which pickup would you take for jazz bass?

[galore]

I play rock and want a pair of jazz single coils that produce clear, defined, mid-growl, balanced tone.

[Astroman]

I have an Aero P/J set-up in my Warmoth Precision 4 and they absolutely rock! That and a 2-band Bartolini preamp give the exact type of tone you describe. Now with a set of Aero Jazzes, you may not have the same mid-bark as I do with the humbucker, but I would dare say it would be close - maybe a tad warmer on the neck pickup. BTW, the P-Bass is alder w/a maple top and pau ferro board. I have been through alot of hi-end basses, and have never found one to beat this for recording and live playing in rock (and funk) - ask my former bandmates, they always loved it!
Now my runner-up that is close to one on your list is actually in my 62 RI-MIJ Jazz: USA vintage re-issues. These pickups sit very well in the mix, but I added a John East J-Retro and that was the bomb. It made the basic tone more up front, but now i have alot more versatility for whatever playing situation I find myself in. And I can still go passive for a good traditional tone, just have to turn up the volume a good bit more.
Not sure about the Nordstrands, although I've played 3 basses with dual coils in them. Two sounded very compressed to me, but the last I tried had a smaller set of duals in a CB-5bass with an Aguilar 3-band, and that one killed! (I'd have bought the bass if I wasnt recently unemployed!) Very similar to my P/J bass, but more refined mids and deeper lows on the bridge p/up, when needed.
So my personal vote is that Aeros are a sure thing for a good all-around rock tone, passive or active. They were a top winner in Bass Player magazine's Jazz p/up shoot-out several years ago, and I've been impressed with most any set of Aero's I've heard.
You may try Bass Tasters to see if any of the above are on their tested list.
Good Luck!

[bassybill]

The NJ4SEs aren't single coils - but they do have exactly the sort of tone that you describe.

[wingnut.supreme]

I have the Aero's in a P/J setup in my Tony Franklin Fretless Precision. Sounds great. In fact they pretty much saved that bass from resale because I absolutely hated the sound of it with the hex ceramic magnet TF pickup that came with it. I put the Aero's in and now its my main bass.

I have the Custom 60's in my Custom Shop Fretless Jazz. Sounds great as well, different from the Aero's but still very good for that particular Jazz bass.

Overall I really like the Aero's and will probably be replacing my Custom 60's with the Aero's in the future.

I vote for the Aero's especially after talking with the guy. He's the mad scientist of pickups and is super cool and knowledgable. I called him to place an order and ended up talking to him for over an hour about music and pickups and hawaii and the world and......etc..

Just get the Aero's.

[war_n_peace]

[Astroman]

If someone is suggesting Bart 59J's (I think that's the model #), I have had terrible results with those. Flat, lost in the mix and unresponsive. I like Bart soapbars, but the 59j's I have tried in a Pedulla Rapture, Modulus Genesis, and installed a set of 5's in a Benavente, all with the same poor results.
Some may like them, but I think they suck. That particular model, anyway.
Many of the Basslines passive jazzes sound good to me, with many models to coose from. I just played a set of exposed pole EMG passives for the first time, in a Modulus VJ 4 with an Aguilar preamp, and it sounded fantastic.
But I've learned the live/recorded mix is where it all counts, unless you just want a great bedroom/solo tone.

[Tony G]

Originally Posted by war_n_peace

+1

[BartmanPDX]

The only Jazz pickups I've ever heard that I liked better than the Aeros are the single coil pickups on my Sadowsky. They're absolutely fantastic, but pricey.

The Fender ones are nice too. Just to confuse the issue further, you could consider some Fralins.

If it were me, I'd get the Aeros.

[Caca de Kick]

I've played the Aero and CS60's, both are wonderful.

But Barts? Barts just suck...

[galore]

Hey guys, thank you all for your inputs, but I still can't decide. It's like cola and pepsi, a personal taste in the end. The reason why I started this poll is because I don't have chance to try them and hear live.

I'm thinking about getting a custom shop fender jazz (not in near future though), alder body. I play rock or sort of a punk rock. I don't want to get a muddy or boomy sound. Does anyone have a link to sound clips of some of these pickups? That would be great!

It seems there isn't that much difference between them at all or am I wrong?

[omar_basspr]

I have a jazz bass with a set of Basslines SJB-3-Quarter Pounder
they sound awsome.

[todd 4ta]

I think between Aero, Nordstrands and Sadowsky you really can't go wrong. I would probably go with Nord since I just really like Carey's pickups, but I would be happy with any of those.

Two of my all time favorite basses had Aeros - Lakland DJ5 and a Lull M5 w/Aeros. And my Sadowsky sounds pretty decent, too.

I agree with some of the others that Bart jazz pickups are typically the opposite of what you're looking for. I did have a Modulus vintage jazz that rocked with Barts, but that's the only one that's passed the test with me. I REALLY don't like the Bart narrow soapbars.....

[Astroman]

Since galore says he does heavy/punk rock, those Basslines Quarter-Pounders Omar mentioned may be just the ticket - possibly more up-front tone than the other contenders in the poll. You want to cut through the loud, distorted guitars and heavy-hitting drums!

[the_home]

I have a Modulus VJ with Villex pickups. Very nice,very smooth passive p'ups.

[galore]

Yes, I have quarter pound basslines for precision right now and I'm satisfied with the tone but they're just too hot. I would like to try something different, with more mids.

Anyway, thanks for your replies!

[ElBajista]

Have you considered either an onboard or outboard preamp to tweak your current pickups? This might get you were you want to go.

If more mids is all you're looking for, I believe that John East (www.j-retro.co.uk) makes a stacked mid/mid-freq standalone mini-preamp.

[Astroman]

My final vote:

Aero's with an East preamp.

Expensive, but will be all you ever need for most any style of music with all it's versatility. You could start with the Aeros, and add the preamp down the road. Larry Pollack of Aero says his pickups are intended to sound great passive without a preamp, but I've found adding one didnt hurt, especially if it has a true bypass. That way you can get an authentic Jaco tone at the bridge when desired.

I also remember my last project turned into a loud hard rock band, and my P-Bass with the Aeros absolutely kicked ass! The proper midranges were there

[galore]

Wow, thanks a lot! I'll go with Aero on my practice bass, then I'll see what comes next.