Not to pleased with my Dimarzios...

[WarwickWannaBe]

I got the Dimarzio P + J neck and bridge pickup set into my Ibanez SG200 and im not to pleased with them. I think I shoudlve went with bartolini or another better namebrand. I hardly notice a difference between the stock ones and these. Any suggestions, should I make the strings closer to the pickups or what? I want a more punchy tone and maybe im just looking for the wrong things through these pickups. What exactly are they supose to change in the guitar?

[Nighttrain1127]

If you are getting deep wooly sounding lows You need to change the Vol And tone pots to 500k ohm pots and that will make it significantly brighter and clearer throughout the sound range.

[fender_mod]

i use 500k pots for tone and vol, stacked, and i get very bright and punchy tones from my p/j set. i can eq to get alot of different sounds. from the description of what you are after in your sound im surprised you are not happy with them. adjust your pickup height closer on the bridge and change your volume pots to let the pickups breathe.

on my fender it is very midrangy with nice deep lows which i can clarify with simple eq'ing, in addition to the above mentioned suggestions i would just add to hold on to them for a little while longer and tweak your settings around.

[PilbaraBass]

Originally Posted by WarwickWannaBe

....
What exactly are they supose to change in the guitar?

new pickups don't do anything for your guitar...they just make you poorer....



what are you looking for in tone?

what are you using for strings?

what's your style (finger, pick?)

[Ian Perge]

Originally Posted by WarwickWannaBe

I think I shoudlve went with bartolini or another better namebrand.

Nothing's wrong with DiMarzo/Bassline pickups as an entire brand - you simply way have not found the set that suits your personal sound. I had a bass with a set of Bassline P/J Quarter Pounders in them and found them to be far too heavy in the low and high-end, with not nearly enough low-mids for my taste. But lots of players here rave about them, so they're not "bad": they simply didn't work for me.

I recently upgraded my "moddy" MIM Jazz with Bassline SJB-2 "hot" Jazz pups (the step below QPs) and find them much more fitting to my playing style and sound. Of all the things you can replace on a bass I've seen that pickups are the most personal, IMO, and take much research (and playing, if you can find a bass equipped) to find what works for you.

Edit: Ack, late-night brainfart. Still, I think the point stands.

[Lorenzini]

Seymour Duncan makes Basslines. DiMarzio is a different company altogether.

That said, I had DiMarzio P+J set in a bass before they were amazing. Punchy, hot, articulate... Surprised you're not noticing much. I would think putting DiMarzio model P+J set would be MORE noticable than Bartolini or something like that because they are so in your face.

[Kanekila]

I just put a set of the DP123 Model J p'ups in my MIM '62 reissue, and the difference from the stock pups is pretty big. MUCH fatter, ballsier and juicier tone. It was like lifting a blanket off the cabinet to me. The guys in the band noticed immediately at the gig Saturday night.

I also like that I can adjust the pole pieces exactly as needed for each string to get the perfect string-to-string balance. Oh yeah -- I can actually USE the bridge pickup now. Never could with the stocks, because it was just too buzzy and ice-picky. Blugghhhh..

Personally, the best $89 bucks I've ever spent on replacement pickups. BTW, Steve's Music Center in Rock Hill, NY has the best price on this set that I've found, and, he's a great guy to work with and shipped 'em out to me FAST! Just two days to Florida.

[rappa29]

I put these in my 2002 MIM Fender PJ. I've noticed a difference.
They're definitely ballsier in the low end, but I didn't change my pots.

BTW - How do I know what Ohm pots are in my bass? They're the factory pots.

Will changing them to 500k make even more of a difference? Can someone suggest where to get 500k VVT pots?

TIA!

[alibloke]

Is this the Model P+J set? If so try adjusting the pickup heights and importantly the polepiece heights to match Fender's specs given here:

http://www.fender.com/support/setup/basssetup.php

I'm currently using the Model Js with 250K CTS volume pots, and a CTS 1 meg linear tone pot + .047uF cap. I found that changing the tone pot alone made a fantastic improvement. Haven't tried 500k but it might get the job done equally well.

[saxofunk]

Warwick - You wouldn't be the only one to be less-than-impressed with DiMarzios.

I just relaced the set of Model Js I had in my Toby 4 with the stock pickups. Changing strings made a bigger difference than changing pickups for me. However, I'll confess that I did not change any of the other electronics. I left the stock pre amp in there, but I also tried the pickups wired direct to the output. Either way, I never experienced the "wow" factor I expected after seeing so many positive reviews.

