Fender's final word on different pickups in MIM Jazz?

[walterw]

yeah, you could do the two neck pickups thing, but now you've spent your money (maybe even more money to get a custom-reversed second neck pickup) for a set of pickups that doesn't line up with the strings right!

it's really worth getting the bass to where it can accept a proper jazz set IMO, it isn't all that hard to do.

 

[MovingPitchers]

Or shave a bit of wood off with a chisel and rat-tail file as someone mentioned here. You only need to take off like 0.3mm of wood off...well that's for me; yours might be different

 

[Hopkins]

yeah, you could do the two neck pickups thing, but now you've spent your money (maybe even more money to get a custom-reversed second neck pickup) for a set of pickups that doesn't line up with the strings right!

it's really worth getting the bass to where it can accept a proper jazz set IMO, it isn't all that hard to do.

You are right, its not hard to do at all, but for a novice to dive in armed with a rotary tool and good intentions, it is also easy to screw up. The modified rout will always be sloppier looking than simply using a neck pickups because the mounting tabs don't line up so the half circles will be oblong. It is much easier to reverse the polarity of a pickup, it takes literally 10 seconds, and there is no need to remove any wood. It works just as well, and your options are just as endless as if you were ordering a regular set of pickups.

Of course your way of doing it isn't wrong, but it is more difficult and more time consuming.

 

[walterw]

It is much easier to reverse the polarity of a pickup, it takes literally 10 seconds, and there is no need to remove any wood. It works just as well, and your options are just as endless as if you were ordering a regular set of pickups.

Of course your way of doing it isn't wrong, but it is more difficult and more time consuming.

maybe i'm biased because it's what i do, but don't see fixing the bass itself to get it to "normal" as all that difficult or time-consuming, unlike having to always custom order and maybe even modify any pickup set you ever want to try, and always having to accept that most pickups will never line up with the strings right.

i hate the idea of spending money on pickups that are still kind of "wrong".

 

[Hopkins]

maybe i'm biased because it's what i do, but don't see fixing the bass itself to get it to "normal" as all that difficult or time-consuming, unlike having to always custom order and maybe even modify any pickup set you ever want to try, and always having to accept that most pickups will never line up with the strings right.

i hate the idea of spending money on pickups that are still kind of "wrong".

Custom ordering is not necessary

 

[walterw]

Custom ordering is not necessary

??

you're not gonna find a set of neck pickups RWRP from each other in any store.

 

[Hopkins]

??

you're not gonna find a set of neck pickups RWRP from each other in any store.

Again, polarity can be reversed in less than 10 seconds with a very simple and cheap to make tool. I've done it, it works fine. I built the tool to reverse the polarity in the neck pickup of a Duncan SJB-3 that someone wanted to install in his MIM jazz. It worked as well as any long/short jazz set.

 

[MovingPitchers]

Again, polarity can be reversed in less than 10 seconds with a very simple and cheap to make tool. I've done it, it works fine. I built the tool to reverse the polarity in the neck pickup of a Duncan SJB-3 that someone wanted to install in his MIM jazz. It worked as well as any long/short jazz set.

Show me thy ways, master..

 

[walterw]

it's on page one, his setup with the super-strong neo-D magnets on the little clamp. they'll permanently re-orient the magnets of the pickup the other way, at which point you'd reverse the wires of the pickup, too, and get RW/RP between the two pickups.

that works fine, but:

my point is that if you want to upgrade pickups in this bass, you have to go out and special order two neck pickup versions of whatever set you're looking for, then do this trick, then put up with less than good string spacing over the pickups, and then be stuck if you decide to sell them or put them in another bass, because they won't fit anything.

on top of that, there's a drawback to reversing the wires on a fender-type pickup; the coil will now have its hot end on the inside, wrapped against the magnets, which causes the magnet poles to be really noisy if you touch them.

i say just solve the problem the right way at the beginning and do the minor work it takes to make this otherwise decent bass fit normal pickup sets.

 

[Rusty G String]

Chisel and round file. Super easy. I did it to my squier std to fit my old mim pups in. Now I'm going to upgrade those. It's nice just being able to order whatever pups I want, knowing they're going to go right in, wired correctly, and sound great with no other bs. Now if there's a problem, I know it's not the pups.

