Wanting to upgrade 75 RI Jazz pickups

pedullabass · #1 07-10-2008, 10:59 AM

Anyone have any thoughts on a good upgrade pickup for this bass? Its a MIA . 60's Custom Shop a good choice????

4Mal · #2 07-10-2008, 12:21 PM

what are you trying to achieve with the pickup swap ? warmth ? attack ? quietness ? or ??? let us know and we can maybe make a more focused recommendation.

tranceFusion · #3 07-10-2008, 12:29 PM

I wanted to replace my pickups too but the fine folks here on talkbass convinved me to get a pre-amp instead.. i put the Audere JZ3 in last night and so far I am quite excited..

just another option for you to check out..

spaz21387 · #4 07-10-2008, 12:56 PM

How about nordstrand nj4s?

pedullabass · #5 07-11-2008, 06:29 AM

hi guys... more punch.. I am already running a Sadowsky outboard preamp, thru a 160x compressor then a 4x10 Eden cab with a WT-400. I think some of the problem is the sound guy has my sound so brite in my monitor. He says he cant give me a seperate mix from the house. But if I dont put alot in my monitor i have to turn my amp up then I am lost in the live recordings.

I have been hearing alot about the audere pre-amp and was curious if anyone has compared it side by side to the Sadowsky?

4Mal · #6 07-11-2008, 08:08 AM

So you're sending him the signal from a DI in the Sadowsky or the DI from the WT ?

Are you having troubles hearing yourself on stage or is it that you are attempting to hear what it sounds like out fron via the monitor mix ?

If it's the latter - good luck to ya. The monitors are probably not much like the mains in the low end so yeah - it's going to sound thin.

If it's that you want to hear yourself through the monitors but with a more full sounding EQ maybe send the sound guy 2 lines 1. dry that he can take to the FOH and one colored that he returns to the monitors - if the monitors can hold it.

Not 100% sure what you meant by if you turn up the amp you're lost in the mix - but lost in the mix doesn't sound good in any event.

I'm interpreting what you call punch as more a mattter of EQ mostly because you mentioned 'thin'. To me 'punch' has more to do with 'immediacy' and dynamic response - I pluck and the note jumps like 'right now' - that generally is reduced by compression so you could take the dbx out of the circuit, make sure the on board comp is disengaged on the WT and see what you think.

You might still like that pickup swap but it sounds like there are more fundamental issues to be resolved first.

pedullabass · #7 07-11-2008, 09:20 AM

he is coming out of the 160 to a DI. We were getting noise coming out of the WT-400.
I think I have complicated things by talking about the house sound. I want more punch for slapping . The compressor is more to take the bright edge off of pops.
I guess actually I have a pretty good sound but looking to improve it anyway possible with this bass. The sound man tells me the pops are not bright in the house. And hes a really good sound man so I guess I got to live with some of the brightness.
I play at a Variety show and play everything from Rock, Motown, Disco, country, bluegrass. I also run my 50 Kay doghouse thru a fishman preamp to the same amp via a switch box.
My amp never moves. I walk in 6 shows a week and plug in. I have my own monitor mix..

4Mal · #8 07-11-2008, 11:02 AM

http://www.vintagevibeguitars.com/windows/jbassWin.html

The link above is to what I have in my 75 RI. I like them a lot. Enough that I pulled the Audere pre out and went back to passive in that bass. I do like the Audere a lot but - I need to have passive basses as well and this one just it!

My L-2500 still has a 3ZB and I have an in-bound 5-01 that will very likely get a 3ZB as well...

Tonally this are full range. Not an overly heavey bottom or top which I think makes them flexible. The pickups are wax potted under vacuum and then copper foil shielded using a separate braided ground. It's about as quiet as you can get with a single coil.

The Lawrence J45 would be the other pickup I would think about. Clear and quiet. Big attack. I prefer the Vintage Vibe for it's more well vintage character - that's what I want from a J - those are both great pickups though. The Lawrence is a steal at just over a hun per pair. The JBX-4's are fully custom, built to order in Pete's shop. You can spec magnet materials, overwind, underwind, etc - the build quality is the best I've ever seen in any other pickup except a Dark Star. High praise I think. As Fred Hammon's pickups are simply a functional work of art, so are Pete Biltoft's ...

The other thing I might think about - string selection. I'm really high on what I get from the Thomastic Super Alloy. It's a meatier sounding round. Slap
s very well IMO. Not overly brite, great definition. More booty than many competing stings I've tried. (note - I suxk at slapping, people pay me to not slap in public unless it's a pie throwing contest ...

)