DiMarzio Pups - Ultra Jazz

[chaseman]

I have a MIM 70's Fender Jazz Bass, and I bought some DR Hi-Beam Stainless strings, and I noticed a massive difference between them and the stock strings, but I'm still not entirely happy with the sound of my bass.

I am interested in buying some new, relatively low priced pups. I've seen plenty of good reviews of DM Ultra Jazz pups, and also the Model Js, but a set of Duncans might suit my style better.

I'm pretty new to the idea of new pups, so I don't know exactly what the differences between the pups are. I play a lot of RHCP-style slap, along with finger style, and I like a strong high end, with some bass but not much middle.

Does anyone know which pickups would suit me best?
Thanks

[JMac4strngr]

The ultra jazz pickups have a nice full sound, if You aren't looking fo something super aggresive. I prefer the Basslines quarter pounders in my P basses, but I haven't tried the Jazz quarter pounders to know what they are about. From my experience with the P bass version of that particular pickup it has a very aggresive sound with a pretty wide range, where You'd still have some mellow tones on tap if You needed them.

[chaseman]

I've had a look at them, and they look good. I'm not sure if they are what I'm looking for though, it says they're for "blues, classic rock, garage, heavy rock, classic metal and nu-metal", but I'm sure they would suit to other types of music as well. Thanks for the idea, any recommendations are much appreciated!

[mathewcanhaz]

I own the 1/4 pound jazz bass pickups and I hate then. I can't stand the slap tone and the pickups seem lack any character tone wise. I'm switching them out for emg j's. So hopefully that helps a bit.

[FunkMetalBass]

I was quite disappointed with the DiMarzio Ultra J's. They inherently scooped and it's kind of impossible to EQ out of that. I replaced them with the Nordstrand NJ4SV, and I like that pickup a lot more - very responsive. I'd also recommend Delano pickups. Although I've never personally tried any of their jazz pickups, I suspect you can still expect great things.

[m.oreilly]

Originally Posted by mathewcanhaz

I own the 1/4 pound jazz bass pickups and I hate then. I can't stand the slap tone and the pickups seem lack any character tone wise. I'm switching them out for emg j's. So hopefully that helps a bit.

hehe, i feel the same re the emg. i like the ultra jazz, as for me it keeps the 'jazz' sound, but a with a little more 'more'. some say they have a better slap sound than other dimarzio choices

[m.oreilly]

i'm going with nordies on the fretted, mostly because i found a used set here for sale. the op mentioned he was looking for inexpensive options, so $200 plus may not be the ticket atm?

[chaseman]

I've heard that putting a Model J in the bridge and an Ultra in the neck creates a nice contrast of funk and jazz, which is what I'm looking for. Anyone had any experience with this combination, or will it not work?

[Fred W]

Sure it will work, but the bridge pickup will be half as loud or less. The bridge position is inherently quieter due to the reduced string travel so close to the end of the string. The Ultra is a higher output than the J anyway.

[walterw]

Originally Posted by Fred W

Sure it will work, but the bridge pickup will be half as loud or less. The bridge position is inherently quieter due to the reduced string travel so close to the end of the string. The Ultra is a higher output than the J anyway.

+1 it'll likely be unbalanced.

i'm really liking the new area Js, they're much closer to vintage than either one, plenty loud but with a "natural" sound that fits lots of styles.

all three versions do well with 500k pots to open them up (linear volumes and audio tone for the best sweep).

[iiipopes]

On your MIM Jazz bass, measure the exterior physical dimensions of each pickup. For some models of some years, Fender didn't use their traditional sizes for J pickups, so you need to make sure a set of traditionally-sized J pickups will fit.

I prefer the UltraJazz. To me, they're the only humbucking pickup out there that approaches real jazz bass tone. I had a pair of model J's when that was a new model 30 years ago. The older ones had a tad more wire on them, and growled a little more than they do now.

I played a SD classic stack for awhile. The stack was a little shy in the low end for me.

I don't do single coils anymore. It's got to be humbucking or I don't go on stage with it.

[chaseman]

Thanks for the advice everyone, just a though, if the bridge pickup is inherently quieter, and the ultra jazz has a higher output, could I put the model j in the neck position, and the ultra in the bridge? Would this balance it out a bit more?

[MysticMichael]

Originally Posted by chaseman

Thanks for the advice everyone, just a though, if the bridge pickup is inherently quieter, and the ultra jazz has a higher output, could I put the model j in the neck position, and the ultra in the bridge? Would this balance it out a bit more?

All things considered, you'd be better off selecting a matched set of the same model - rather than trying to mix 'em up.

Based on your tone preferences, as follows:

Originally Posted by chaseman

I play a lot of RHCP-style slap, along with finger style, and I like a strong high end, with some bass but not much middle.

...I suspect you'll like the Ultra Jazz pickups a lot. They've got lots of all frequencies - lows, mids and highs - but especially lows and highs.

MM

[chaseman]

I'll get some and see if they are what I'm looking for, I can always sell them on if I don't like them

[LDonnie]

I like the sound I get out of them with the Audere preamp I have. I have not tried them passive. You can find soundclips of them in the big J pickup sticky plus the samples of several other models. I chose them because of their beefy sound.

[Scott549]

Originally Posted by chaseman

Thanks for the advice everyone, just a though, if the bridge pickup is inherently quieter, and the ultra jazz has a higher output, could I put the model j in the neck position, and the ultra in the bridge? Would this balance it out a bit more?

This is exactly what I did. It's pretty well balanced. I have no basis to compare these to the other available pickups, but I am happy with the sound.

[chaseman]

Originally Posted by Scott549

This is exactly what I did. It's pretty well balanced. I have no basis to compare these to the other available pickups, but I am happy with the sound.

Could you put up a sound clip or something that you have recorded? If not, it's not a problem, but it might help me decide
Cheers

[Sparkdog]

I've used all 3 flavors of the DiMarzio jazz pickups, here's my take:

- Model J: These sound nothing like a traditional Jazz tone...big and bassy sounding, but no real definition and very muted highs. Not my taste at all, but if you want huge lows and don't need highs they will do it. They have adjustable pole pieces for balancing the string-to-string output.

- Ultra Jazz: I have a set of these in a vintage style Fender Jazz (alder/rosewood) with flatwounds and they are great. Big lows, punchy mids, and crisp highs, it's all there. Some people say they're too scooped and sound nothing like single coils, but it certainly sounds like a Jazz bass to me, only bigger.

- Area J: I just put a set of these in a Lakland DJ4 that's ash/maple and they sound the closest to single coils of all the DiMarzios. They're nice... open and airy sounding, very crisp. They have raised poles on the A and D strings which helps balance the output. I haven't gigged these yet but so far I'm impressed. They replaced a set of Nordstrand NJ4SE's which I did not like at all in this bass, WAY too dark and woofy.

Both my jazzes have 500K pots to get all the high end the pickups have to offer. I never have a problem getting enough low end at the amp, but if the pickups don't have enough treble response you can't EQ it in.

Hope that helps.

[mark in nj]

Plus one on the ultra jazz, I think they sound really nice. I agree about the mids being a little scooped. If you put two of them in series, its a whole different animal, really loud and forward sounding.

Mark

[walterw]

zombie thread, raaaarrrr!!

try the ultras individually in parallel, then wired as a pair in series with each other.

you get the series fatness without being too muddy.