differntly voiced pups

[jucas]

So after feeling silly for posting here without reading the sitckys I've spent hours looking through anything that is even remotely the same and haven't come across anything.

I was curious as to whether anyone had had any luck putting 2 pups with different tonal characteristics (and outputs) together. I pretty much have one bass and that isn't going to change anytime soon, but in looking for pups I have the impression that if I go vintage I'm fairly stuck in that voicing, and if I go active or with a quarter pounder I'm stuck there.

My idea was to get a vintage/fender 62/nordstrand NP4 and then go with a hotter J (like a 1/4 pounder) my thoughts were that for the vintage p tone I just roll off the jazz's volume, then if I want to bump it up a little I can add in a little of the quarter pounder to get a little more edge when I need it. (then try a series/parallel switch if the Qp isnt going to be too dominant)

Has anyone tried anthing like this? are the two just to different to be blending? Any thoughts about whether this might be a good compromise? I just play too many styles and like too many tomes to be stuck with a one trick precision.

 

[Supergroup]

Hey man. I just got a real good deal on some used jazz QP's so I decided to try what you are talking about. Under the advice of a fellow TBer I am only going to use the QP in the bridge position and a brand new SD "Hot" pup for the neck position... wired with a DPDT switch. I should have them in by the middle of next week and will let you know how it sounds. I cooresponded with one of the moderators on SD's forum about mixing pickups and he said that people do it all the time. You just have to make sure that you get the correct pup for its position and polarity. That's all I know bro.

 

[Rvl]

I have a mahogany bass with a Precision and a MusicMan pickup

Switching them back and forth you can definitely hear 2 different lower midrange and bass focus

I had this bass made for me around 1990

Problems I have had are balancing pickup output and the frequency cancellation that occurs when both pickups are run

 

[jucas]

Thanks guys,

supergroup- is that a jazz or a P/J setup? Eitherway, thanks, I'd really appreciate any comments on how that works for you.

rvl- do you find that the two blend well when running together or do you prefer using one at a time?

Thanks,
-Chris

 

[Supergroup]

Thanks guys,

supergroup- is that a jazz or a P/J setup? Eitherway, thanks, I'd really appreciate any comments on how that works for you.

rvl- do you find that the two blend well when running together or do you prefer using one at a time?

Thanks,
-Chris

Hey man. I am installing them in a Standard Jazz. Sorry, I can't offer any help on the P/J setup... but would also like to know how a mixture would work for that as well.

 

[Rvl]

I prefer running them separately

I have a old PJ with some Dimarzios but the problem has been noise
The P is a hb and the J is a singlecoil
I get a lot of noise with that bass
But it could be a problem with the wiring and J shielding


PJ has a slight problem because the pickups are not usually matched in output. Most people tend to keep it balanced between the 2 pickups so that the sound has a little more focus than just the Precison pickup

Go to some shops and try out some PJ basses

 

[pj-mike]

You should rule out the Fender 62 P, it general uses a different capacitor in the tone circuit. I tried it and it didn't work with the bridge pickup I have a Seymor Duncan SPB2 on order and will be trying that soon. I have a similar goal, an updated vintage tone somewhere between thump and punch on the P and an alternate tone approaching a slap tone, for a change of pace when needed.
Good luck with your quest.

 

[allsidius]

To PJ and anyone else who knows about this stuff

I just wired a P bass with a Standard US Pbass PU and a SD vintage Bridge Jazz PU. They both work fine separately, but when both are engaged the sound drops, it seems that they cancel each other. When I roll of the Jazz PU, the P bass takes over and the jazz cant be heard. Should I just change the polarity of the Jazz PU, or did I do something wrong? The wiring is standard Jazz VVT.

Lars

 

[eots]

My project p/j sports a Fernandes P (not sure who makes it) and a Carvin j99 in the bridge. I have it wire with a push/pull master vol. for series/ parallel with another vol. for the j when in parallel.
There is no volume change whether the P is full on then adding some/all of the J or by doing the opposite. When I pull up for series mode, there is a slight boost in vol.

 

[PilbaraBass]

To PJ and anyone else who knows about this stuff

I just wired a P bass with a Standard US Pbass PU and a SD vintage Bridge Jazz PU. They both work fine separately, but when both are engaged the sound drops, it seems that they cancel each other. When I roll of the Jazz PU, the P bass takes over and the jazz cant be heard. Should I just change the polarity of the Jazz PU, or did I do something wrong? The wiring is standard Jazz VVT.

Lars

yes, change the polarity of one of the pickups...it's worth a try...

 

[DavePlaysBass]

I have never owned a PJ bass, but looking at the impedance of the P and J pups, I think an overwound J pup would go best with a typical P pup. P pups typically have a higher impedance than J pups. When both pups are on, you would like the impedances to be closed to matched.

Dave

 

[baggman]

I'm building a PJ(sort of), and I have an EMG Select P in the sandard P-Bass position and a Bartolini J pup located between the bridge and the back edge of the pickguard. But I'm slanting the J with a kind of strat bridge pup look. I'm going to use a stacked volume pot with the outer ring part of the knob(the 500k portion of the pot) controlling the Bart since it's a humbucker. The inner(top,smaller part,250k portion of the pot) of the knob will control the volume on the single coil Select P.

 

[pj-mike]

I've got the Seymour Duncan SPB2 (hot) installed in the P position and an Allparts PU_422_023 in the J position. A quarter pounder J pickup would be much stronger in the J position. This combination works well with a higher output pickup in the P position. I don't think it would work well if the J pickup had the higher output. My controls are V/B/T. I'm very pleased with the result, an all in one bass. I wouldn't call the SPB2 a vintage tone, although it can be very warm sounding with the tone rolled off. It is very punchy with the tone turned up. (I'm using nickle round strings)
I think that what you're trying to do should work if you get enough output from the P-pup. Most "vintage" pickups have fairly low output because the early amplifiers could handle it and the tone was supposed to approximate a doublebass. Flatwound strings didn't help much. To make up for this lack of punch many players used a rubber mute to get a strong initial sound with quick decay.
I think this is why a vintage tone is so elusive in an all-around bass.
Good luck.
Mike

 

[jucas]

Well, thanks for all the thoughts, I'm leaning toward the nordstrand NP4 for the P, and unless theres a reason that that can't be dropped in with a hotter duncan in the J position I'll probly throw one of them in to see what its like...(that might also be a horrible plan, but we'll see how it goes, and maybe sell the duncan for a nordstrand J too eventually)

Like I said though... I'm not too worried about the J being an output mismatch, I mostly use the P, so I figured thats what the volume is on it for. I guess in a series that could present some problems but we;ll see how it goes. Not too worried about a perfect vintage tone, just more vintage than modern...