Considering Upgrading Jazz Pickups, NJ4SV possibly

[joeyl]

thanks for the link!

weird, you were sent a link where you posted already
I for myself like the NJ4SV, they come close to vintage sound but not quite. I like the SGD pickups better since they are blades instead of splitcoil (I can hear phase cancellation issues with the splitcoil design )

 

[Valerus]

weird, you were sent a link where you posted already
I for myself like the NJ4SV, they come close to vintage sound but not quite. I like the SGD pickups better since they are blades instead of splitcoil (I can hear phase cancellation issues with the splitcoil design )

weird, yes but I was only reading posts after I posted.

 

[KingRazor]

I have SV's in my 05 MIM.
The bass is completely silent. I've never heard an electric insturment that quiet, tbh. If that's your major concern for buying them, you will not be disappointed.
As far as tone, I will say this: They are very high quality pickups, and sound like it. I can, however, hear a hollow type of grind from them, usually associated with humbucking pickups. Personally, this is driving me crazy, as no amount of EQ or preamp settings will ever stop it. If that's the kind of sound you're looking for, I say go for it.

I've heard of this too, which makes you wonder, what's easier to deal with? The hum from single coils? Or the hollow growl from humbuckers?

I have too little experience with pickups to know the answer.

 

[SGD Lutherie]

I've heard of this too, which makes you wonder, what's easier to deal with? The hum from single coils? Or the hollow growl from humbuckers?

Hum isn't musical.

And one again, those are not exactly "humbuckers", but they are hum canceling. They are actually single coils as far as the signal is concerned. Single coils don't have just one sound. Not even real single coil jazz pickups. It depends on how you wind them.

This is a humbucker Jazz pickup:

It sounds like this:

Link Removed

Now clearly the NJ4SV doesn't sound like that. And it might even sound hollow, but humbuckers don't sound hollow just because they cancel hum.

 

[Valerus]

It sounds like this:

Link Removed

Now clearly the NJ4SV doesn't sound like that. And it might even sound hollow, but humbuckers don't sound hollow just because they cancel hum.

that sounds nice and grindy. is that one of your pickup sets?

 

[SGD Lutherie]

that sounds nice and grindy. is that one of your pickup sets?

Yes, the Neo Jazzbuckers. They are on an '87 Ibanez SR-885LE. It's got a basswood body and maple neck. I was going for a Rick type tone with a lot of high mids and a little distortion. That was also played with a pick.

You can hear the same bridge pickup in this set, along with a sidewinder neck, and played with fingers on a different bass with cherry body with a maple top and a maple/walnut neck with ebonol fingerboard and graphite rods. The clip starts with the neck, and then both and then the bridge. it was recorded DI with no processing.

Link Removed

 

[Valerus]

I'm impressed. It's quite ballsy...does that Ibanez have an active pre?

 

[4StringTheorist]

I'm impressed. It's quite ballsy...does that Ibanez have an active pre?

Those are the J pickups I'll be getting once I have the time/extra $$. Going to sell my NJ4SVs to finance the change.

 

[SGD Lutherie]

I'm impressed. It's quite ballsy...does that Ibanez have an active pre?

No, both of those clips are passive, V/V/T setup.

 

[Valerus]

Those are the J pickups I'll be getting once I have the time/extra $$. Going to sell my NJ4SVs to finance the change.

hmm. I would like to pick your brain for a bit.

1. Why are you "upgrading" to these from the NJ4SV's?
2. Have you tried these in person?
3. I assume if not, you're basing this solely on these clips, yes?

No, both of those clips are passive, V/V/T setup.

You're kidding! They sound "hot" enough to be an active pre! That's insane.

 

[joeyl]

hmm. I would like to pick your brain for a bit.

1. Why are you "upgrading" to these from the NJ4SV's?
2. Have you tried these in person?
3. I assume if not, you're basing this solely on these clips, yes?

haha I actually did upgrade from the NJ4SV to the SGD.

1. Because I can hear some cancellation in the sound from the split coil design of the NJ4SV, some people may not. Side by side blades do not have this problem, again to my ears. Also the SGD have a wide range of sounds from vintage to modern, depending on your tone control, playing style and amp.

2. Yes, check out my Warmoth build in my sig, I use them all
3. not applicable, but some of the samples on the website was done using my set, I have an early production run!!

 

[KingRazor]

Yes, the Neo Jazzbuckers. They are on an '87 Ibanez SR-885LE. It's got a basswood body and maple neck. I was going for a Rick type tone with a lot of high mids and a little distortion. That was also played with a pick.

You can hear the same bridge pickup in this set, along with a sidewinder neck, and played with fingers on a different bass with cherry body with a maple top and a maple/walnut neck with ebonol fingerboard and graphite rods. The clip starts with the neck, and then both and then the bridge. it was recorded DI with no processing.

Link Removed

Wow, your pickups sound great! How much do they run generally?

 

[SGD Lutherie]

Wow, your pickups sound great! How much do they run generally?

Thanks! $190/set.

 

[4StringTheorist]

hmm. I would like to pick your brain for a bit.

