PJ pickup options - something other than a J?

mr.hughes · #1 10-06-2010, 08:47 AM

Hello folks -

I have a Fender Precision 70's Reissue that I'd like to add a J pickup to. I've heard lots of differing opinions about the J being overwhelmed by the P - so this got me thinking: has anybody tried/considered using something else, like a MM, a Soapbar, a Nordy or a Lakland Chi-Sonic? If so, how did it turn out? Aesthetics aside, does anyone think one would be better than the other?

Sonically I'd like to retain the P when needed but when they're blended I'd like it to be more than P + a little of something else - in other words I don't want the P to dominate the blended sound. Thanks in advance.

gareth

mr.hughes · #2 10-06-2010, 01:21 PM

Nobody?

FenderPunk · #3 10-06-2010, 01:26 PM

If the J is wired right it shouldnt be dominated and if it is you can just turn down the p on the bass and turn up the volume on the amp
( a little trick my friend uses with his bass)

mr.hughes · #4 10-06-2010, 01:29 PM

Thanks for that FenderPunk. Do you know what make of J pickup he has and was it a matched pair? I think I'm wrecking my head with options simply because once it's done, it's done and that wonderful P-Bass look is gone.

RedLeg · #5 10-06-2010, 01:33 PM

I know the perfect solution for an overwhelmed J. Get the J overwound. Fralin offers an overwound J. I just had this done to my '85 ibby roadster. I put a Tyler Henderson Vintage P & 5% overwound J and she sounds balanced.

4Mal · #6 10-06-2010, 01:44 PM

Off the shelf, the Lawrence P-46 and J-45 work well together.

I really like a set I had wired up by Pete Biloft at Vintage Vibe ( http://www.vintagvibeguitars.com ) . Alnico 3 and standard wind in the P, Alnico 5 and a slight overwind in the J. That works really well.

I'm about to do it again with Pete's stuff. The same spec for the P, but a 51 style pickup for the bridge. The 51 will be split coil for hum cancelling and will be ceramic magnet based with a slight overwind. A little hotter than my usual pick. I'm dialing this particular bass in as a rock 'n roll machine.

One other way to think about this - consider the G&L SB-2. The bridge pickups is near to meaningless on it's own... but it works wonders if you consider it a tone control on the very powerful and deep MFD style split P pickup. On that very cool bass, you dial in a little edge or dial it out with the bridge pickup. So the balance thing is also a bit of a philosophical thing as well...

bssist · #7 10-06-2010, 04:06 PM

My first bass was a P-bass. I had active emg p/j installed. It ended up being way to bright/brittle sounding so I found some nice flatwounds (Magnus, I think, or something like that - I'm 800 miles away from them right now so I can't check). Anyway, On other instruments those strings sounded sterile, but with the p/j I roll off the j just a bit and get a really cool tone.

mr.hughes · #8 10-06-2010, 04:15 PM

Cool cool guys, thanks for all this - it's good food for thought. Anyone tried anything in the J position that wasn't a J pickup?

Rezdog · #9 10-06-2010, 05:04 PM

Greetings from the North,

P-Retro from John East UK and you won't want or need to add another pickup.

Rezdog

JimiLL · #10 10-06-2010, 05:08 PM

Id say a MM pickup with a coil selector

crijan · #11 10-06-2010, 05:13 PM

I've not used something that wasn't a J, but I do have several PJ basses and I use a Basslines STK-J2B "Hot Stack Jazz" to balance the output with the P.

BassLife77 · #12 10-06-2010, 06:44 PM

slopeshoulder · #13 10-06-2010, 07:03 PM

Nordy Big Split?

acebase62 · #14 10-07-2010, 12:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crijan

I've not used something that wasn't a J, but I do have several PJ basses and I use a Basslines STK-J2B "Hot Stack Jazz" to balance the output with the P.

My P-J also has the Seymour Duncan STK-J2 at bridge and SPB-1 at neck position.

They balance well, IMO.

Stealth · #15 10-07-2010, 05:02 AM

Someone on TB got away with an active Precision + EMG 35DC. Worked well.

For passive solutions, P+MM seems to work well - like BassLife77's bass, but with the MM moved further towards the bridge.

mr.hughes · #16 10-07-2010, 05:56 AM

Rezdog - yep, I've seen the P-Retro but I figure I'd still be missing the bite that comes from where the J pickup is placed. Plus I'm into keeping this bass passive.

BassLife77 - How's that bass working out for you? Do you have it wired like a MusicMan?

Thanks for all the suggestions guys.

Rezdog · #17 10-07-2010, 08:20 AM

Greetings,

With the P-Retro you won't miss that bite because you can easily dial it in, you're covered. I hmmd & hawed over it too because I'm not an active fan but it really works well the P. And you never lose that root P sound you just get more of it active and when running passive it's just pure stock. Oh ya.. there's no unwanted hum this thing is quiet.

Rezdog

mr.hughes · #18 10-07-2010, 01:41 PM

Rezdog - what freq centers did you set the dip switches to? I have a parametric EQ that I think needs to be added here for some testing.

mr.hughes · #19 10-09-2010, 01:58 AM

Anyone tried anything else?

kasbrey · #20 10-09-2010, 04:52 AM

My Sandberg PM4 Custom

I've since replaced the Delano P pickup with a Wizard standard P for a more authentic Precision tone and the P&MM pickups seem to blend even better