 

[Hopkins]

it's on page one, his setup with the super-strong neo-D magnets on the little clamp. they'll permanently re-orient the magnets of the pickup the other way, at which point you'd reverse the wires of the pickup, too, and get RW/RP between the two pickups.

that works fine, but:

my point is that if you want to upgrade pickups in this bass, you have to go out and special order two neck pickup versions of whatever set you're looking for, then do this trick, then put up with less than good string spacing over the pickups, and then be stuck if you decide to sell them or put them in another bass, because they won't fit anything.

on top of that, there's a drawback to reversing the wires on a fender-type pickup; the coil will now have its hot end on the inside, wrapped against the magnets, which causes the magnet poles to be really noisy if you touch them.

i say just solve the problem the right way at the beginning and do the minor work it takes to make this otherwise decent bass fit normal pickup sets.

You don't have to special order anything, most pickups do not come in sets, but are sold individually.

 

[fhm555]

You don't have to special order anything, most pickups do not come in sets, but are sold individually.

I've got a set of Dimarzio Model J, Area J, and ultra pups for my MIM J's and they were all three sold as neck/bridge sets. You could get any of the 3 versions individually, but buying two individually would have cost more.

I've also got a couple of sets of Bart J bass pups and they also came as neck/bridge sets. Again they can be had individually, but like the Dimarzio pups, it is more expensive to buy two pups individually than as a neck/bridge set.

I've looked at a lot of J bass pups in my life and as far as I can remember, I've never seen any J pups not offered as a neck/bridge set. They have all been available as individual pups, but as with the Dimarzo and Bart pups I've bought, buying two individually (even a single neck and single bridge) would cost more than buying a set.

 

[tjh]

... keep it simple ... if ten minutes with a carefully guided Dremel in hand is not an option, fabricating a device that 're-polarizes' pickups is probably not either ...

... IF you like the Fender creation, sell the early one and buy a used version of the same thing 'born' post July of '01 ... or, if you have to have your current neck, just buy a used body, they are offered everywhere ... it will be very little (if anything) out of pocket, and problem solved forever ... just as an added bonus, you will get a more 'marketable' set of pickups should you decide to sell the stock ones, and a body made of a generally accepted 'better' hardwood ...

... JMHO again, of course ...

 

[Hopkins]

I've got a set of Dimarzio Model J, Area J, and ultra pups for my MIM J's and they were all three sold as neck/bridge sets. You could get any of the 3 versions individually, but buying two individually would have cost more.

I've also got a couple of sets of Bart J bass pups and they also came as neck/bridge sets. Again they can be had individually, but like the Dimarzio pups, it is more expensive to buy two pups individually than as a neck/bridge set.

I've looked at a lot of J bass pups in my life and as far as I can remember, I've never seen any J pups not offered as a neck/bridge set. They have all been available as individual pups, but as with the Dimarzo and Bart pups I've bought, buying two individually (even a single neck and single bridge) would cost more than buying a set.

I am not saying that rerouting the cavity to fit the longer bridge pickup isn't a viable option, I am saying that someone attempting this with no prior woodworking experience could easily mess up and make a mess out of the job. So it would be worth the extra cost of buying two neck pickups. I believe the pickups you mentioned were all noiseless pickups, so there wouldn't even be any need to modify them. On BBG, two Ultra J neck pickups would be the same price as the set, It would be $10 more on the Model J's for two neck pickups, and they don't seem to offer the Area J set individually. As far as the Barts, which are also noiseless, it would cost about $6 more than the price of the set. So money savings isn't really an issue, and since those require no modification at all to be hum canceling, it would hardly be worth it to rout the body.

For the record, the prices I looked up were all from BBG, so it is very possible that the offset in cost for buying a set vs two neck pickups could be greater from other vendors.

... keep it simple ... if ten minutes with a carefully guided Dremel in hand is not an option, fabricating a device that 're-polarizes' pickups is probably not either ...

... IF you like the Fender creation, sell the early one and buy a used version of the same thing 'born' post July of '01 ... or, if you have to have your current neck, just buy a used body, they are offered everywhere ... it will be very little (if anything) out of pocket, and problem solved forever ... just as an added bonus, you will get a more 'marketable' set of pickups should you decide to sell the stock ones, and a body made of a generally accepted 'better' hardwood ...

... JMHO again, of course ...

Actually, anyone at all could glue two magnets to a clamp, removing wood from a preexisting cavity, using a tool spinning at 10,000 or so RPM and doing a good enough job to make it look factory is much more difficult. I think even Walter would agree with this.

 

[fhm555]

...I am not saying that rerouting the cavity to fit the longer bridge pickup isn't a viable option, I am saying that someone attempting this with no prior woodworking experience could easily mess up and make a mess out of the job...

