60's vs. 70's Jazz bass pickups

[bassfart]

I have read a lot about the coveted 60's Jazz bass pickups and their sound compared to every other era Jazz bass pickup. I own a 78 Jazz bass and I find the sound of these pickups awesome, with very little hum and no irritating ground buzz. I owned a Geddy Lee Jazz and the construction was great, but the sound was lacking and the ground buzz was horrible. All the pickup companies out there have a Jazz pickup with a 60's spec. What makes the 60's pickups greater then all the rest?

 

[Ray man]

This caught my eye.

Are you talking about the 60's custom shop vs. the '75 reissue pickups?
I think 60's fenders are pretty much 'the standard' for many reasons. This is why everyone wants to reissue according to 60's specs.

I replaced a set of 60's custom shop's with '75 reissues.
The custom shop's are just a recreation of the pickups used at that time. There is nothing realy speacial about them, they just give you a 'middle of the road' standard jazz bass tone. Which is probably why people want them in the first place.
The 75's sound the same but with a fuller fatter more bulky sound. Like 60's custom shop pickups, but with a little bit of steroids.

 

[narud]

if you took a set of 70's jazz bass pickups and put them in a pre cbs jazz, i doubt anyone would find that big of a difference.

the reissue pickups are a whole other bag. the american 75 reissue pickups sound very different than the pickups from a bass of that era. i put a set of 1980 gray bottoms in a mia 75 ri and it opened it up dramatically. the american ri pickups might sound like something from the 60's depending on what bass your playing.

 

[Ray man]

if you took a set of 70's jazz bass pickups and put them in a pre cbs jazz, i doubt anyone would find that big of a difference.

the reissue pickups are a whole other bag. the american 75 reissue pickups sound very different than the pickups from a bass of that era. i put a set of 1980 gray bottoms in a mia 75 ri and it opened it up dramatically. the american ri pickups might sound like something from the 60's depending on what bass your playing.

BTW I never actualy played a real 60's or 70's Fender. But I had both the 60's CS and the '75 RI pickups.
I also had the AERO type 1.

 

[hands5]

if you took a set of 70's jazz bass pickups and put them in a pre cbs jazz, i doubt anyone would find that big of a difference.

the reissue pickups are a whole other bag. the american 75 reissue pickups sound very different than the pickups from a bass of that era. i put a set of 1980 gray bottoms in a mia 75 ri and it opened it up dramatically. the american ri pickups might sound like something from the 60's depending on what bass your playing.

I agree,and were n the hell did you get the Gray bottoms ! I've been looking for those for quite sometime......good stuff

 

[narud]

I agree,and were n the hell did you get the Gray bottoms ! I've been looking for those for quite sometime......good stuff

theyre up on ebay all the time. one day i might have carey nordstrand make a repro set and see how they come out. i sent that set i had to him to take notes on for a repro set, but then didnt end up needing them.

 

[SGD Lutherie]

What makes the 60's pickups greater then all the rest?

Hype. They aren't all that much different. Since most people have never played a 60's or even a 70's jazz, they have nothing to compare them to. From what I've seen of Fender reissues, they are not very accurate. Two glaring examples are the Tele Wide Range humbuckers, and the reissue Jazzmaster pickups. Neither of these pickups are made anything like the real thing, and they don't sound like the real thing. But they look the same.

I'd expect the rest of their "reissue" line follows suite.

If you want an accurate reproduction, check out Lollar, Fralin or Nordstrand.

 

[Albert Vickers]

This caught my eye.

Are you talking about the 60's custom shop vs. the '75 reissue pickups?
I think 60's fenders are pretty much 'the standard' for many reasons. This is why everyone wants to reissue according to 60's specs.

I replaced a set of 60's custom shop's with '75 reissues.
The custom shop's are just a recreation of the pickups used at that time. There is nothing realy speacial about them, they just give you a 'middle of the road' standard jazz bass tone. Which is probably why people want them in the first place.
The 75's sound the same but with a fuller fatter more bulky sound. Like 60's custom shop pickups, but with a little bit of steroids.

I agree. The 70's have the Mojo. Mids and Top blend with a little less top. I only been playing bass 58 years so I have both types here (many types)here. Back in the 60's the Jazz pups were a little less flexible. You listen to The Who you don't get that soul sound from Entwhistles P Bass!With more top. We relied on the Single Coils like you hear on the EW&Fire 54 P Bass to give us the funky sound! The 70's became more funky, Jazzy Soul or Jazzy Chicago. Now J pups can do it all in the right hands! IMHO.

 

[Frenchy-Lefty]

The theory is that early/mid 70's pickups had less winding and a slightly lower output than the 60's ones but there was so much randomness in pickup making at Fender during those times that it is not always true. I did not try them but I heard the Fender Pure Vintage '74 are a little more period correct than the '75 reissues.
The only certain thing is that pickup makers seem to struggle to build some accurate repros of those great older pickups like the Fender gray bottoms Narud has on his bass. Between the alnico magnets and the alloy used for the wires, everything seem to impact the sound. It is not only a matter of how many winding turns. Some of those older materials might just not be available anymore hence the difficulty to reproduce the sound of those pickups.

Little story: As a pickup enthusiast, I spend thousand of Dollars on pickups over the years. Tried them on many nice Jazz Basses and so on. I was always a little "meh..." I got this cheap Squier VM 70's and it just has the best Jazz Bass sound I ever got (just upgraded the bridge). Everyone who heard it agreed it just has something special to it. Weird no?

 

[Ray man]

I agree. The 70's have the Mojo. Mids and Top blend with a little less top. I only been playing bass 58 years so I have both types here (many types)here. Back in the 60's the Jazz pups were a little less flexible. You listen to The Who you don't get that soul sound from Entwhistles P Bass!With more top. We relied on the Single Coils like you hear on the EW&Fire 54 P Bass to give us the funky sound! The 70's became more funky, Jazzy Soul or Jazzy Chicago. Now J pups can do it all in the right hands! IMHO.

My opinion on the 75's changed a little since fender released the 74 pure vintage.
I think what Frenchy-Lefty says is correct.

The theory is that early/mid 70's pickups had less winding and a slightly lower output than the 60's ones but there was so much randomness in pickup making at Fender during those times that it is not always true. I did not try them but I heard the Fender Pure Vintage '74 are a little more period correct than the '75 reissues.

 

[damos]

For funk, i prefer pickup with less winding.I like more the 70's and 80's fender pickups than the 60's. I don' t like to have too much low mid..
it's depend of your amp too.
Ampeg 's very low mid, aguilar more neutral...

 

[snowtraveler65]

I have read a lot about the coveted 60's Jazz bass pickups and their sound compared to every other era Jazz bass pickup. I own a 78 Jazz bass and I find the sound of these pickups awesome, with very little hum and no irritating ground buzz. I owned a Geddy Lee Jazz and the construction was great, but the sound was lacking and the ground buzz was horrible. All the pickup companies out there have a Jazz pickup with a 60's spec. What makes the 60's pickups greater then all the rest?

The difference may have less to do with the pickups themselves than with the placement and body wood. The pickups in 60's and current Jazz bass are 3.6" apart (between pole pieces) and 4" apart with the 70's j basses - the bridge pickup being positioned nearly 1/2" closer to the bridge. This results in, perhaps, a bit more "honk" and "growl". Another difference is wood. 60's J's had alder bodies (as do current USA j's). 70's J's had ash bodies. I'm guessing your Geddy Lee was the MIM artist series version as opposed to the current USA model. The pickups on the MIM model are "vintage series" as opposed to the custom shop pickups used on the USA model. That may account for the hum issues you had.