Combined a Vintage P pickup with a Hot J pickup.

[ambissonnett]

Hey guys, first off I'm no bass tech, so I bring my basses to a guy who does trusty work. I have a PJ bass configuration and I recently switched out the neck pickup with a Fender 62 vintage reissue and in the Jazz position I have a Seymour Duncan STKJ2B Jazz Pickup.

My problem is the mix of the output from both pickups. I can tell the SD is overpowering the Fender due to the recent set up. I have to have the neck pickup on full blast, and pretty much roll off the whole bridge pickup to get a balance. I've tried mixing in my amp with the volume and EQ settings, which just brings in a muddy, boring tone.

My guess is the pickup height setup he did after which is causing the problem. I noticed the SD is slightly higher than the Fender pickup, so if I raise it to equal height will that cause some issues? I play with a pick, so I'm aware of the making sure the strings aren't too close to the pickup. Any help, hints are appreciated.

 

[blocbul]

Bad combination .. the STKJ2B is the hotest Jazz pickup you can get from SD and the Fender 62 is quite low in output.
Try lowering the bridge pickup first, it might be better balanced.
If you do not succeed you can always limit the output of the neck with a resistor in series (1 to 5Kohm)

 

[giacomini]

Yes, proper pickup height adjustment will help.

 

[eddiemac]

Sounds very odd. You sure it's wired correctly? I've never had a PJ bridge pickup overpower the neck. Usually the opposite is true, to the point of questioning if the bridge is even on sometimes.

 

[giacomini]

Sounds very odd. You sure it's wired correctly? I've never had a PJ bridge pickup overpower the neck. Usually the opposite is true, to the point of questioning if the bridge is even on sometimes.

+1

 

[ambissonnett]

Yeah, I guess I was optimistic of mixing that warm precision sound with some grit from the jazz pickup. Maybe I shouldn't of said it over powers it, but when I roll up the jazz pickup, it really shows a significance in brightness even with the slightest touch. So I'm unsure with where to go. Raise or lower the pickups, or try a different combo?

 

[giacomini]

Try lowering the J and raising the P, but be careful, usually P pickups overpower J pickups easily.

This might not be your case, I really can't tell how hot is this SD J pickup in comparison with a traditional P, but in most cases the P is far "stronger" than the J.

 

[ambissonnett]

Any suggestions on specific heights?

 

[Scottkarch]

I'd say just mess with it and see if you can find something you like. Luckily it's just a couple screw driver turns.. Don't worry, I can't think of anything you'd break. Just have at it. You can try a number of different tests within a few minutes.

Go for it.

 

[M.R. Ogle]

I must agree with the previous posts. USUALLY, the P type pickup , which is closer to the neck, will be the "louder" of the two. There's something else wrong in there, I'd bet.

 

[ambissonnett]

Would it be best to just pair up the SD with another hot P pickup?

 

[JimmyM]

Actually, I think pairing a vintage P with a hot J in the bridge position might be the way to go. I have a PJ with a 62 Original and DiMarzio Ultrajazz, and I'm considering trying a Model J instead just to keep the volumes more equal and hopefully not lose any volume with both pickups on full. It's not a sound I use a lot but I do like it occasionally.

 

[walterw]

yeah, this sounds odd; duncan stacked pickups are not loud at all, even the "hot" ones are quieter than a regular stock single coil.

are we sure the P is wired right? how does the P pickup sound by itself?

for that matter, is the J stack wired normally? stacks like these massively overwind the coils to get enough output to overcome the loss from the over/under layout; split one of these to single coil mode and they're much louder.

 

[Isotonic]

Try reversing the hot and ground on one of the pickups. I recently had a similar problem with a PJ set, then realized that they were wired out of phase.

 

[ambissonnett]

Everything sounds great individually, I have a pickup selector. So if I wanted to play each pickup separately, I could. In my case, I don't. I like to blend the P bass with the Jazz to give that bottom end with some bright, crispness to it, hard to explain.

I guess I'm curious on if there's a certain height where pickups should, or should not be? I've just noticed that some of the Fender with the PJ configurations have the neck pickup a little higher than where mine is at. So I'm just wondering is this a personal preference by the guy I go to, or is this truly the best setting for the pickups I've chosen?

If it helps I have the original Fender Jazz Bass Special that the Duff Mckagan signature model is based off of. So if that helps any pickup height recommendations is appeciated. I've read in other postings that Fender purposely had the precision pickup overpower the jazz pickup to help out the midrange. So if anyone can confirm or recommend certain settings for this, I'd much appreciate it.

 

[JimmyM]

Just experiment and see what you think.

 

[blocbul]

A good height for the Fender 62 should be around 2.5mm from the strings (measure taken with string fretted at the 20th). Closer it will start causing significant sustain loss.
By lowering the bridge PU to 3 or 4mm you'll certainly get a better balance