So, I recently bought a used Fender Jazz Bass MIM (active) and it came with the stock Fender Noiseless pickups on it, and let's say Im no fan of them... Im lookig for something that sounds good for playing pop and pop punk... what do you guys think I could buy???
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Active Jazz Bass Pickups
- Thread starter betrushka
- Start date
What is it that you don't like about the pickups? I've played them before, & I thought they sounded good.
Nope, it has active pickups
If it has the "stock Fender Noiseless" pickups, then it has passive pickups, though it may be an "active" bass because it has an active EQ.
I'm not a fan of the "noiseless" pickups either. Or really any of the stacks made for bass. (FWIW, bass Hot Stacks are the only Duncans I don't like.)
I've installed them for several customers over the years and to my ear they always sound a bit mushy and sort of phasey in the bottom end. (Purely a personal choice thing of course, the customers have always seemed happy.)
If you play slap on a jazz bass, then I guess you'd run both vols at max most of the time (or your blend in the middle if you have one), which means you don't really need hum-cancelling pickups.
I'd go for a pair of 70's wind alnico single coils.
Which means you have a huge choice! Every pickup winder will have some like this. From Artec cheapies, to your local winder's customs...
I've installed them for several customers over the years and to my ear they always sound a bit mushy and sort of phasey in the bottom end. (Purely a personal choice thing of course, the customers have always seemed happy.)
If you play slap on a jazz bass, then I guess you'd run both vols at max most of the time (or your blend in the middle if you have one), which means you don't really need hum-cancelling pickups.
I'd go for a pair of 70's wind alnico single coils.
Which means you have a huge choice! Every pickup winder will have some like this. From Artec cheapies, to your local winder's customs...
Nope, it has active pickups
Could you post the pics? So we can have better conclusion whether it's a real active pups or just a passive with active circuit (Bass, Mid, Treble).
Cheers.
I ditched my "noiseless" on my Jazz bass which I now sold to a guy form here in Russia and installed the Fender custom shop 60's Jazz Bass pickups which are quite nice... but if you want the Rolls Royce of jazz bass pickups that will kick your funk up a notch or two, try the Joe Barden's ... they're not cheap, but well worth it! Piano tone and incredibly clear..
These are intended to be passive pickups (unlike EMG's or Alembic pickups for example)
but you simply combine them with a good pre-amp ( I opted for the Sadowsky) and they're amazing..
These are intended to be passive pickups (unlike EMG's or Alembic pickups for example)
Nope, it has active pickups
Fender Noiseless pickups are passive.
Consider as set of Fender Super 55 J pickups for a slightly overwound sound, or Dimarzio Area J pickups for a slightly more traditional tone.
Both sets are split coil noiseless, instead of stack coil noiseless.
Both sets are split coil noiseless, instead of stack coil noiseless.
Oh, it may be like that
Invalid Link Removed thats the link to tr bass I own in the fender website
yes , some pickups are Active ... and they would have a power lead going to them from the battery .. !
your bass has Passive pups with Active electronics ... the battery only powers the preamp ...
and any Noiseless pickup is some type of humbucker ,... 2 coils to cancel out the noise , whether Stacked or Split ... they do sound different from Single coil pickups for sure ... but , Single coil pups on a Jazz bass will hummmm or buzz a little bit when both of the volume coils are wide open ... and I think most Single coil pups have a bit louder and more aggressive sound to them ... there is always some kind of trade off .. !
I would think those pickups are just fine ... change the preamp .. ! or bypass the preamp and use an external preamp to alter your tone to your liking .. ! or , changes the pups to Single coils of some kind , and figure out how to deal with the noise from them ...
you could Google a few searches regarding active/passive pups and different preamps ... and look at a few of the wiring diagrams ... it might help make this stuff clearer ... !! I like pictures ... !!
FYI ... I only play bass to record these days ... so I Always use some type of humbucking noiseless pickup because I do not want any extra noise ... ! my basses have passive pups w/no preamp ... no battery
your bass has Passive pups with Active electronics ... the battery only powers the preamp ...
and any Noiseless pickup is some type of humbucker ,... 2 coils to cancel out the noise , whether Stacked or Split ... they do sound different from Single coil pickups for sure ... but , Single coil pups on a Jazz bass will hummmm or buzz a little bit when both of the volume coils are wide open ... and I think most Single coil pups have a bit louder and more aggressive sound to them ... there is always some kind of trade off .. !
I would think those pickups are just fine ... change the preamp .. ! or bypass the preamp and use an external preamp to alter your tone to your liking .. ! or , changes the pups to Single coils of some kind , and figure out how to deal with the noise from them ...
you could Google a few searches regarding active/passive pups and different preamps ... and look at a few of the wiring diagrams ... it might help make this stuff clearer ... !! I like pictures ... !!
FYI ... I only play bass to record these days ... so I Always use some type of humbucking noiseless pickup because I do not want any extra noise ... ! my basses have passive pups w/no preamp ... no battery
copy/pasted from your Link ...
Bridge Pickup: Dual-Coil Ceramic Noiseless™ Jazz Bass with Nickel-Plated Pole Pieces
Neck Pickup: Dual-Coil Ceramic Noiseless™ Jazz Bass with Nickel Plated Pole Pieces
Controls: Master Volume, Pan Control, Three-Band Active EQ with Treble Boost/Cut, Bass Boost/Cut and Mid Boost/Cut
Pickup Switching: Pan Pot
Pickup Configuration: SS
Special Electronics: Active Electronics
no where does it say they have Active pickups .. !? ... just Active Electronics
Bridge Pickup: Dual-Coil Ceramic Noiseless™ Jazz Bass with Nickel-Plated Pole Pieces
Neck Pickup: Dual-Coil Ceramic Noiseless™ Jazz Bass with Nickel Plated Pole Pieces
Controls: Master Volume, Pan Control, Three-Band Active EQ with Treble Boost/Cut, Bass Boost/Cut and Mid Boost/Cut
Pickup Switching: Pan Pot
Pickup Configuration: SS
Special Electronics: Active Electronics
no where does it say they have Active pickups .. !? ... just Active Electronics
Sure man
it's a common misunderstanding that some have.... True "active pickups" were originally pioneered in the early 70's by the likes of Rick Turner and Ron Wickersham of Alembic, and later Rob Turner (not sure if they're related, but they're all from Santa Rose, CA) founded EMG in 1974, those companies all operated the same time and same place, so their technologies were surely similar in many ways. Alembic focused more on the "on board" electronics and pre-amp to get certain tones, and the use of low pass filters, whereas EMG was more focused on pickups with basic "Bass/Treble" controls...
Fender and others (Sadowsky) use pre-amps inside the bass to amplify and tone shape passive pickups.. This is a less responsive but more classic sounding setup. It's why my Alembic and Spector sound so much different from my Fender, even with it's new pre-amp and JB pickups.
Read more here: Active Pickups: All you want to know | Active Guitar
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Nope, it has active pickups
Totally wrong information.
If have a "Dislike" button here , I must click it !!!!
Thanks for the info man! I really didn't know this!
Thanks for the info! I learned something new today haha
Yeah, great info, those 2 posts you quoted (unlike a couple others), but it's a bit to learn initially, and even a lot of advertising is quite confusing/misleading.
