DiMarzio Ultra Jazz Vs. Fender Original Jazz

Rocinante_x1 · #1 11-20-2007, 10:27 PM

I've searched, and couldn't find the result I was seeking.

I've been playing for 4 years now, going on 5. My MIM jazz pickups are SHOT. dead. gone, and I need new pickups in my bass ASAP, because I play in my school wind ensemble, and the school's '77 P bass sucks.

I have a few questions about these two models. They are as follows:

Which is the better value?

How do they sound?

How do they compare?

Can you describe the sound?

Any and all help would be great

thank you.

CoffeeBass · #2 11-21-2007, 01:04 AM

I have not used the Ultra Jazz but I just compared the Fender J's (FJ) with the Model J's (MJ)

I found that the FJ sounded great but they were very bright. This may be great for your style but I found myself rolling off the treble almost all the time. Also, the bridge pup did not have that growly/punchy/snappy sound as much as some Jazz I have played. The neck was VERY smooth and warm (I have this in a J/P/J setup so the neck is way up near the neck) and together they sounded great. I think that depending on your style these are great pups. Almost no noise what-so-ever from the single coils. In fact,I think the noise I did have may have been a grounding issue.

The MJ set were way more what I am looking for the bridge is seriously present and punchy for some fingerstyle funk or just to give the P/neck J a little kick in the pants. The lows are pronounced and thick while being able to dial in smooth and warm at the same time. I am very satisfied with the change. It may just be because these are individually hum-cancelling. I hear that haveing the split coil in each case will create a warmer tone. On the dimarzio website it says the ultra jazz have a bit more treble response than the MJ's so they may be more like the FJs, I am not sure.

It probably comes down to what style your are playing and what your preference is but I hope this helps.

CB
ps. If you decide to go with the FJs, I have a set I am looking to unload.

bigd4207 · #3 11-22-2007, 12:31 AM

I've got the Ultra Jazz set. They are pretty good, lots of mids - low mids. It's got good highs too but not brittle in any way, I just have a single tone knob so I don't get a whole lot of play in sound but the highs remain with some mid punch. Very woody sounding pickup, mellow and deep sound, but it slaps really well too. Not the funkiest of pups but good for the money.

Liten · #4 11-23-2007, 07:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigd4207

I've got the Ultra Jazz set. They are pretty good, lots of mids - low mids. It's got good highs too but not brittle in any way, I just have a single tone knob so I don't get a whole lot of play in sound but the highs remain with some mid punch. Very woody sounding pickup, mellow and deep sound, but it slaps really well too. Not the funkiest of pups but good for the money.

That has got to be one of the strangest PU posts ive ever read?? Would be cool to get a pick and descrition of woods on your bass!

The UJ's are realy much more HI-FI than most PU's out there
Loads of lows and Loads of Highs..

Check out the comparison on Dimarzios site... Id say the avarege fender PU value on lows, mids and highs should be about 4-5..

Just my 2 cents..

(Ive got UJ's in my Jazz and love em!!)

stflbn · #5 11-23-2007, 01:51 PM

I've got Ultra-Jazzes in my Frankenbass and love them. Very affordable for the sound as far as I'm concerned.

jisbass · #6 11-24-2007, 07:48 PM

I have Ultra jazz in my bass, and I just installed Model J's in my buddy's bass.

I like the Ultra Jazz much better than the Fender PU's it came with. No hum, if you ground and shield properly. Clear and punchy, hifi as someone else said. You can get a nice funky, jazzy tone if you roll back on the tone knob.
I used 500k pots, but if you use 250k pots(what j bass usually comes with) it would have less highs.

I replaced the bridge with a badass II when I replaced the pickups, so I don't know how similar or different it would be with the stock bridge.

If you want the classic fender tone, then look in to the 60's custom, or American Fender PUP's, but you have to deal with the single coil hum.
I did not like the Fender Noiseless in my bass.

Model J's are very bottom heavy, in-your-face kind of pickups. High output. you can get a nice "fart" sound, if you're in to that stuff.

Chris Breese · #7 11-25-2007, 03:03 AM

Fender Original '62 J pickups are very authentic sounding.

I am using them in my MIM jazz bass (with an Audere, usually set to 'flat') and the sound is terrific to me. Very clear sounding with a nice growl when you pluck near the bridge, or with a pick (with both pickups on full). The neck pickup really does the Joe Osborn tone to a 'T'.

These pickups really make my MIM sound like a Jazz bass should sound, to my way of thinking.

bigd4207 · #8 12-03-2007, 02:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Liten

That has got to be one of the strangest PU posts ive ever read?? Would be cool to get a pick and descrition of woods on your bass!

The UJ's are realy much more HI-FI than most PU's out there
Loads of lows and Loads of Highs..

Check out the comparison on Dimarzios site... Id say the avarege fender PU value on lows, mids and highs should be about 4-5..

Just my 2 cents..

(Ive got UJ's in my Jazz and love em!!)

its the squier vintage modified 70's, all maple. One of the things about the sound is the strings I have on it. They are kinda bright giving the bass more highs, the maple transfers a lot of the string sound. But eq'd full low, it gets pretty boomy buy in a hollowbody full wood sound kind of way. But it always has mid punch to it on low or high. It definitally is a unique sound but i need an active circuit, and I wanna get some Delanos to finish the job. Im thinking about routing it for a MM inbetween the j's. That'll be one wicked instrument.

cybersnyder · #9 12-03-2007, 06:27 AM

I have UltraJazz pickups in one of my 5 strings. They sound really good, IMHO. My bass also has an OBP-1 preamp, the setup is:

Vol (Pull for passive)
Blend
Passive Tone (only works in passive mode)
Stacked treble/bass

With this setup I can dial in a great slap tone with the active boost in the bass/treble controls and then switch to a passive fingerstyle tone with a little of the top rolled off.

You could get something similar with UltraJazz pickups and an outboard pedal like the Sadowsky outboard preamp.

The only gotcha with the UltraJazz 5 string pickups is that they aren't 100% hum canceling due to the imbalance between the coils having 2 or 3 poles instead of 2 and 2 like with the 4 string version.

groucho · #10 12-03-2007, 11:05 AM

Have had the UltraJazz for years now - Truly a great pickup

I had the original Seymour Duncan Stacked Jazz
pickups from 1982 in one bass, the UJ's are much sweeter
sounding for some reason, the SD's were not bad but
did suffer by comparison.

MSIMSBASS · #11 12-03-2007, 07:34 PM

I have the UJ's in my 73 jazz with the Aguilar OBP1. The provide an authentic vintage
jazz tone, but with more oomph. Also it doesn't take away from my basses natural tone.
With the preamp it's a beast. I think that the OBP-1 is really great compliment to those
pups.

To me I don't hear that "scooped" sound everyone talks about. Anybody ?