Jazz Bass Pickup Debate

[FenderGeek]

Hi ppl im certainly new here and i would like to know if any of you knows a Jazz Bass shaped pickup that could get me that thumpy tone of a P - Bass pickup on the neck position... Also if its posible you can recomend a matching pickup for the bridge position that get me the right balance with this neck pickup when i use them together.

 

I have been looking forward into seymour duncan basslines classic stacks anybody had experiences with these ?

[getz out]

i would like to know if any of you knows a Jazz Bass shaped pickup that could get me that thumpy tone of a P - Bass pickup on the neck position...

 

No. At least not faithfully. It has more to do with pickup position than the actual pickup. I still find the instrument to only add nuance to a player's hands rather than the other way around (except in extreme cases). But if you must have a Precision Bass tone, the easiest way is to get a Precision Bass.

 

I have been looking forward into seymour duncan basslines classic stacks anybody had experiences with these ?

 

I prefer the single coils, personally.

[FenderGeek]

ic your point... the most easy thing of cource is to get a p-bass... in the other hand i have made my research towards the position of the pickups on the j-bass and p-bass... the diference is that the p-bass pickup is just a tad more towards the bridge on the bass side; so it will not affect greatly the tone if you find the right pickup for the jazz. (Of cource it will never be the same tone but if it gets close i will be happy with that)

 

[jeremy c]

I think you would have a better chance of getting the sound you are looking for by adding a three band preamp. Cutting back the mids and highs and boosting the bass a little will help.

 

Adding a series/parallel switch is another possible solution.

 

If there was a pickup on the market that would do what you ask, everyone would have one.

[DRGarcia]

hmmm, well, u said bridge pickup, right? I dont know bout U but, every Jazz bass Ive played, the bridge pickup has sounded more "trebly" than that of the neck, which to me, sounds deeper and more closer to the "Pbass" sound Your maybe trying to hit? I have a Marcus Miller Jazz Bass and if I wanted a deeper tone I just really use the neck pickup more than the bridge because of the forementioned reason. Frst off, is it an active or passive? If active, Id recomend some Bartolinis! They deliver a deep, rich growl that can somewhat be favored to a pbass, but not a full, true pbass sound. But like they guy said before also, for that true pbass sound, U might want to just look into either getting an actual pbass or maybe doin alittle work on Your current bass and add a pbass set of pickups to the neck and keep the "trebly" jazz pickup in the bridge! Basses with the P/Jazz pickup sets sound awesome, In My opinion! I mean, its the best of both worlds! Hope all this was somewhat helpful.

[b5pilot]

Well you could always get a p-bass and mod it by putting on a jazz neck and adding a bridge pickup. That way you sort of get a j-bass feel with a p-bass tone. If the neck isn't an issue get a p-bass deluxe with the bridge pickup already installed.

Just do it, you know you want to. Besides, you can never have enough fish!

[FenderGeek]

I think you would have a better chance of getting the sound you are looking for by adding a three band preamp. Cutting back the mids and highs and boosting the bass a little will help.

 

I have tried this my self with my 7 band eq on my amp without the need to go active, doing this will just get me more far away of that classic p-bass sound.

 

Theres must be a jazz bass shaped pickup that could match somewere near the response of a p-bass pu... by this way i can get the tone more naturally without tweaking to munch eq

 

 

[The Geoff]

The DiMarzio Model J is essentially a two-coil design, like the P bass pup, but put directly side by side. The coils are deeper and not as wide as a P bass, therefore will not have the sensing 'window' as the original pup, and, as has already been said, the J neck pickup is not sited at the same position relative to the bridge.

 

Notwithstanding all that, the Model J, probably & arguably, will get you as close to the P-Bass sound as it is possible to get without putting the P pup in the P position. Adding an active EQ would get you even nearer, as Jeremy says.

 

G.

[SteveC]

I get a pretty good "P" sound with my Bartolini neck pup and rolling a little off the treble and playing closer to the neck.

[FenderGeek]

hmmm, well, u said bridge pickup, right? ...

 

Yes i did, of cource what i whant to do is to get the p-bass sound when i solo the neck pu (my bass is a usa jazz and is passive) the problem is that i dont wanna rout my jazz bass body to fit a p-bass pickup; when i was talking about the bridge pu i was trying to say that i need a pu that can get me a good balance with that neck pu that you would recomend me to get a p bass sound (when soloed)... kinda complicated explanation but you get the point.

[FenderGeek]

The DiMarzio Model J is essentially a two-coil design, like the P bass pup, but put directly side by side...

 

Thanks Geoff i will do some research about those... do you know any basslines pickup that could be similar to that dimarzio?

[groover]

I recently played a used Fender Jazz Bass 24 in a local shop. It had Bass Lines pickups and preamp, it sounded really nice. I was able to get some P-bass like thump by soloing the neck pickup and setting the eq as Jeremy suggest. In fact I was able to get a fairly wide range of tones. Definitely a worthy bass and it might have been mine if they weren't asking $1100 for it!

 

Correct me someone if I'm wrong but didn't these basses sell for around $700 new? Why did Fender discontinue this bass? It was a great instrument for the price.

 

Anyway, I agree with Jeremy, you'll probably get more mileage out of a decent preamp/eq. Or, as others have said, buy a P-bass.

[FenderGeek]

1100 $ ! thats a great scam my friend... that used to be munch cheaper because they were made in korea, for that price you can get many usa made fenders on ebay.

 

Now getting to the topic... i have tried to do my self the p bass sound out of my stock jazz bass with my amp preamp by soloing the neck pu, adding a little more gain and boosting 6db of 40hz and 70hz, boosting 9 db of 500hz and cutting 6db of 4khz and 6khz.

 

But... (theres always one) i want to get a more natural p-bass sound out of my neck pu... at least bether than the one in my stock single coil j-bass pu.

