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best OVERALL J PUPs

B

bassguita079

Sep 27, 2010
29
0
S.W. Virginia
#1
hey everybody!!
ive got a question for all you hardcore gear heads out there!
as i have been playing precision basses for most of my career as a bass guitar player, 11 of 13 years, i recently acquired a jazz bass from my friend. as i have taken a liking to this, i think its time to upgrade PUPs. i have looked at all kinds of PUPs from the new aguilar 70's model pickups to the seymour duncan basslines and even the antiquity lines. i play modern and classic country, as well as modern and classic hard rock. what would be the most versatile PUP for the situation?
thanks all!!
 
#6
Well do you want the most versatile, the best sounding, or the cheapest? You're kind of all over the place here :)

Barts are 2 conductor, so there goes your versatility. They are good sounding pickups if you only want that one sound though. But that being said, I sold my Barts for SGD's!
 
#9
exactly like they were saying earlier about one mans treasure being another's trash, I really couldn't stand the bartolini's, swapped them out for a set of fralins which I love, and swapped another set out for antiquity II's which I like quite a bit too, the antiquity's are a little more what you would expect from a classic j sound, but the fralins have a little more for low end balls and high end clarity, so they are on my fretless. I still really want to try the 60's aguilars on the fretted one, every clip I've heard of them sounded like exactly what I want.
 
#10
Rio Grande offers two J pups, the Vintage and Muy Grande's. Both are very nice, the vintage has that classic jazz sound. The Muys are kinda like Duncan Quarter pounds that actually sound good. Those and the Barts are my favorite J pups, though both totally different than the other.
 
#13
I'm throwing my vote for YOUR style of music to the DIMARZIO AREA J.

It's got vintage warmth and roundness, but higher output and is noiseless. The price is reasonable and there are multiple wiring options.
 
#16
rojo412 said:
I'm throwing my vote for YOUR style of music to the DIMARZIO AREA J.

It's got vintage warmth and roundness, but higher output and is noiseless. The price is reasonable and there are multiple wiring options.
Click to expand...

I like these too. I also have a set of noiseless Fralins, which cost twice as much, and they sound almost the same. Both are very close to single coil tone. IMO, noiseless pickups provide more versatility, because you can use the full range of J-bass tones without worrying about the hum.
 
#17
Why do you want to "upgrade" the pickups? Only do it if you're not happy with the sound. It seems that you want a really diverse range of tones, some contradictory, so perhaps you should use your P bass for the rock stuff and the Jazz for modern/country? Any sound you want is out there, but only you will know it when you hear it. I love my NYC Sadowsky, but I'm sure many would prefer something else and that's fine, there is no right and wrong.
 
#18
busterrabbit said:
Why do you want to "upgrade" the pickups? Only do it if you're not happy with the sound. It seems that you want a really diverse range of tones, some contradictory, so perhaps you should use your P bass for the rock stuff and the Jazz for modern/country? Any sound you want is out there, but only you will know it when you hear it. I love my NYC Sadowsky, but I'm sure many would prefer something else and that's fine, there is no right and wrong.
Click to expand...

well i only have the 5 string jazz as of right now. i have researched the area j pickups and i think im gonna roll with that one in the neck position for rock tones, and maybe a seymour duncan classic stack in the bridge for the country side of the spectrum. just an idea though...
 
#20
rojo412 said:
I'm throwing my vote for YOUR style of music to the DIMARZIO AREA J.

It's got vintage warmth and roundness, but higher output and is noiseless. The price is reasonable and there are multiple wiring options.
Click to expand...

+1
i recently put a set of these in my jazz bass with an orange drop tone cap, and i have used mine for country, rock, and everything in between. It has worked great for all of these situations and the orange drop tone cap gives it even more flexibility with a very useful tone control...
 

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