XT25 aftermarket pickups

[jim g 0]

Does anybody have any suggestions for aftermarket pickups for a Spirit XT-25 5-string bass? Either passive or active suggestions are OK...Jim

[jim g 0]

Since I received no replies to this thread, I have to assume that there are no aftermarket pickups available for the XT-25 bass. Damn! The ones on there sound just like the 'buckers that I had on an Epiphone T-bird years ago--weak and thumpy and dull. That should be no surprise--they're probably the same pickup, and Gibson is not known for their great bass sound. I know tone is subjective, but I prefer something articulate and musical. I was hoping maybe an EMG HB series would work, but I think the string spacing on this bass is too wide, and the gap in the magnets in the middle worries me with the 5-string alignment having a middle string.  Has anybody swapped pickups on the XT-25?  Any advice would be appreciated...Jim

[Nicobasse 0]

Late replie:

As the 4 strings version is equiped with two Guitar-Humbucker-size pick-ups, the XT 25 is equiped with  Humbuckers which are the size of a 7 strings guitar Humbucker...So no easy alternative unless you route a bigger cavity for pickups like EMG40...

[jim g 0]

It's a pleasure to receive a reply to this thread after all this time. THANK YOU! I believe you're 100% correct about this. I think essentially the pickups are the same as the ones that they use for the bolt-on-neck version of the Epiphone Thunderbird bass--the cheaper one of the two they offer. I owned one of those and they sound about the same. Those are also approximately guitar humbucker size, but there is no 5-string version of that bass available. In fact, if Gibson brands makes another 5-string bass, I don't know what it is. And I don't know of a 7-string Epiphone guitar that they make. That begs the question, are these pickups specially made for the XT-25? That seems unlikely as they seem to put as little money into Steinberger as possible. I haven't checked lately, but are they even still manufacturing Steinbergers since their restructuring?  I'd love to carve up one of these pickups to see what's inside, but since I don't know of a replacement, that's not gonna happen. I did solve my tonal issue by installing a Seymour Duncan Blackouts 2-band active concentric EQ where the tone control was. This gives me boost and cut for both treble and bass, and it made a massive difference for a small price. Plus, no routing or drilling necessary. Of course, that makes this an active bass, but there's room for the battery and I've played active basses for years so they don't bother me. Thanks again for the info!...Jim...