Dimarzio Relentless J and Sixties J pickups

[musicman556]

Merry Christmas, bass friends! I'm ordering a Relentless J set this week and hopefully they won't take long to arrive. I'll share my humble opinion once they've been installed.

Nice! I ordered mine during the Thanksgiving week sale and they showed up the week before Christmas. Dimarzio shipping has always been slow for me. :/

In other news, I also just ordered the body and neck that will host the Relentless J set! I'm sussing out the hardware now... hard to find everything I want in Nickel!

I have a Fender roasted maple Jazz neck on the way, and just pulled the trigger on a Warmoth body today. This is a sample finish pic, not the actual body I'll be getting in about 3 months:

 

[mrperkolator]

Was Santa delivering these to any folks? Anyone have the relentless j’s or 60s installed now?

I got my 60's installed but I'm working on ironing out some issues. From what I can hear, they sound great.

Lowendlobster has done videos on both 60's and new relentless.

 

[Nognir]

I hope someone that has transitioned from Model J to Relentless J, or from Area J to Sixties J, can give a short review of what's new

 

[mrperkolator]

I hope someone that has transitioned from Model J to Relentless J, or from Area J to Sixties J, can give a short review of what's new

@LowEndLobster has. He might answer in video form on YT lol.... cuz that's a good question

 

[LowEndLobster]

I don't have much experience with the Model J, but I've used the Relentless P, Relentless Middle, Relentless J, Relentless PJ, Area J, Sixties J, Sixties P, Split P, Model One, and soon Sixties PJ.

Moving from the Area J to the Sixties J gives you a slightly different voice though very similar, though it's still very distinctly classic jazz bass. I swapped the preamp too, so I didn't really do an A/B between just the pickups. The construction of the new Sixties P/J and Relentless P/J is completely brand new and uses a low profile PCB design, curved metal covers (SUPER comfy), and the Relentless J is rocking neodymium magnets as opposed to the ceramic of the Model J. The ceramic Relentless P and neodymium Relentless J pair very well together too. Very high quality overall for the new model lineup. A lot of thought and engineering has gone into making these, and IMO I think they're well priced considering the quality. One nice thing about the construction is that there's a channel at the bottom of the pickup for the pickup wire to go to keep things as low profile as possible. Very well thought out. You can find sound samples in my MODcember videos on my channel or in the videos thread.

 

[fourstr00]

My Carvin got a grill.

Installation was cake, still getting a feel for it and setting up the height.

 

[fourstr00]

Played with it a bit this morning. I put in the new bridge pickup because the old single coil was outmatched by the P, and was typical single coil noisy.

- This pickup is dead quiet. No hum or interference anywhere.

- It’s almost too hot for the P, significantly louder than the stock P. I might have to play with the height a bit more.

- The arch does make it sit much closer to the strings. Right now, I’m hitting the pole and getting clicks on the D, so it probably needs to come down a bit more.

- The sound is great. I’ve never been a fan of bridge-only J sound, but I could see using this one.

 

[Disclosure]

I love the Relentless P and neck humbucker set, and I've been pestering Billy about this J set for a year, haha! He'll be posting an installation video soon, like he did for the others.

I'm building another Jazz with a P neck to host this new set. If they're anything like the P/neck humbucker set, they'll set a new standard for clarity and presence.
View attachment 4866025 View attachment 4866026 View attachment 4866027

Lovely looking bass - I am glad I found this as it is exactly what I am looking to do with my P bass as shown above (that already has Relentless P pickups)!

How does it sound with the added neck pickup?

When adding in the Relentless neck pickup, did you just wire it like a P/J bass or in another way (and if the latter, do you have a wiring diagram)?

Many thanks

 

[Michael Stanley 2112]

I was JUST shopping those pick-ups in anticipation of my first-ever (true) bass modding/rebuild.

I'm intrigued, but since this is my first project, I am very tentative.

 

[fourstr00]

I was JUST shopping those pick-ups in anticipation of my first-ever (true) bass modding/rebuild.

I'm intrigued, but since this is my first project, I am very tentative.

I’d feel comfortable using these in a full build. It’s an aggressive sound, as long as that’s what you’re going for. The height is much taller than most stock pickups, so I may be a little cautious that the cavity depth is enough.

The bridge pickup is very hot - it’s stronger than a P, and enough that plucking isn’t really necessary. Just fretting with the left hand, there’s enough gain on tap that you really could play without right hand plucking.

 

[musicman556]

View attachment 4924874

Lovely looking bass - I am glad I found this as it is exactly what I am looking to do with my P bass as shown above (that already has Relentless P pickups)!

How does it sound with the added neck pickup?

When adding in the Relentless neck pickup, did you just wire it like a P/J bass or in another way (and if the latter, do you have a wiring diagram)?

Many thanks

Sorry for my slow reply. The neck pickup adds the BEEF! It's not a great sound all by itself - kind of hollow and woofy... but that's the point of a neck humbucker, haha! When blended with the middle pickup you can really hear Billy's split-signal sound coming through.

I am just running a single output, and have the pickups on a blend pot like a normal Vol, Blend, Tone setup. I don't have a diagram, sorry. I just looked at the DiMarzio site and it has the diagram for Billy's dual output setup, but not a normal VBT like mine. My tech did the work for me.

