PJ pickup question

[J-Building]

I've just got a quick question for anyone who can answer it. I'm in the process of making my first bass a bass I can gig with, and in choosing new pickups, I wondered about the impedence of either of them. Do factory PJ pickups have the same impedence, or are they usually different? I don't want to huge drop in output if I flip the pickup selector switch.

[line6man]

I've never heard anyone ask for the specific impedances of pickups before.

If the pickups are both passive, they will usually get along just fine without any major impedance mismatches.
It's only when you try to combine active and passive pickups that you have a problem.

[SGD Lutherie]

P pickups are generally wound hotter than Js. So you need a hotter Jazz pickup at the bridge.

[kreider204]

Originally Posted by SGD Lutherie

P pickups are generally wound hotter than Js. So you need a hotter Jazz pickup at the bridge.

Bingo. I have a P/J bass. For the stock Fender pups, the P was hotter than the J. I just put in a matching set of DiMarzios, and the P is hotter than the J as well. To some extent, I can compensate by raising the J and lowering the P, but I still run the P volume at about 90% (compared to the J volume at 100%).

You might try a stock or vintage reissue P paired with some modern hotter J - that would probably balance things out a bit.

[gidbass]

^ +1. I have the dimarzio Model PJ set, and the P is hotter. I have my P pickup height very low, and my J pickup height very high, and that seems to even out the volume/output for me.

Good Luck!

[acebase62]

My P-J has a Seymour Duncan SPB-1 (vintage neck P) and a STK-J2 (hot bridge J).

These pickups work well for me.

[crijan]

Originally Posted by acebase62

My P-J has a Seymour Duncan SPB-1 (vintage neck P) and a STK-J2 (hot bridge J).

These pickups work well for me.

+1 I use the same setup.

[BigOldHarry]

Originally Posted by SGD Lutherie

P pickups are generally wound hotter than Js. So you need a hotter Jazz pickup at the bridge.

Agreed - this has been my experience too.

That said - that "hotness" can be A) a good thing and B) compensated for.

Why good? Well, your basic PJ setup - say, using SD Quarter Pounders - will have a bit more output on the P p'up, giving the blended sound the distinct "PJ" sound (rather than the more balanced JJ sound). I've found that this tone *really* cuts through the mix and sounds, to my ears, like a ROCK bass should.

The downside is that if you dial back the P p'up and want to solo on the J, you'll have less output. This can kinda suck.

The way I've compensated for this is to lower the P P'up a bit and raise the J p'up. This also makes some sense for playablity, as your strings are MUCH more likely to smack a pickup in the P position if it's high, whereas the J p'up is quite unlikely to ever make contact with the string unless you have it CRAZY high.

I wouldn't worry so much about impedance - Back in the day, us crazy bassists would take a stock Fender P bass, bust out our dad's router and slap a J, any old J, into the bridge position and be happy campers. Yeah, a whole bunch of '60s/'70s P basses were hacked up that way...

good luck

[SGD Lutherie]

Originally Posted by BigOldHarry

I wouldn't worry so much about impedance - Back in the day, us crazy bassists would take a stock Fender P bass, bust out our dad's router and slap a J, any old J, into the bridge position and be happy campers. Yeah, a whole bunch of '60s/'70s P basses were hacked up that way...

Stuff I did back in the day... Added a DiMarzio Model P between the two pickups on my '74 Rick 4001. Added a second DiMarzio P to the bridge position on a '74 P bass. Kept the stock "neck" pickup. Added a Gibson Mudbucker to the neck on another '74 Rick with a Bartolini Hi-A at the bridge.

A lot of "mismatched" pickups, and they worked pretty good.

Having said that, I like winding Jazz bridge pickups a little hotter than the neck. I'm working on a P/J set that will use a 4 coil P pickup, like a mini Wal pickup.

[SC Bassboy]

The Seymour Duncan 1/4lb P/J pups sound frickin' AWESOME for rock. Do it dude!