5 string Dimarzios for a Fender.

[bassbenj]

I really want to change the pickups in my MIM Fender Jazz V.

Everyone's been raving about how great (and a great price) Demarzio Ultra Jazz sound. And they are humbuckers which is essential. And the buzz here is that Dimarzios are THE humbuckers that sound closest to single coils.

Sounds like I should be in heaven waiting for the UPS truck, right? Wrong. For some reason, Dimarzio does not make these pickups in case sizes to fit Fender basses. Everyone warns you about this.

And they are not larger (just enlarge the pickup routs), NO, they are SMALLER!

So now I've got to look for a bass pickup rout shrinker! Feh!

How about this? Anybody know where one can get standard Fender pickup cases? How are Dimarzios potted? Can one pry them out of their cases and re-pot them in Fender-size cases?

Are Fender V basses so unpopular that it's a waste of time for Demarzio to make them in that size? Is this like one more reason to go "home" to a 4 string?

Anyone ever put Demarzios on a 5 string Fender? Or should I stick with my original Nordy plan (at about twice the cost)?

[Nedmundo]

The DiMarzio model that sounds really close to single coils is the Area J, which I wanted for my Fender Jazz V. I thus confronted the same issue, and ended up spending for the Nordstrand NJ5FS, which are excellent. The have a slightly modern slant to their tone, but in a band mix sound similar to the Area J, which I now have in a G&L JB. I'd recommend just going with the Nordstrands. You could also go for Fender's SCN, which are further away from single coil tone but still very good IMO, and cost about the same as DiMarzios.

I also cannot believe DiMarzio doesn't make pickups to fit Fender Jazz fives. If demand is high enough for Nordstrand to offer them, DiMarzio should be able to sell a few. Sheesh.

[bassbenj]

Originally Posted by Nedmundo

The DiMarzio model that sounds really close to single coils is the Area J, which I wanted for my Fender Jazz V. I thus confronted the same issue, and ended up spending for the Nordstrand NJ5FS, which are excellent. The have a slightly modern slant to their tone, but in a band mix sound similar to the Area J, which I now have in a G&L JB. I'd recommend just going with the Nordstrands. You could also go for Fender's SCN, which are further away from single coil tone but still very good IMO, and cost about the same as DiMarzios.

I also cannot believe DiMarzio doesn't make pickups to fit Fender Jazz fives. If demand is high enough for Nordstrand to offer them, DiMarzio should be able to sell a few. Sheesh.

It's even worse than just DiMarzio ignoring Fender 5 strings, FENDER ignores 5 strings too! Unfortunately I CAN'T go SCN pickups (which have had great review here) because as usual when Fender gets something that is really great, but a bit too "modern", they have to discontinue it! So the SCN-5 seems to have gone the way of the low cost 5 string P-bass. I keep looking on the 'Bay for some to show up but so far searches have come up with nothing but "discontinued"! Feh!

I guess it's got to be Nordstrands.