I want to swap the quarter pounders in my J Bass

[greekorican]

I have a J Bass I'm working on, right now I'm building the body out of walnut. My original plan was to take the Quarter Pounders out of my MIM Jazz and put them in my new bass, but I'm not sure if I want to do that.

I play with flatwounds and the Quarter Pounders sound great most of the time, but there are times where I'd like to get a more aggressive sound without digging in so hard. Getting a good slap tone with flats usually means I have to beat the hell out of the strings. I'm looking for pickups with a little more output. I'm also not a huge fan of the scooped sound that these pickups put out. I want something that sounds a bit fatter.

I found this on youtube, its a Musicman with flatwounds. I would love to get that tone or something similar.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYKl-...853&feature=iv

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKVYQ...eature=related

I have a few ideas. One is to put active electronics into this project bass, but that could get a little pricey. I'm also looking at Dimarzio Model J's. Anything else I should look into?

I'm leaning towards the Model J's at the moment, how different will it actually sound? If I'm spending all this time working on this bass, I want to get the sound I'm looking for. At the same time, I'm a bit concerned that different pickups will not make that much of a difference? Whaddaya think?

Thanks guys

[BigOldHarry]

why not use roundwounds? It sounds like that would solve all of your problems...

[John Wentzien]

SD "HOT" for jazz single coils.

[greekorican]

Originally Posted by BigOldHarry

why not use roundwounds? It sounds like that would solve all of your problems...

I've gone back and forth several times, and I'm sticking with the flats. I don't play slap very much, but I will admit that roundwounds are superb for slap. I like the fatter sound that you get from flats, roundwounds sound a little thin and clanky to me. Flats also agree with my fingers much better. Roundwounds have alot more finger noise and rip my fingers up. I'm just looking to get a more aggressive sound from them without having to dig in so hard.

Originally Posted by John Wentzien

SD "HOT" for jazz single coils.

I was under the impression that Hot for Jazz pickups were less aggressive sounding than Quarter Pounders.

I suppose I might be a little too picky, but why not? I think its justified.

[Chrisk-K]

A single coil (or stacked coil) pickup will never give you that Stringray + flats tone a la Bernard Edwards. If you install a preamp and boost mids a lot, you can get close.

[newbold]

I used to have a set of Model J's and they're awesome. They'd afford you loads of switching options and a super tone.

If you like the MM thing why not just go that route? You could always have a 3rd bass with the SDs or ModelJ's.

If cost is an issue with active electronics, get a preamp/DI and use it with other basses...or just try some Rotosound Swing66s in your bass to see if that works.

[Slax]

Either way you go, if you know that bassist in those YouTube clips let him know he's the "choo-choo" train to wrist and hand problems. The clips were fantastic but the 90 degree wrist angles were making me cringe the whole way watching....

Edit: This might just be because I've been watching myself like a hawk lately and have been having some pain from playing like that in the past. Ignore my post if you want.

[walterw]

i think the quarter pounders are about as aggressive as it gets, definitely louder and punchier than the duncan hots or the model Js.

sounds like your choices are rounds or a preamp.

[jlane72t]

I have QPs in one jazz bass and Model J's in another, and I vastly prefer the sound of the Model J's.

[Gab124]

Maybe villex pickups - they come with the passive mid tone adjust pot and higher output and could help you out. Also, Jonas Hellborg strings may be worth a try to get the best of tone found in flats and rounds YMMV (though, no matter what nothing FEELS like flats).
Best of luck on your tone quest

[Munjibunga]

I had some Fralins in an American Jazz Deluxe V that were pretty punchy and aggressive.

[sps500]

why not try some boutique single coils...sadowsky,alleva, nordstrand and lollar.... however the di marzio's do sound good... my 0.02. in the end go with what sounds good to your ears.

[greekorican]

I'm this close to pulling the trigger on the dimarzio model J's. I just have a quick question.

I was under the assumption that model J's would have a higher output because they are humbucking, though its split sorta like a P Bass pickup. Now I have people telling me that Quarter Pounders are punchier and more agressive. Can I get some more opinions on this?

Either way, I'm not a huge fan of the scooped sound. I might get them anyway, just to relieve my GAS.

[markkoelsch]

Having played a Jazz with quarter pounders versus the same bass with stock pickups I think the Quarter Pounders are much more aggressive.

I think the answer probably lies in the strings or eq. A friend of mine had teh issue with straight rounds that you did, and he found the pressure wounds to help as they are smoother. Have you tried those...maybe a happy medium between a flat and a straight round?

[newbold]

humbuckers don't necessarily have a higher output. That's like saying red cars go faster.

Anyway, they're an aggressive almost humbucking sounding split single coil.

I'd drop the $100 or so new (or way less used) for these pickups and save the quarter pounders for another project.

