all I get

With my $10 headphones I have to say I have no freakin idea which is better

I have an install question- probably a dumb one that applies to any PJ? I noticed there is no pickup selector. If wiring up directly like the one in this vid using the EMG parts,, are both pickups always on and you just roll off one of the volumes to take the corresponding pup out?

Late to comment here, but do you have any recollection of what strings you were using here? I have the same bass and the same amp/cab set. Thank you. Love what you guys do here.

would you recommend this as a replacement to my squier vintage modified p bass? i play souther, stoner doom on C# and drop B. Considering Black Sabbath play on lower tunings these pickups are gonna shine in this tunings? my bass is strickly a studio instrument I don't play live

Are emg pickups easy to install beside the removal of the old hardware in the bass

Will these work in an Ibanez Mikro bass?

I have put them in Marcus Miller u5. Overall bass with stocks sounded more balanced between both pups... GZR P mightbee nicer fuller some kinda way but J its just... dosent adds something to the table.. im kinda thinkin put back stock J back... with GZR P , might be im doing somthing wrong or its just tone or somthing that i dont like about this gzr P and J combination..

Are these pickups active?

i think fender pickups sound good squiers are always to bright and pingy sounding to me emg has a flatter more subtle warm more mid range sound i have emg on my jazz bass i wanna replace the pick ups on my 84 squier bullet and was thinking fender maybe

Is that the Fender Deluxe p bass special? Thank you!

Are these passive or active, and does this set, utilize 250K audio taper pots? Thanks.

Did you used foam under pickups?

Can anyone tell me what strings they prefer for a PJ style bass? I just got one (the one in this vid), and I don't know how I want it set up, considering it kinda offers a mix between two worlds. Thanks.

Flats sound great too

Yep, my aerodyne is having a set of these

Man that J sounded massive!

For the clean sounds, they are almost the same, but the Fender Noiseless sounds better in the bridge. However, with the fuzz added I vote for the EMG. They "warmed" the clipping better and would fit in a mix better with distorted or clean guitar. It may have been good to have a more comprehensive comparison with dirty /modified tones since, if you are getting these, you are a fan of BS (heavy rock) and are likely to use effects as part of your tone at some point. But good bass playing in the demo!

Is that a geezer butler bass line?

Will, I just bought that bass! Im having a really hard time finding alternative pickguards tho, you know where I can get a pickguard that will fit? Fender doesnt even have em (special deluxe p bass MIM pickguard)!

Geezer's are great if you're after that particular tone. I just happened to have liked the stock pickups more in my MIM Classic 50's P Bass.

What bridge is that on there? I have a red squire, wouldn't mind that upgrade. Thanks.

great sound BUT, I suppose that on the new pickups part in the video, the volume was louder, wich enhances the sound impression

Which is better this or regular EMG PHZ?

i have the same bass. looking at some pickups to put in

Where's that delicious crunch starting at 6:27 coming from? I know you're going amp+direct with both pups, but that sounds like an effect of sorts. Great review! Tx.

6:38 clear winner assuming no settings were changed besides pickups

I replaced the stock pickups in a cheaper bass with these and honestly the stock pickups were much louder. These just don't have the same output. Great tone though! I don't know why this is. I installed them myself, maybe I just need to make some sort of adjustment. Any suggestions would be much appreciated

what strings are you using?

that tone is butter scotch

Those growl!

God--damn, those EMG Geezers sound mean as fuck.

Hey Will, what is the exact model of that P bass? Because I have seen it in sea foam green with black inlays, but it had originally active electronics. Is this modded or some special stock? And by the ways, I prefer the stock pickups :) Eventhough bridge pickup sounded better from EMG, overall the stock was nicer, especially neck pickups, that one was growly as fuck! :)

Sure the stock pups sound great too, but how in hell can nobody hear the difference? It comes down to preference, but there is a very clear difference in sound

What kind of bridge is that?

I thought soldering was required for installing pick ups

I really wish EMG would make a 5 string GZR set

What’s with the huge hole under the pickguard between the volume pot and lower horn?!?! Ouch! Geezers all the way.

TBH the best sound for me was 6:04 ... the stock pup. And this comes from someone trying hard to convince themselves on the EMG set!

Man, these sound awesome. Just got them installed last night on my Lake Placid Blue Squier VM P/J bass. Now looks and sounds pretty fuckin' mean. But, Squier VM owners please be advised: This bass uses a long barrel jack, not the "standard" outfit that comes from EMG. So, you need to use your old jack and that requires two solders. Totally worth it, even if you have to pay GC $30 to do it (like me). Another issue is maybe not so easy to solve. The P pickup cut-out in the pick guard is too small for the entire pickup(s) to be adjustable with respect to height. Rather than raising up when you loosens the screws, the sons of bitches just hit the bottom of the pick guard. Good luck widening those cut-outs to allow proper adjustment. Last thing, the hole in the stock knobs is too small to accommodate the new wider pole piece (just barely). So you have to buy new knobs with a stress to loosen the tighten them down. Just a few things that I had known prior to going into this project (which it is), so that I could have set my expectations accordingly. Hope this helps to do so for you all.

i like the stock pups more! it has more growl.

I like the stock better, I tried this bass at guitar center and couldn't believe it was on $600

Installed these pickups into a very cheap Chinese bass, and now it doesn't sound like a cheap Chinese bass anymore... Pickups costed me €119, the bass was €129, so it's a double value now. But it plays really nice, for a cheap one. Now it doesn't sound cheap anymore. Only, the cavity of the J-pickup was (a bit, 4mm) too small, so I had to do a bit of milling on that, and the holes for the pots.

I like the stock pickups better

The stock pickups are fine . You're looking at around 350 total cost after order installation . Good review but save your money .

I achieved almost the same sound with wilkinson alnico5s 4th of the price.

Can't tell the difference, stock pickups sound great

Save some money and keep the stock Fender pups, they sound way better.

Geezer based them on his fender pups from 70s I think so hardly surprising they sound like fender pups