I am on the "like 'em" side of the fence. Initially DiMarzio marketed these as a way to get your Gibson to behave more like a Fender, as NOBODY wanted to have the mudbucker. But it doesn't really sound like a P-bass at all, unless you have it shoved in a Billy Sheehan bass, I suppose. To my ears the Model one does preserve the inherent general tone of the Gibson bass but in a more mild mannered way. If you were to use some preamp/eq/effects set up you could supe up the Model One signal to mimic a Gibson mudbucker. And I like that it offers you wiring alternatives - series /parrallel, single coil - from the factory. All of this without having to mess up your vintage bass by routing or screwing stuff in where it doesn't belong. So, to many it is ball-less. For me it is a non-butchering way of messing around with your tone, that is reversible whenever you want.