About those marvelous adjustable pole pieces: Maybe I'm the only one who got tired of catching my fingertips on screw threads, eventually I just drove 'em all down to the bottom and turned up the gain a half notch.

[sunbeast]

I'm amazed if someone can't tell the difference between the Dimarzios and a standard split-coil + single coil PJ set- the Dimarzio design is alot different. With the seperate magnets underneath the coils plus the adjustable polepieces (not to mention the J pickup is a split coil vs. the standard single-coil J) they sound integrally different than any other P or J I've ever used...and they are alot hotter as well.

Did you have both pickups wired in series or parallel? Parallel on the Model Js does sound more like a standard J pickup to me.

Eh- it's all subjective!

Karl

[bgavin]

For me, a good part of the reason for changing pickups was hum cancellation. My 2000 MIM-J fretless factory pickups are both wired the same direction. This caused it to hum all the time, even with both pickups full on. The new MIM models have different wound pickups to avoid this. Mine did not.

The poster running the 1meg tone pot gets a brighter tone due to less impedance load from the tone pot. One can get the same result using a Fender no-load 250k pot, which switches completely out of the circuit at 10. I am installing no-load tone pots in all my passive Fenders. They do not work at all as volume pots.

[Luke73]

Originally Posted by WarwickWannaBe

What exactly are they supose to change in the guitar?

Did you really buy them without knowing this, or attempting to research it?

What exactly are you after?

[alibloke]

Originally Posted by bgavin

The poster running the 1meg tone pot gets a brighter tone due to less impedance load from the tone pot. One can get the same result using a Fender no-load 250k pot, which switches completely out of the circuit at 10. I am installing no-load tone pots in all my passive Fenders. They do not work at all as volume pots.

Yep, pretty much! I have been kind of curious about these switchable pots, but haven't tried them yet.

Wouldn't having a higher valued pot offer more control, since the load is sweepable?

[bgavin]

The pot goes from dead short through the cap, up to the 1meg resistance at the opposite end. The no-load pots have a mechanical device inside that switches the pot to straight through. Compared to 1meg pots, I suspect it is splitting hairs and inaudible. I just prefer less pots in the mix when possible. YMMV.

[i_got_a_mohawk]

Not everyone is going to like every pickup.

I stuck a DiMarzio Model P+J set into a banger bass that i bought, and it really brought the bass to life. Punchy, full sounding, growly sounding. Try altering the wiring, try different series-parallel combinations. Lots of variety with that set!

And to the guy who mentioned about the pole pieces, i personally didnt move mine, i always thought they were aimed to be adjustable mainly for basses with a radiused neck?

[lbwdog]

Originally Posted by WarwickWannaBe

I got the Dimarzio P + J neck and bridge pickup set into my Ibanez SG200 and im not to pleased with them. I think I shoudlve went with bartolini or another better namebrand. I hardly notice a difference between the stock ones and these. Any suggestions, should I make the strings closer to the pickups or what? I want a more punchy tone and maybe im just looking for the wrong things through these pickups. What exactly are they supose to change in the guitar?

Could it be that:
A; They aren't connected properly? These are four wire pickups. The simplest,and best (to me) method is to connect the black and white wires of each pickup together. Then wire it the same as a two wire pickup.This will retain the hum canceling properties of the P or J.

B; The lack of "punchiness" lies elsewhere in your rig and not the pickups.

C; The original pickups aren't that bad after all. (see B)

I put model J's in my MIM Jazz and am in love with the tone, as well as the ability to adjust the poles individually. I would have a tech look at the installation to insure they are wired correctly.

[billoetjen]

Hi,
I have a GSR200 that was noisy, weak and just plain plain sounding. Replaced the stock pups with the Dimarzio model P and J set. I added a double pole single throw switch to disconnect the battery and by-pass the active. I only play it passive (with so much output, who needs a pre?) and it sounds fantastic. I get all the tone that everyone raves about. Plus huge variety. And it's dead silent.
MInd you, I replaced the pots, bridge, grounding and copper shielded the cavities and string with heavy LaBella DTB strings. This has turned into one great bass.
Something does not sound right with your results.

[nuno.ka]

Not trying to hijack here, but I have a passive Warwick Fortress One all wenge neck which plays like butter, I love it but I'm not crazy about the MEC pickups.
It already has 500k pots, how do you think it would sound with the Dimarzio PJ set? I like warm, growly sound with plenty of mids and they're within my budget.
Would these pups awaken all the hidden potential in the bass?

[Paul_Atreides]

I heard a guy playing a PJ precision with Dimarzios yesterday and it sounded very good.