 

[Michael Stanley 2112]

I’d feel comfortable using these in a full build. It’s an aggressive sound, as long as that’s what you’re going for. The height is much taller than most stock pickups, so I may be a little cautious that the cavity depth is enough.

This will be an all-out remodel (and my first on a bass). Cavity height don't scare me! Seriously, though, I do appreciate the caution.

I am definitely breaking new territory (for me). I went to look at some bridges (I'd like to get an engineering design close to the original) and my head started spinning.

The bridge pickup is very hot - it’s stronger than a P, and enough that plucking isn’t really necessary. Just fretting with the left hand, there’s enough gain on tap that you really could play without right hand plucking.

I have always been a fan of "thump". My issue with Jazz basses (outside of the weird body shape) is that the bridge pick-up seems to be very ... I don't even know the right word ... "tin"-y wouldn't be right ... I don't know. It doesn't give me the thump I want.

When the only two basses I had were Fender P-Bass and an Ibanez P-Bass clone, I had no problem with picking near the bridge to get the highs I wanted/needed.

When I play the guitar, I use the bridge pick-up exclusively. with a P-J Bass, my behavior is reversed.

I'm going to have to do a lot more research and look for some demos on Youtube.

 

[Snibborwocky]

I think I'm pretty much sold on purchasing the Relentless P to swap out my EMG GZR with after scrolling through this post lol. My biggest dilemma now is black or chrome? It's going to be installed on a lake placid blue fender precision with chrome hardware (very much like my avatar but without the covers). Kind of leaning towards black with the exposed pole pieces at the moment but chrome would match the rest of the hardware... ugh decisions.

 

[Michael Stanley 2112]

I think I'm pretty much sold on purchasing the Relentless P to swap out my EMG GZR with after scrolling through this post lol. My biggest dilemma now is black or chrome? It's going to be installed on a lake placid blue fender precision with chrome hardware (very much like my avatar but without the covers). Kind of leaning towards black with the exposed pole pieces at the moment but chome would match the rest of the hardware... ugh decisions.

I'm pretty much sold, as well and mine will be gold - on a matte black instrument(as will be the tuners, bridge, knobs, screws, etc.).

 

[musicman556]

I think I'm pretty much sold on purchasing the Relentless P to swap out my EMG GZR with after scrolling through this post lol. My biggest dilemma now is black or chrome? It's going to be installed on a lake placid blue fender precision with chrome hardware (very much like my avatar but without the covers). Kind of leaning towards black with the exposed pole pieces at the moment but chrome would match the rest of the hardware... ugh decisions.

Just fyi, y'all, the Relentless pickups are NOT available in chrome. They are all available in NICKEL, which is not the same. You WILL have a mismatch with existing chrome hardware if you go that route.

Nickel is slightly yellowed while chrome is more white/blue-ish in appearance.

Differences between Nickel and Chrome plating for Guitar Hardware – Philadelphia Luthier Tools & Supplies

I put the Relentless Middle and Neck pickups into a bass where I had chrome hardware for everything else. I'm not thrilled with the contrast. I just went outside and snapped a few pics so you can see what I'm talking about.

It is definitely harder to source nickel parts. Your choices are more limited and the prices for similar items vs chrome finished are often higher. All that being said - I'm currently sourcing everything for a new J build around the Relentless J set, and I am getting all nickel parts so I'll have a matchy-matchy bass this time.

Hope that may be helpful.

 

[fourstr00]

Huh, good to know. Mine is nickel, but wasn’t too yellowed, or I can’t tell the difference.

Close up shot:

 

[jcburn]

Has anyone compared the Relentless P with the EMG GZR P?
I have rocked a GZR PJ set for years. I do like the P by itself. I used the PJ literally cause the bass I wanted to try the GZR in was a PJ already. But I'm really interested in trying the Relentless P and wondering how the 2 compare.
I've also never liked the GZR J pickup. I don't like how it pairs with the P.

 

[Snibborwocky]

Just fyi, y'all, the Relentless pickups are NOT available in chrome. They are all available in NICKEL, which is not the same. You WILL have a mismatch with existing chrome hardware if you go that route.

Nickel is slightly yellowed while chrome is more white/blue-ish in appearance.

Good to know, thank you. I'll most definitely be putting in the black cover version then.

 

[Michael Stanley 2112]

Just fyi, y'all, the Relentless pickups are NOT available in chrome. They are all available in NICKEL, which is not the same. You WILL have a mismatch with existing chrome hardware if you go that route.

Nickel is slightly yellowed while chrome is more white/blue-ish in appearance.

Thank you for the info, but I am going to bypass that whole mess and go with gold everywhere on this beauty:

 

[PhinDog]

I’d feel comfortable using these in a full build. It’s an aggressive sound, as long as that’s what you’re going for. The height is much taller than most stock pickups, so I may be a little cautious that the cavity depth is enough.

The bridge pickup is very hot - it’s stronger than a P, and enough that plucking isn’t really necessary. Just fretting with the left hand, there’s enough gain on tap that you really could play without right hand plucking.

You installed the 60's J correct? It's pretty hot? How would you say the clarity is? I'm looking at these over the relentless for my JB. Unless someone can convince me to go all in on the relentless. They seem really hot and very bassy or easily overdriven in the videos I have seen. Maybe the gain was set to high on them in the videos but they seem to loose a lot of definition.

Thanks!