Marcus Miller Jazz Bass Pickup Replacement Ideas

krovx · #1 09-16-2010, 10:41 PM

I tried searching the forums and found some interesting info regarding issues with shielding, pickup sizes, and noise.

I love the MM, it does the sound I like. However, there is a a lot of noise if the pickups are solo'd, especially if the preamp is engaged.

I wonder if you any of you have had some success with noise canceling pickups that kept the tone in the MM ball park?

Dimarzio Area Js?
Nordstrands?
Others?

Part of me wonders if I shouldn't worry about the noise and just live with it. But then the GAS part of me says...what if you threw some Ant. II's in there... maybe you would have a even 'cooler' sound since I know the current pups work well, but are just the run of the mill Fender pup.

Would enjoy hearing your experiences

maxgroover · #2 09-16-2010, 11:30 PM

I used to have one of these. I had the pickup cavities professionally sheilded and that reduced the noise from soloed pickups significantly.

Later I had Dimarzio Ultra Jazz pickups installed and also the Sadowsky pre. That combo sounded really good and with Vintage Tone Control on the Sadowsky pre you get a much broader range of tonal options.

krovx · #3 09-17-2010, 08:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by maxgroover

I used to have one of these. I had the pickup cavities professionally sheilded and that reduced the noise from soloed pickups significantly.

Many have reported that doing this has helped tremendously. I have read about people trying to shield and not doing it correctly made the situation worse. I am alright with installing simple things, but I think I could possibly mess up shielding. Wondering how much a tech would charge to do it...

vibhas_2310 · #4 09-17-2010, 08:25 AM

I think You'll find this useful :

http://www.talkbass.com/wiki/index.p...Signature_Bass

vibhas_2310 · #5 09-17-2010, 08:26 AM

Try that beofre you spend at least 100 quid on new pickups

krovx · #6 09-17-2010, 08:48 AM

Thank you for the link!

I am going to check out the guts this weekend and see what I can do

krovx · #7 09-19-2010, 09:35 PM

Just picked up a OBP-1, looks like an easy install!

krovx · #8 09-22-2010, 04:48 PM

Just spent some time doing the grounding mod. Either I did it incorrectly, or the noise is the same if not worse.

I however did not do step three, with the pickup isolating...is that necessary?

I have the cavity foil'd with the bridge ground soldered to the foil. I have the grounds from both pickups, the ground from the pre, the grounds from each volume pot, and the wire from the jack all connected soldered together covered in electrical tape.