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Best P/J Combos for equal amounts Punch/Snarl?

S

Schmorgy

Guest
Jul 2, 2012
270
14
Canada
#1
So I recently acquired a Fender Aerodyne (Non Export Model) Jazz Bass from a local-ish music store, and I'm looking to start doing some upgrades on the thing to customize it a bit more and make it "mine". Figure I'll start with the pickups. Noted, the stock pickups in this thing are pretty good, but they lack a certain je ne sais quois.

Basically I'm looking to enhance the throaty/snarly sound of the jazz pickup, closer to what you hear on older jazz basses.

On the flip side, I'm looking to replace the Precision pickup with something a lot more punchy. I'm into jazz and funk (and a little bit of pop/rock) and I play interchangeably with slap/pluck/pick. I want something to prop up the low end a bit since the bass is considerably lighter than most normal jazz basses and as such is a little thinner sounding on the bottom.

Additionally, are there any pots anyone would recommend to further me in this regard? I'm no stranger to wiring or electronics upgrades, but I am new to instrument modification in general.
 
#2
I've used 2 PJ sets with good results.

Seymour Duncan SPB-1 combined with Seymour Duncan STK-J2 (in Fender and Warmoth PJs)

Recently I began using the Dimarzio Area P+J set DP251 in a PJ.

I think the Dimarzio Area J pickup sounds more vintage than the SD STK-J2, but both combos provide a variety of good tones.

In all cases, I am using 500k volume pots and a Fender TBX tone control.

Plenty of thump and snap.

Recently, others here are big fans of the EMG Geezer Butler PJ pickups, but I have never played them or heard them live.
 
#3
Awesome, thanks. I think I might go for the Dimarzio Area J and the SD SPB-1 then. The local music store should be able to get me a TBX tone control. I never fully roll off the tone as it is, so it'll be nice to have the rest of it do something useful.
 
#6
Schmorgy said:
Awesome, thanks. I think I might go for the Dimarzio Area J and the SD SPB-1 then. The local music store should be able to get me a TBX tone control. I never fully roll off the tone as it is, so it'll be nice to have the rest of it do something useful.
Click to expand...

FWIW, it seems that Dimarzio designed the Area P+J (DP251) as a well balanced PJ set.

You might consider trying this set before mixing the P and J from 2 different makers.

The Duncan P is great as well, but just a little different than the Area P.

I prefer to keep both pickups in a bass from the same company, but to each their own.

Best wishes regardless.
 
#7
acebase62 said:
FWIW, it seems that Dimarzio designed the Area P+J (DP251) as a well balanced PJ set.

You might consider trying this set before mixing the P and J from 2 different makers.

The Duncan P is great as well, but just a little different than the Area P.

I prefer to keep both pickups in a bass from the same company, but to each their own.

Best wishes regardless.
Click to expand...

I agree with all this. I'm using Dimarzio with a Am. Stnd. P pickup. Series/parallel for P pickup halves and for both pickups are on volume push-pull 500k pots. It's sounds great and has nice variation of tones but pickups do not balance well (you have to use volumes...they are typically not well balanced if both vols are up full.) So even though I didn't do it, I have to agree with acebase62 that sticking with one manufacturer will help eliminate that kind of problem. Not that adjusting pickup balance is the end of the world or anything.

Good luck!
 
#9
blindrabbit said:
Get whatever pickups you would like, and then wire them up so that the P and J pickups are running in series. I've never heard a PJ bass sound so good as when you run both pickups in series. It'll accomplish what you are looking for.
Click to expand...
Do you happen to have any examples of this sound? My curiosity is piqued, but I do end up soloing both pickups from time to time. If I like the tone enough It may be enough to get over that though. Or do you mean isolate each pickup to its own volume pot, but put the pots in series to the tone pot?

Alternatively, I suppose it's possible through the use of a rotary switch or such to switch between series and parallel pickups if I put it in before the volume pots, yes?
 
#10
Schmorgy said:
Do you happen to have any examples of this sound? My curiosity is piqued, but I do end up soloing both pickups from time to time. If I like the tone enough It may be enough to get over that though. Or do you mean isolate each pickup to its own volume pot, but put the pots in series to the tone pot?

Alternatively, I suppose it's possible through the use of a rotary switch or such to switch between series and parallel pickups if I put it in before the volume pots, yes?
Click to expand...

Sorry, I don't have any examples that I generated, nor do I readily know where to get any. The P/J bass I had used a single volume control and a 4 way selector that chose between either pickup solo'd, both in parallel (typical Jazz wiring), or both in series. While my formal knowledge of electronics is minimal, I do believe that when pickups are wired in series it eliminates the ability to set unique volumes for each of them, so even if you do have independent volumes for each pickup they will act only as one when in the series setting (compared to parallel, where you can still vary the blend). In my shifter classic, I believe that the pickup selector was wired in position before the volume and tone, but I could be wrong.
 
#11
This setup may not produce the Snarl you're after, but.... I'm using Seymour Duncan SPB-1 and Seymour Duncan STK-1B (Duncan site has sound clips). This combination produces accurate vintage tone with no hum from the J pup, using rounds or flats. The bridge J is not as hot as the P but it's easy to balance using V-P-T pots. If I had to do it again (from scratch) I'd definitely keep the SPB-1 and lean more towards the hotter output of the STK-2B or maybe a set of DiMarzio DP126 P-J (which may be closer to the snarl tone you're asking about, based on my experience with the DiMarzio DP-122 P pickup in a standard Precision). But after using the Duncan set for the last 11 years, I'm still happy enough with the pickup choices that a change isn't worth the money for a new J pickup. A quick Google search will turn up a surprising number of sound clips for all of the pickups listed above. As always YMMV.
 

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