[kenfxj]

I've never used them but this might be worth researching: Lindy Fralin Split Jazz Pickups. For what it's worth I've never heard a bad thing about Lindy Fralin pickups.

 

Or you could spend another $150.00 and just get a P-Bass: Squier Vintage Modified P-Bass. I have one of these. Very good for low-budget satisfaction of the P-Bass jones.

[The Geoff]

The DiMarzio Model J is essentially a two-coil design, like the P bass pup, but put directly side by side...

 

Thanks Geoff i will do some research about those... do you know any basslines pickup that could be similar to that dimarzio?

 

Sorry, I don't know much about Basslines at all.

 

G.

[FenderGeek]

I've never used them but this might be worth researching: Lindy Fralin Split Jazz Pickups. For what it's worth I've never heard a bad thing about Lindy Fralin pickups.

 

That fralin is THE jazz bass pickup dude... i wish i could have the money to get it (240$ the set =S), anyway good suggestion... if i had the money i would get them right now.

 

 

[_Sweet Willie_]

Honestly, I think you may be wasting your time. Seriously.

 

Although you say you've done this already, I suggest you go back to the drawing board and see what you can do with your hands, your ears, and the volume and tone knobs on your bass. Also, a P bass, despite its simplicity is a tool with many possible sounds and tones. What is a "P bass" sound? More importantly, what is the sound you're looking for? You say "thumpy" tone. You can make a J sound thumpy.

 

Why the obsession with Basslines? The suggestion to investigate split coil jazz pickups is a good one -- whether they're Fralin, Nordstrand, DiMarzio, or anyone else. If you're obsessed with Basslines, go to the Seymour Duncan website and read the info there to see if they have any split coil models.

 

Then, of course, there's the Variax...

 

Peace.

--SW

 

 

 

[FenderGeek]

Im not really obsessed by the basslines pickups... those dimarzio are good option but later i saw that they use ceramic magnets instead of alnico v... thats something i dont like; so the fight now stands between Basslines, Fralin and Norstrand with fralin split jazz getting the upper hand because they are wound to vintage specs by hand, using formvar wire and alnico magnets. (Of cource they are the more expensive ones)

[_Sweet Willie_]

Just curious, what do you prefer about ceramic over alnico v?

 

Peace.

--SW

 

[FenderGeek]

I prefer alnico v over ceramic because the ceramic pickups tend to get a higher output by the cost of getting very muddy and lifeless...this is totally true on most cheap pickups that use ceramic because of the price; in the case of the dimarzios and other great brands they must do something on the pickup to fight against that effect so that means the sound will never be that vintage and classic tone that im looking for.

[getz out]

I prefer alnico v over ceramic because the ceramic pickups tend to get a higher output by the cost of getting very muddy and lifeless...

 

Yeah, totally, but have you tried the quadruple-poled directional neodymium noiseless pickups? That's the stuff. It's like built-in talent.

[davio]

Yeah, totally, but have you tried the quadruple-poled directional neodymium noiseless pickups? That's the stuff. It's like built-in talent.

This.

[5 string Mike]

Get yourself-

 

This,

 

or this

 

Next question

 

Really, the split single coil design has the top half and bottom half wound to function like a humbucker- that's part of why it has that punchy bottom. If you want that extra bottom boost, like Jeremy said, get a preamp.

 

Are we going to need to have another review on forum etiquette and texting shorthand?

 

[davio]

Are we going to need to have another review on forum etiquette and texting shorthand?

No. That's what stickies are supposed to be for.

[Rocky McDougall]

All pickups sound the same to me

[OahuClay]

Dude, your gonna end up with more than one Bass eventaully anyway. Personally I have nevr been happy getting vary far away from single coils and the Jazz is so bad about picking up hum, but never the less I play it more than the P. I started getting some hum from my old oringial P pickups recently so put some Lolars in, I like them , they have more mids than the P, reminds me of the jazz a little. But making my Jazz sound like a P, sounds like a lot of work and frustration.

[davio]

You could just buy a Dingwall AB1, get both tones and much more and be done with it.

[FenderGeek]

I prefer alnico v over ceramic because the ceramic pickups tend to get a higher output by the cost of getting very muddy and lifeless...

 

Yeah, totally, but have you tried the quadruple-poled directional neodymium noiseless pickups? That's the stuff. It's like built-in talent.

 

Wow firts time i heard about that magnet... what kind of brand is using that ? i heard that GFS uses neodymium on noiseless guitar pickups but thats it

[FenderGeek]

Dude, your gonna end up with more than one Bass eventaully anyway. Personally I have nevr been happy getting vary far away from single coils and the Jazz is so bad about picking up hum, but never the less I play it more than the P. I started getting some hum from my old oringial P pickups recently so put some Lolars in, I like them , they have more mids than the P, reminds me of the jazz a little. But making my Jazz sound like a P, sounds like a lot of work and frustration.

 

Well im not going to lie... it is frustrating to just be able to have one good bass specialy here in venezuela where all the prices are going to the skies every day; heres a exampl:

 

An average american guy who works 48 hours a week in a average job, can buy himself in a month 2 fender american standard bass... so he gets a great p-bass and a great j-bass in just 1 month... great !

 

So then we have our average Venezuelan who worked hard 48 hours a week in an average job but in a month he will never buy the fenders unless he work 2 complete years without spending a single peny... now thats what i call love fellows ! (im not kiding)

[davio]

Wow firts time i heard about that magnet... what kind of brand is using that ? i heard that GFS uses neodymium on noiseless guitar pickups but thats it

1. Click my link a couple posts back. Everybody will thank you.

 

2. I think Gullible Pickups are using those magnets. You could also try some Funk Logic gear to get the same effect he was talking about.