Sounds like fun!

1. Why are you "upgrading" to these from the NJ4SV's?

Why are you using quote marks around the word 'upgrading?' To my knowledge, I never used that word to refer to this particular pickup swap. If I did, it was unintentional.

By the time you're talking pickup changes, we're well into heavily subjective territory, and one man's upgrade is another's downgrade.

To quote myself from earlier in the thread,

I love the NJ4SVs. I'm just leaning toward something more modern and less "vintage J bass"

Of course, I have my own rant I could give about the seemingly diametrically-opposed tones that get called "modern" on Talkbass.

2. Have you tried these in person?

Nope. Going off of some rather extensive commentary by others whose opinions I trust, (joeyl and greenboy primarily) mostly on the thread about SGD.

3. I assume if not, you're basing this solely on these clips, yes?

That's another source I used as well, yes.

Careful reading of sources I trusted lead me to the NJ4SVs, and I love them. I'd honestly be happy with my Warmoth J for the rest of my life even if I never changed another thing about it. I am, in essence, applying polish at this point.

 

[KingRazor]

Thanks! $190/set.

When I'm done getting my school bills paid off I'm gonna save up for a new build and I want to try some of those.

I'd like to hear the same bass line played on both the sidewinders and the neo jazzbuckers

 

[walknbluez]

Valerus, I'm in the same boat as you. I want to upgrade and was considering the NJ4 and NJ4SV. I heard good reviews of Seymour Duncan Antiquity II's as well.

The SGD's have me intrigued now though since they can do vintage and modern and no hum.

 

[Lorenzini]

I think you'll be happy with them. I LOVE my Nordstrand NJ5FS which are voiced the same but fitting Fender V's. To answer your questions on "growl" and "bite", you just won't get that single coil bite out of them. They have more of a "modern" bite. That's just the nature of humbuckers to be honest. Some get closer to "growl and bite" than others, but I think the Nordys come as close to anything else out there, period!

Okay fellas, I have been loving my Fender Classic 70s Jazz and I think it sounds fantastic.

But, I've become increasingly...conscious of the hum when I start messing with pickup volumes.

So I've been thinking about upgrading to Nordstrand NJ4SV's.

I had these installed in a different jazz bass a year and a half ago and I was really underwhelmed, BUT I think it was due to the bass, not the pickups.

And sound-wise, I'd like to retain the 70's growl and whatnot.

I don't really know what I'm trying to ask.
Maybe...Is this a good, plausible idea?
And for those of you who have these installed, do your NJ4SV's still have that "old school" vibe, the non-modern tone?




Also, I am getting a hiss that doesn't go away unless I touch my control plate. Is that a shielding issue?


Thanks for looking guys.

 

[Anderson81]

This is a humbucker Jazz pickup:

It sounds like this:

Link Removed

Now clearly the NJ4SV doesn't sound like that.

Interesting...that's exactly what my NJ4SV's sound like. That's the sound I've been trying to explain here.
If they don't sound like that because they're hum-cancelling splits, I'd love to be enlightened.

 

[SGD Lutherie]

Interesting...that's exactly what my NJ4SV's sound like. That's the sound I've been trying to explain here.
If they don't sound like that because they're hum-cancelling splits, I'd love to be enlightened.

The sound in that recording is EQ'd with the bass and treble boosted so it's a scooped type tone. But humbuckers tend to have a lot of mids and lows compared to single coils, which have more highs.

Here's another clip without the scooped EQ:

Link Removed

Keep in mind that these have neo magnets, and they sound different from alnico.

Any single coil in the neck position will have a hollow tone, because that's the natural tone of the bass at that location. P basses sound like that too, even the single coil version. So do Strats and Jazzmasters.

But just because a pickup is a single coil doesn't mean it will sound a certain way. You can find jazz pickups and have lots of mids, or lots of highs, etc. Pickups wound with heavy wire, or heavy insulation, like heavy formvar have a natural scooped type of tone. Listen to the Aguilar pickups; they sound a bit like that, and they are single coils. If you wind with thinner wire you get more mids and a tighter low end.

Hum canceling pickups often have more wire wound on them, so they either get darker like Dimarzio Model J's, or you have to wind them a little lower to retain the brightness. That can reduce the mids.

But it has nothing to do with them being hum canceling.

 

[walknbluez]

The sound in that recording is EQ'd with the bass and treble boosted so it's a scooped type tone. But humbuckers tend to have a lot of mids and lows compared to single coils, which have more highs.

Any single coil in the neck position will have a hollow tone, because that's the natural tone of the bass at that location.

Reading several threads on pickups and tone etc, I thought I wanted to go with a single coil pickup because everything I've read has taught me that gives the "vintage" tone, which I perceive as being warmer, richer, less treble. However, after reading what you are saying about humbuckers having lots of mids and lows compared to single coils and single coils having more highs, I'm a bit confused. Can you clarify for me? I'm wanting to do a pickup upgrade on my MIM and I'm having trouble deciding which direction to go.

Also, what is a hollow tone? Wider? Not as defined? Can you point me to an example of hollow tone?