Mr. DiMarzio, are you crazy?

2cooltoolz · #1 11-12-2012, 06:19 PM

I have to wonder what you're thinking!! You build 5 string "J" pickups, the Area J 5 and Ultra Jazz 5, that won't fit the Fender Jazz Bass 5 (V)! Are you mad about something? I almost ordered a pair of the Area Js, until a reviewer wized me up about the size. If they would fit, I would have a pair on my bass now!
So I went with Seymour. They're in the mail. Could have been you.

I have to believe this isn't the only sale it cost you.

Your friend, Jon

PS. To all the helpful TBers who are just dying to point out that this has been discussed before, thank you in advance for your input.

Lemon Of Troy · #2 11-12-2012, 07:18 PM

Does seem kind of strange.

That being said, the Area J's in my 4 string Spector are the cat's arse. They are phenomenal.

two fingers · #3 11-12-2012, 07:22 PM

Yep. That's just dumb. Not making a Fender retrofit these days is like making a non-regulation baseball bat. What's the point of being different if it narrows your market so much?

walterw · #4 11-12-2012, 09:06 PM

the question is, what is the most popular size for 5-string jazz pickups?

i suspect fender USA jazz Vs are wider than most.

(this is kinda tough, because unlike 4-strings, there really is no standard size for 5-string pickups. fender does not dominate the 5-string bass market the way they defined the 4-string all those years ago.)

2cooltoolz · #5 11-12-2012, 10:22 PM

walterw,
you are one of my Gurus, and I follow the Gospel according to..(shared with a few others...sorry), but...

Thanks to the big oogily-boogily that some of the "lesser" manufacturers (Nordstrand, Fralin, SD, Sadowski(?), Bartolini, Aguilar, Delano, EMG) have dared to step out of the no-Fender-sized box and produce pickups for the non-standard Fender 5s.

walterw · #6 11-13-2012, 12:31 AM

ha! true enough, even the other biggie (seymour duncan) makes a 5-string jazz that will fit.

i still wonder about overall market share of fender 5-sized vs. other sizes (which are mostly narrower, i would guess).

PilbaraBass · #7 11-14-2012, 05:47 PM

Fender makes a size for their 5-strings that has a 3.965” on the neck and 4.10” on the bridge.
But then they go and sell Squier basses that uses a different size, 3.725” for both. This is also the size that Sadowsky, and MANY other non-Fender basses use.
In fact, in most cases, when it comes to 5-string Jazzes, Fender is the oddball here.
That said, there are plenty of manufacturers out there that offer the Fender-size pickups. Dimarzio and Sadowsky (made for Sadowsky by Dimarzio) are exceptions.

bassbenj · #8 11-17-2012, 11:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PilbaraBass

Fender makes a size for their 5-strings that has a 3.965” on the neck and 4.10” on the bridge.
But then they go and sell Squier basses that uses a different size, 3.725” for both. This is also the size that Sadowsky, and MANY other non-Fender basses use.
In fact, in most cases, when it comes to 5-string Jazzes, Fender is the oddball here.
That said, there are plenty of manufacturers out there that offer the Fender-size pickups. Dimarzio and Sadowsky (made for Sadowsky by Dimarzio) are exceptions.

Yes, oddly, I dropped a Dimarzio Ultra J as the "J" in my Squire PJ and while it took a tiny bit of sanding to fit the ends of the rout it ended up one KILLER pickup.

Since I also own a MIM Fender Jazz V. I was mightily wishing Dimarzio had something equally cool for that too. No dice. So it ended up with Fender SCN pickups. Just excellent, which is why I presume Fender had to discontinue them.