Our local hot rod tech charges $25 to route a single P or J pup cavity or $35 to do two at once. I'm betting he would enlarge an existing hole for $10~$15. Really strong slug magnets have pretty much replaced screws to secure hatches and covers in r/c airplanes and a couple large enough (3/4" dia) to use on a 1/4 scale plane run in the neighborhood of $30.

If I already owned a j bass with 2 identical pup cavities I'd get the bridge hole opened up to accept the larger pup even if I had to pay to get it done. 2 different sized pups are the current standard which means maximum choices and better prices in both new and used pup sets. It's a one time expense that standardizes your bass and makes trying different sets of pups easier AND cheaper.

Not saying either of the above methods is a bad (or best) way to address the situation, but I much prefer the third method, just don't buy a used bass with the old style pup routing.

As many nice used MIM j's as there are floating around, I'd just pass on any that have two pups of the same size in them if I was looking to snag another MIM j.

 

[walterw]

... I much prefer the third method, just don't buy a used bass with the old style pup routing.

As many nice used MIM j's as there are floating around, I'd just pass on any that have two pups of the same size in them if I was looking to snag another MIM j.

solved!

 

[Hopkins]

Our local hot rod tech charges $25 to route a single P or J pup cavity or $35 to do two at once. I'm betting he would enlarge an existing hole for $10~$15. Really strong slug magnets have pretty much replaced screws to secure hatches and covers in r/c airplanes and a couple large enough (3/4" dia) to use on a 1/4 scale plane run in the neighborhood of $30.

If I already owned a j bass with 2 identical pup cavities I'd get the bridge hole opened up to accept the larger pup even if I had to pay to get it done. 2 different sized pups are the current standard which means maximum choices and better prices in both new and used pup sets. It's a one time expense that standardizes your bass and makes trying different sets of pups easier AND cheaper.

Not saying either of the above methods is a bad (or best) way to address the situation, but I much prefer the third method, just don't buy a used bass with the old style pup routing.

As many nice used MIM j's as there are floating around, I'd just pass on any that have two pups of the same size in them if I was looking to snag another MIM j.

The magnets I used are neodymium from an electronics store, they were $7 or $8 for a pair, and a $2 clamp from Harbor Freight, made a total investment of $10

 

[MovingPitchers]

Our local hot rod tech charges $25 to route a single P or J pup cavity or $35 to do two at once. I'm betting he would enlarge an existing hole for $10~$15. Really strong slug magnets have pretty much replaced screws to secure hatches and covers in r/c airplanes and a couple large enough (3/4" dia) to use on a 1/4 scale plane run in the neighborhood of $30.

If I already owned a j bass with 2 identical pup cavities I'd get the bridge hole opened up to accept the larger pup even if I had to pay to get it done. 2 different sized pups are the current standard which means maximum choices and better prices in both new and used pup sets. It's a one time expense that standardizes your bass and makes trying different sets of pups easier AND cheaper.

Not saying either of the above methods is a bad (or best) way to address the situation, but I much prefer the third method, just don't buy a used bass with the old style pup routing.

As many nice used MIM j's as there are floating around, I'd just pass on any that have two pups of the same size in them if I was looking to snag another MIM j.

Totally agree. Tech in Vancouver charges $30 or so depending on what he has to do to your guitar. A simple widening of the bridge cavity shouldn't cost a lot of dough. $30 or $300....

 

[fhm555]

The magnets I used are neodymium from an electronics store, they were $7 or $8 for a pair, and a $2 clamp from Harbor Freight, made a total investment of $10

My ex wife was also quite the expert at compartmentalizing her arguments. Didn't make her any more right, it just made her more obstinate.

If you want to spend more money and effort to accomplish the same thing someone else can do with less effort and less money, more power to you.

 

[Hopkins]

My ex wife was also quite the expert at compartmentalizing her arguments. Didn't make her any more right, it just made her more obstinate.

If you want to spend more money and effort to accomplish the same thing someone else can do with less effort and less money, more power to you.

First of all, I never said that resizing the cavity is the wrong way to fix this problem. I just suggested that there is an alternative to removing any wood from the body that would work just as well. Just because I do something differently than you do it doesn't mean its wrong. I offered a simple solution to anyone who may not feel comfortable reshaping a pickup cavity, you were the one who quoted my post, and you are the one arguing. I don't know what I ever did to you, this isn't the only thread in which you have attacked one of my posts as if I am giving bad advice.

You said the magnets would cost $30 and I told you what I paid for them, there was no argument there, I was stating a fact. You keep saying that it takes more effort to use two neck pickups when it takes no more effort at all, especially if you are using noiseless pickups, as they required ZERO modification.