Just put some EMG selects in my Jazz

[Roger Pounders]

Ok,

I just put a set of EMG select active Pickups in my 97 Fender American Jazz Bass.

All I can say is....

FREAKING AWESOME... it still has that Jazz growl.. but now.
Its got ass out the yin-yang!!! So happy with the result.
I saved the old pickups and electronics just in case I want to sell it in the future.

[stingray69]

EMG's rule - welcome to the club! I am familiar with that ass of which you speak - LOL

Good call on keeping the original pickups for the purists in case you'd ever sell the bass.

Congrats!

[Monkey]

I put EMG Select P's in a bass I built, and it sold quickly. They are an amazing value for the money, and in my experience, they sound pretty good.

[Rano Bass]

Are EMG select active like regular EMG's?

[jazzyitalian]

Right-

Last year, I made a bass for a customer that wanted a set of Selects. I recall that one very well. We were pleasantly surprised by the quality of these off-shore asian builts given the low price point.

Dollar for Dollar they're pretty damn good. In my personal (and very neutral opinion) they're better than the MIM Fenders. Though I still prefer the USA built EMG passives and the basslines. (Those go for 2 to 3 times more than the selects)

My brother who does the wiring said that the treble-side of the tone was off the charts. So he would up having to use a different capacitor rating just to bleed off and tame it down a bit. He also cinched them a bit higher to the strings than normally done. Still a very nice gritty tone and the customer loved the result.

I'm actually glad that someone asked us to build a bass with the Selects. I'm not so sure I would have ever built one on my own accord and so would have never heard what these are like.

A decent economical choice.

Jazz

[jazzyitalian]

Originally Posted by Rano Bass

Are EMG select active like regular EMG's?

Hey brother Rano-

No they are not at all a like. The actives are fuller, and louder than the select passives. The active EMG's also have a humcancelling element. Specwise, they are wound and constructed similar. But there are even some wiring differences. The tonal spectrum will always be better on actives. Cleaner and deeper lows, crisper highs, and more funk punch in the middle. That's what a pre-amp and 9V battery will do for you.

The Selects, (much like other passives) have more of a throwback tone to the days of old when nothing was built with a battery clip. People that want passives, ussually will use words like "true", "honest", and "natural" when talking abojut their pickups. In otherwords, they're desiring a more honest and unaffected tone out of the bass in it's natural state. Not one that is enhanced or augmented. If that makes sense.

It's all about preference.

But to your question again, the answer is that they are definatly not alike at all.

Jazz

[Rano Bass]

Well, thank's but my question was if selects are also actives like the other EMG's (i have EMG's on my jazz BTW).
Thank's!

[DEVILMAN]

18yrs ago I put a P/J set-up(I know, blasphemy)in place of the original p/u's in my '77 Rickenbacker. It sounded deeper & definetly crisper/fuller all around even with the stock passive pre. Selects are definetly nice items(if they're made the same?). Give 'em a shot. Gotta dig out some pics...

~S~

[nubs]

i own two P basses and I put EMG selects in both of them, i also added badass bridges and brass nuts. great sound.

[bass-shy]

Originally Posted by Rano Bass

Well, thank's but my question was if selects are also actives like the other EMG's (i have EMG's on my jazz BTW).
Thank's!

Select's are not active like EMG's.

[Luke73]

I've had Selects in a few basses.

Always loved them.

I've just pulled out the Active MEC pre amp and pickups from my two day old Warwick Bubinga Corvette, and gone totally passive with Selects.

Sweet! It sounds freaking awesome.



Selects are such a great deal

I've compared them to Active MEC's, Passive MEC's, Dimarzio Ultra Jazz, SD Basslines, and Fender Original USA Jazz pups.

I prefer them to all of those listed above regardless of price.

[Philbiker]

EMG Selects were very frowned upon when they came out in the early 90s or late 80s as cheap crap. I've read so many positive things about their tone that I don't think that's the case. I've never used them, but I had a passive bass with their close cousin EMG-HZ pickups and that thing sounded like a million bucks.

[BobKos]

Originally Posted by Philbiker

EMG Selects were very frowned upon when they came out in the early 90s or late 80s as cheap crap. I've read so many positive things about their tone that I don't think that's the case. I've never used them, but I had a passive bass with their close cousin EMG-HZ pickups and that thing sounded like a million bucks.

Truthfully and in my experience they were bad. They deserved the reputation as being a cheap imported P.O.S. pickups. Back in 1988 I had a guitar tech talk me into one for my Fender Musicmaster. It was already routed for a Dimarzio humbucker. I relied on EMG's reputation and my tech's honesty to do the deal. He took my Dimarzio out & installed the Select. Blech!!! Terrible pickup. Away went what little tone the guitar had. Completely lackluster performance and a total waste of money. This was about 20 years ago, so things could be different now.

[Luke73]

Originally Posted by BobKos

Truthfully and in my experience they were bad. They deserved the reputation as being a cheap imported P.O.S. pickups. Back in 1988 I had a guitar tech talk me into one for my Fender Musicmaster. It was already routed for a Dimarzio humbucker. I relied on EMG's reputation and my tech's honesty to do the deal. He took my Dimarzio out & installed the Select. Blech!!! Terrible pickup. Away went what little tone the guitar had. Completely lackluster performance and a total waste of money. This was about 20 years ago, so things could be different now.

Maybe the Select Guitar pickups aren't as nice as the Select bass pups?

Maybe they're not made to the same recipe they were 20 years ago?

[bass-shy]

How bad is the hum from the Select J pups? I'm considering a P/J set for a fretless ESP LTD B-50. I like the stock P pup, but the J is too noisy to use. Will switching the stockers out for Selects help? I understand that single coils are prone to hum, and that's fine, but the stock J pup has excessive hum, IME. Thanks.

[Luke73]

In my experience (I do ensure all my basses are well shielded) the Select Js are very good in relation to hum.

With both pickups on, there is no hum present at all. Some hum creeps in when a pickup is soloed, but not excessive levels.

[bass-shy]

Alright, thanks. That's what I wanted to know. In this particular P/J configuration, I will be using a balance of the two pups, so it should be fine. Thanks again.

[Luke73]

Sorry - I didn't read you were talking about a P+J set. I thought you were talking about J+J. I should have looked a little closer.

In a P/J set, the bridge pickup is likely to always produce some hum (as with any single coil pickup). In a P+J setup, the J will act (for hum purposes) as though it's soloed.

The P pickup is two single coils which is a hum cancelling design, but the J pickup in the bridge position is not. In a J+J configuration the reverse wound single coils cancel each other's hum, but not in a P+J configuration.

If your bass is well shielded, the hum should not be too bad, although there is likely to be some.

If you want NO hum from the bridge pickup, you could consider using a J style humbucker.

[bass-shy]

What would you recommend for a J style humbucker? The Selects are attractive to me mostly because of their low cost. Is there anything else out there that might be a good solution for me without spending what the bass originally cost new? ($180.00) Thanks for your input.

[Luke73]

Personally, I would firstly try the Select P+J set.

As I mentioned, if your bass is well shielded, there should be minimal hum. If you find there is an unacceptable level of hum, you could try something like a Seymour Duncan Classic stack humbucker in the bridge position, or a Dimarzio Model J.

They would both cost more than the Selects though.

Get the Select P/J set here for $45:

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Electron...s_Pickups.html

Then get some of this and shield your bass' control and pickup cavities (check up on some shielding tutorials first):

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Electron...ing_Paint.html

Enjoy