Look into cap values for your tone control or the Stellartone Tonestyler...it's a set of cap values with a very steep rolloff and you can shape your spectrum's top end a lot more effectively than a regular tone control...also, you can wire a pot in series with it to have a huge range of tone controls available.

Some people adore them and others think they're overpriced. those who like em like em a lot I guess.

Anyway, you can sum the puckups series or parallel INDIVIDUALLY, which means that if you have the right controls you can go between j and P bass tones (approximated, as the pickup sounds like neither...but it's an issue of punch or girth here...which is a nice feature) for each pickup. Want a more biting bridge pickup but still like that fat neck pickup? done. double P? done. double J? done. PJ? you get the picture.

Also, the poles are individually adjustable which is probably the best feature that almost nobody raves about.



Take those Quarter Pounders and put them on your walnut bass. Wire in a preamp and active EQ, and use a blend control to save yourself the hassles of hum and voila - amazing bass with great modern pickups and huge mojo.

And your MIM J will certainly knock your socks off.

When I had mine done up (model j's master volume, 3 way switch, master tone) I knew nothing about gear. Even as uber simple as it was then I had a rad as hell bass.

Roundwound strings, though not my thing lately, are popular for many reasons, including the fact that they are great. Find a way to let yourself have them and your gear will probably be entirely versatile.

[greekorican]

Originally Posted by newbold

humbuckers don't necessarily have a higher output. That's like saying red cars go faster.

Anyway, they're an aggressive almost humbucking sounding split single coil.

I'd drop the $100 or so new (or way less used) for these pickups and save the quarter pounders for another project.

Look into cap values for your tone control or the Stellartone Tonestyler...it's a set of cap values with a very steep rolloff and you can shape your spectrum's top end a lot more effectively than a regular tone control...also, you can wire a pot in series with it to have a huge range of tone controls available.

Some people adore them and others think they're overpriced. those who like em like em a lot I guess.

Anyway, you can sum the puckups series or parallel INDIVIDUALLY, which means that if you have the right controls you can go between j and P bass tones (approximated, as the pickup sounds like neither...but it's an issue of punch or girth here...which is a nice feature) for each pickup. Want a more biting bridge pickup but still like that fat neck pickup? done. double P? done. double J? done. PJ? you get the picture.

Also, the poles are individually adjustable which is probably the best feature that almost nobody raves about.



Take those Quarter Pounders and put them on your walnut bass. Wire in a preamp and active EQ, and use a blend control to save yourself the hassles of hum and voila - amazing bass with great modern pickups and huge mojo.

And your MIM J will certainly knock your socks off.

When I had mine done up (model j's master volume, 3 way switch, master tone) I knew nothing about gear. Even as uber simple as it was then I had a rad as hell bass.

Roundwound strings, though not my thing lately, are popular for many reasons, including the fact that they are great. Find a way to let yourself have them and your gear will probably be entirely versatile.

Usually humbuckers are considered more aggressive than single coils. I wish I was more knowledgeable about pickups and electronics, but its an expensive thing to experiment with.

As far as the Dimarzio Model J's, I'm already thinking of how to wire it. I'm gonna go ahead and get them. I had already planned to put a series/parallel switch in to give me a little more punch when i need it. I've read some stuff and seen some videos where you wire the Model J's with series/parallel between each pickup and then within the pickups. Sounds like overkill to me. I'm thinking just a series/parallel switch between pickups would do the trick. What do you think?

My other question is what kind of pots should I wire Model J's with? I've read about putting 500k pots in instead of 250k, and I'm not sure which to use. With the QP's I leave tone all the way open most of the time. If you back it off more than half way, I really don't like the sound. The best way I can describe it is that it sounds like its underwater. I suspect that it has something to do with the scooped sound they have.

I'm not sure which to get because I don't really know what these pickups will sound like. My theory is that with flatwounds, a wide open 500k pot would give me enough highs to get a decent slap tone or a little more attack if I want it. Otherwise I could roll off the tone a little. You can always cut the highs, but you can't add more. The idea sounds great in my head, but I'm not sure how it will turn out in practice.

I need to get a better job so I can afford to experiment more...

[greekorican]

I've been messing around with my knobs and eq on the amp, and I can almost get that MM with flats tone, sounds almost exactly like Rapper's Delight/Good Times. I've concluded that these pickups have more than enough output, but I'm still not a huge fan of the scooped mids. Is there a wiring modification I can do to boost the mids a bit more or atleast cut the highs a bit? I'm thinking a series parallel switch might help, you have more midrange in series, correct? What about a different cap value?

As much as I'd like to spend some money to get this GAS off my chest, I should really spend it on other things, like a proper amp. I wish this hobby wasn't so damn expensive.

[newbold]

Volume/Volume or Pan?

If you were to deal with the Series/parallel switching for each pickup you'd only need to add 2 other switches to the setup.