| If the pickups work, they don't need replacing. They may be scratched and dirty but that's just the plastic case covering the pickup.
They are likely single coil "Jazz" pickups you have there. They will sound bright. Are they active? Different pickups will sound different, but it's difficult to tell exactly what any certain p'up will sound like till it's in the bass. Bartolini makes humbuckers that will drop in. humbuckers are often described as growly or thumpy. google jazz pickups, but don't buy 25.00 EBAY Chinese pups! you will have to spend over 60-70 bucks a p'up to get quality.
Wilde "J" p'ups will drop right in and are very highly rated. The same maker, Bill Lawrence, made the pups in my '75 Gibson G3 and they sound incredible. Thumpy when dialed back and bright as the sun when opened up. very hot output.
But do you really want to spend the money? You can shine the old ones up and get new mounting screws. It is possible to replace only the covers with new if you carefully remove the old. it's cheaper.
If you can solder, you can also experiment with tone pots and capacitors to get the sound you want. Try a .068uF or .1uf capacitor swap. Cheap!
Try swapping your tone pot with a 100k if you have a 250k or -- a 250k if you have a 500k. It's kinda like having your tone turned down halfway all the time and more control over that half because the knob controls 50% less tone over that same amount of knob travel. 5 bucks.
__________________
'74ish Ampeg V4B, 115/210. * '75 Gibson G3. *Epi Tbird. *Squier: VM Jazz, CV 50's P. *Squier VM Jazz Assoc. *MBC 641. Squier owners club
Last edited by 96tbird : 03-10-2011 at 05:16 PM.
| 
