Hi there,

I am about to purchase a 1983 Fender J, maple fretboard with DiMarzios on (supposedly, the ultra jazz set)- no preamp. I always associated the Di Marzio sound to a trebly, rock/metal-kind of sound, so I am a little concerned they may not have the depth and warmth I am looking for. I am more of a funk/RB player.
Has anyone any insight on this combination? Would you advise I place an onboard pre?:

:confused:

To me i don't think Dimarzio pickup is trebly. I use dimarzio jazz pickup on my RI 60 J-Bass and it have all the low end and warmth you need. Of course you can install preamp on the bass to have abit of control on the EQ.

In term of preamp question i personally will only install either the J-Retro stuff or the Audere preamp.

Hi, if these pickups have poles with hexagonal holes in, these would be Model J. The Ultra Jazz have flat metal surface of poles. I this era the DiMarzio Model J was king. Very high output. Sounding more like humbucker. Very punchy low-mid sound, slightly atenuated highs.
Check the appearance here http://www.dimarzio.com/site/#/pickups/

+1 Model J is the king. I forgot to say i use Model J DP123 on my J-Bass. It was just truely aweson. It is loud and high output and also the tone is like what above have said puncht low mid sound.

Hi, if these pickups have poles with hexagonal holes in, these would be Model J. The Ultra Jazz have flat metal surface on poles. I this era the DiMarzio Model J was king. Very high output. Sounding more like humbucker. Very punchy bass-low-mid sound, slightly atenuated highs.
Check the appearance here http://www.dimarzio.com/site/#/pickups/
DiMarzio classifies them as
Model J:
treble - 4
mids - 5
bass - 6
Ultra Jazz:
treble:- 6
mids - 5
bass - 7

Anyway dont worry about the pickups too much, these should not be the deal breaker, they can be easily and relatively cheaply replaced anytime. More important is if you like the bass, its woods, sustain, construction, fretwork, etc.

As for preamp, for RnB and funk I would go for Sadowsky outboard pre/di - you would get this wide, supportive bass layer for RnB songs and still have the option to use the bass fully passive for funk grunt if necessary. Or make it marcussy with treble knob. Moreover this pedal has very useful mute switch, tuner out and good XLR DI out. And you can use it with other basses too.