Hi-Fi jazz pickup

GabeN · #1 02-15-2008, 01:16 AM

I'm looking for a replacement to my stock MEC's in my corvette and I need something more hi-fi. I'm going for the Justin Chancellor sound with lots of mids but a strong fundamental bass and tight highs. The MEC's do good mids but the highs and lows are tinny and loose. So far I've looked at EMG's but I'm sure there's probably better out there. Any suggestions?

GeoffByrne · #2 02-15-2008, 03:34 AM

DiMarzio Ultrajazz - with series/parallel switch - parallel would be more hifi.

GabeN · #3 02-15-2008, 12:45 PM

Has anyone had experience with Q-tuner pickups? They seem extremely hi-fi but they are really expensive. I'd love to see a comparison between q-tuners and EMG's.

m.oreilly · #4 02-15-2008, 02:19 PM

i used the q-tuners in my thumb...but replaced them with the alembic activators, as they come the closest to "hi-fi", though you might just want "bright".

4Mal · #5 02-15-2008, 02:40 PM

Lawrence J-45's are a very nice pickup - I'm not a Tool fan - I could be, just haven't been exposed to them - but they meet the description of clear prety well IMO. They are also quiet. Very quiet.

I'm not a fan these days but I used Bartolini 9j classics for a while. A little compressed for my tastes today but - definately hifi and full range. The set I used had the neck pickup designed as two side by sode cpils to emulate what a split P pickup does. Interesting. To compressed and too hifi for my lofi, retro rock tastes these days. Aero's work for me there which I expect you would not like as much as I do ...

GabeN · #6 02-15-2008, 07:16 PM

The Alembic Activators looked pretty nice until I saw the price tag.

Is there any comparison between the Q-tuners and EMG jazz pups? I'm not really looking for bright, just strong mids and controlled (not strong but definitely there).

lemur821 · #7 02-15-2008, 10:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GabeN

Has anyone had experience with Q-tuner pickups? They seem extremely hi-fi but they are really expensive. I'd love to see a comparison between q-tuners and EMG's.

I've had one in the bridge position on my fretless for a couple weeks now. It is very bright, but of course there's a knob to fix that. My bass has no pots in it, and I'm sure a bass with standard wiring would tame it a little. Here's a little demo I just recorded. The clean parts are direct from my amp's pre, and the distorted parts were miced from a little Crate guitar amp I have. Settings on both amps were flat. The three pairs of scales at the beginning are finger style, pick, and slap, respectively.

http://www.mediafire.com/?9wctx2jb3gx

Maybe not the sound for everyone, but I'm a very happy customer.