Converting a 2011 P-Bass to P/J Advice Needed

Maybe try dual Jazz pickups in 60's and 70's position. Use both to hum cancel, or just select one for true single coil.

That's what I think I'd do anyways...

 

There are hum-cancelling Jazz pickups you can get:

Aguilar Preamps

Dimarzio Model J Bass Pickups

NOTE: The "Aguilar Preamps" link goes to Nordstrand pickups, not Aguilar preamps.

 

I'm pretty sure a true single coil will give you at least some hum. With that said when I solo or favor one of the pickups on my American standard jazz the hum is hardly noticeable and in a band setting virtually non-existent. I have searched this topic here quite a bit because I might like to do this at some point when I can swing getting another bass. Seems the consensuses here is that the P-pickup with over power the J pickup no matter what kind you get. All it will do is give you the effect of two pickups, the more you blend in the J the more mid-scooped your sound will get and when you favor the J it will sound (obviously) like a bridge position J pickup. If you want to avoid 60 cycle hum all together I would just go with a noiseless J pickup (either dual or stacked). As far as Kael's idea, you can't put a jazz in both positions because the difference is only a 1/4 of an inch. You could how ever go Berry Oakley style and do this:

or on a P bass it looks like this (pretty much what Kael meant (I think) but its a J in the 60's position and another J in between the other J and the bridge).

 

If I remember correctly, you want to look for one with the highest resistance. I remember the Dimarzio Ultra Jazz coming up I little bit in a thread I was reading. I think its resistance is 12K. The thread also said that its mid-scooped voicing paired well with the Mid bump of a P. I'm just passing on what I have read here. A search here will probably give you much more in depth info.

 

That's a cool idea, I think I might do that to my P/J bass. Thanks.

 

I say sell it and buy a used Jazz Bass if you are not fond of this type of sound. Your mod is going to cost you a lot of money and affect the value of your bass. It's the lesson I've learner after 30 yrs of bass playing. I've often regretted those kind of experiments in retrospect.

 

I would suggest going with a SD spb-1 with the SD stk j at the bridge position. They sre very close in output, so you don't have an overpowering p pickup...plus the stk j is hum cancelling.

They also sound really nice.

 

I wouldnt ruin the value of a new $1200 bass with this mod.

Buy a used bass or a less expensive one IMO.

 

This. But I would ad my own twist. I use the sd spb2 and the stk2 for more mids, you said you like mids and they'll give it to you. You can also use a push/pull pot for the J vol to put the bridge pickup in series or parallel. This setup truly kicks arse. My custom modded Jaguar has these two pickups, a three way switch (a blend knob is useless IMO) and two volumes with the J pickup on a push pull pot for changing the bridge coil wiring. No tone, but you can add one if you'd like.

 

I say knock yourself out. I had planned to turn 2 P's into P/J's but ended up selling both instead. If fender wont make them that way again, DIY!

 

One other thought..

I played a P/J that had Vol/tone Vol/tone stacked knobs a while back. Normally I dislike that setup. On that bass however it worked quite well. I really liked turning the bridge J on full blast, rolling all the tone off the P pickup and then blending in the P till the two pickups were evenly matched. It was a very nice blend of Jaco burp with old school motown thump. Might want to consider tone knobs for each pickup.

I actually might try a master vol, vol/tone, vol/tone setup too. I like having a master volume knob when I can.