I have ave a Squire VM 5 Jazz bass. Anyone happen to know which EMG pickups will
be a direct drop in. Thanks in advance
be a direct drop in. Thanks in advance
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EMG Pickups
- Thread starter Bassin4God
- Start date
If your bass isn't active, you have to pick out passive pickups for it to be a drop in upgrade.
hello, you can drop in active pick ups too, but there's the chance you have to dig the control cavity a little to let the battery fit in (nothing impossible/difficult or too expansive if you ask for a luthier to do the job), talking about the pick up sizes, like Geerice wrote up here, you just need to check the pdf's on emg site and mesure the one you find on your bass 
If you’re asking this question, then consider getting someone else to install the pickup.
DIMENSIONS: The pickup will fit in the cavity. You’ll be fine.
WIRING: You’ll need to fit a battery under the control plate if you go active and replace all wiring. This is an easy job but you need some soldering skill.
WHY: You should also reflect on why you want to drop $$$ on EMG pickups.
DIMENSIONS: The pickup will fit in the cavity. You’ll be fine.
WIRING: You’ll need to fit a battery under the control plate if you go active and replace all wiring. This is an easy job but you need some soldering skill.
WHY: You should also reflect on why you want to drop $$$ on EMG pickups.
- If you’re after a better tone, what speaker are you using? The speaker has a bigger impact on your tone than the pickup.
- If you want to sound metal, look at your amp and signal chain. A Darkglass B7K Ultra will get you that gnarly metal tone in a way that your pickups won’t.
- Active pickups are great for when you’re using long cables between your bass and the first buffer (usually a tuner).
- Active pickups wine maker your playing dynamics more even, that’s what compressors are for.
- Active pickups are great for if your signal is noisy due to you boosting EQ early in your signal chain to get the time you want.
- Higher output due to active pickups is unlikely to make you happy as the first thing you do is…. Plug your amp into the active in socket on an amp or add a signal pad to your effects, which takes active signal and reduces it to passive level.
- New pickups are great once you’ve exhausted the new speaker/ impulse response option, got a great signal chain, applied suitable EQ in your effects chain and still see unhappy with your tone. Nevertheless, at that point I would consider using that money to upgrade from a squire.
Verify that your pickups measure 3.97" and 4.14". If that is true, any of the J5 pickups (J5, J5X J5AX (I'd recommend the J5X)) will fit the pickup routs. As others have said, you may need to clear room for a battery if it won't fit as is. It will be in an area unseen to the audience, so it doesn't have to be precision work.
My first bass was an entry-level Yamaha that played well but the tone wasn't great. It got carved up for EMG PJs and a BQC preamp. The bass was bought in 1991. I used it on at least a couple of recordings last year.
The moral here? I loved the upgrade to EMGs and I support anyone who wants to mod their bass; it's the best way to satisfy that curiosity.
Good luck!
My first bass was an entry-level Yamaha that played well but the tone wasn't great. It got carved up for EMG PJs and a BQC preamp. The bass was bought in 1991. I used it on at least a couple of recordings last year.
The moral here? I loved the upgrade to EMGs and I support anyone who wants to mod their bass; it's the best way to satisfy that curiosity.
Good luck!
all of the emg pickups are solderless and really, really easy to install, plus they give you pots, cables and everything you need in the pickup box, the issues could be:
- dimensions => emg pickups have been created as direct replacement for US made basses (I don't know if squier uses the same sizes, that's why I suggest to mesure before he buys anything)
- battery fit in control cavity => super easy mod if you chose the DIY way or super cheap if let a luthier do the job
EMG Solderless kits come with spade connectors for the jack connections.
Incidentally I'm a big advocate for the 12v A27 in EMG kits if you don't have a battery box routed already. A single A27 is about half the size of a 9v including the harness and will easily fit underneath EMG pots in an average J cavity. You can double them up for 24v in slightly smaller than a 9v too.
stereo jack connector included in emg pick packaging (and it's solderless too, check their website)
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Yes, it's part of the stock kit that comes with any of their pickups these days. Pulled this from the J Set (not J System) page just as an example. Spade connectors bottom right.
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Mine are old enough that they came with pre-wired pots rather than solderless and did need the jack soldering.
Measure and compare to specs. Don’t assume, measure your own bass. Measure not only the outside dimensions, but also the tabs and the screw hole spacing. I recently got J pickups (not EMG) for an older Squier 5 string and the tabs didn’t match well. Bridge pickup didn’t fit at all, but I knew that. I thought I had two neck-sized pickups on my Squier, but they were something inbetween neck and bridge sizes! (I didn’t measure very precisely…)
Separatelty, I had some recent EMG Js (passive) and their solderless system is effortless. Don’t know why that’s not industry standard (like automatic transmission… yeah, stick shift for ‘real’ drivers, but most people don’t want to be bothered).
Separatelty, I had some recent EMG Js (passive) and their solderless system is effortless. Don’t know why that’s not industry standard (like automatic transmission… yeah, stick shift for ‘real’ drivers, but most people don’t want to be bothered).
Probably nowhere near as long honestly, but they're small so I keep a few spare in my bag and the trade-off of not routing was good enough for me! The J set sounds good at 12v but not a massively noticeable difference to 9 - I haven't got around to trying 24 yet.
I would call their customer service. they are top notch, very responsive, and tend to go the extra mile. if you add something to your cart, create an account, and wait a day, you will likely get a 10% off code as well.
this would be my pick. should fit the squier, but ask or measure to be sure.
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