Fralin Jazz Pickups

[klaatu]

So, I have a Fender Japanese Short Scale Jazz bass and I'm thinking of having Fralin pickups installed. They list their Jazz Pickups and the more expensive Split Jazz which is noiseless. I'm asking if the regular Jazz Pickups will have some noise. If the answer is yes than I'll get the noiseless. Just trying to save a bit of money if I can get by with the regular set. I figure that some here have had experience with both. Thanks for any info.

 

[Bass4ThePublic]

Yes, single coil pickups have some 60 cycle hum. If you shield your bass you may eliminate some hum, but honestly if you're dead set on no hum (hum doesnt bother me personally) I'd get the hum cancelling pickups.

 

[Grinderman]

I own two Fralin Jazz pickup sets. One is a set of single coils, the other set are split coils. The former are put away in the box. The later are in my Jazz bass.

I don't tolerate the din of 60 cycle hum well.

 

[Killing Floor]

I have Fralin stock wind J in my Jazz. There is some typical single coil hum. I have honestly never tried split coil J pickups.

I have LF pickups in 3 basses and 2 guitars and would not hesitate to recommend his products. Outstanding customer service. And if you look up the celeb players who use his pickups like Adam Clayton and Sting and Mark Knopfler and Roger Waters and Peter Frampton, they bought them. He never gives away products for endorsements. It says a lot that tone fiends seek him out.

One honest suggestion, if you have questions about Fralin pickups, send an email or call. He will make sure you get what you want. He's very attentive to customers.

 

[Old Garage-Bander]

Yes, single coil pickups have some 60 cycle hum.

Pickups don't have hum.

Hum is not generated by the pickup. But they can be subject to picking up hum that is generated from other sources. The 60 cycle hum is from power lines in the U.S. for instance, where our power grid generates a 60 cycle A.C. Sine wave. Other parts of the world use 50 cycle power generation. The same pickup in one of those regions would "hear" that frequency as the prevailing hum.

I understand what you were saying, and agree that in a general discussion it may be understood when phrased either way. However, when trying to mitigate actual hum, knowing that one is attempting to keep hum from getting into the pickup, rather than preventing it from getting out, can make a difference.

 

[Old Garage-Bander]

@klaatu

 

[Old Garage-Bander]

So, I have a Fender Japanese Short Scale Jazz bass and I'm thinking of having Fralin pickups installed. They list their Jazz Pickups and the more expensive Split Jazz which is noiseless. I'm asking if the regular Jazz Pickups will have some noise. If the answer is yes than I'll get the noiseless. Just trying to save a bit of money if I can get by with the regular set. I figure that some here have had experience with both. Thanks for any info.

Went with the classic upgrade. Nice choice.

 

[klaatu]

Went with the classic upgrade. Nice choice.

You talked me into it! Off topic but it's one of my favorite science fiction movies. Awesome soundtrack by Bernard Hermann using a theremin for those out of this world sounds.

 

[Rocker80]

I have Fralin single coils in 2 jazz basses. Great sounding pup's . I replaced Fender noiseless in my deluxe 5'er for Fralin single coils. The single coil hum never bothered me but the dull sounding noiseless pups did

 

[micguy]

Yes, single coil pickups have some 60 cycle hum. If you shield your bass you may eliminate some hum, but honestly if you're dead set on no hum (hum doesnt bother me personally) I'd get the hum cancelling pickups.

Shielding a pickup will help with electrostatic hum, but does nothing for magnetic hum - single coils in the presence of a magnetic field (like near a power line or power transformer) will hum, no matter how much shielding you put around them. For a truly quiet pickup in every condition, you need a hum cancelling pickup with shielding.

 

[Grizelda100]

It seems you go the answer you're looking for (yes, some hum with the single coils) but I just wanted to add my affirmation of how great they sound and how wonderful their customer service is.
I also picked up a prewired control plate they make and put it all in my Sire fretless. Sounds so dam good.
Enjoy!

 

[Grinderman]

Fralin split coil Jazz pickups do not sound dull.

 

[Bass4ThePublic]

Shielding a pickup will help with electrostatic hum, but does nothing for magnetic hum - single coils in the presence of a magnetic field (like near a power line or power transformer) will hum, no matter how much shielding you put around them. For a truly quiet pickup in every condition, you need a hum cancelling pickup with shielding.

yep thats what I said. "if you shield your bass you MAY eliminate SOME hum". I've properly shielded some jazz basses now and I can say while I never expected it to eliminate the hum, it did in fact cut down on the overall noise coming from the bass.

 

[Smooth_bass88]

So, I have a Fender Japanese Short Scale Jazz bass and I'm thinking of having Fralin pickups installed. They list their Jazz Pickups and the more expensive Split Jazz which is noiseless. I'm asking if the regular Jazz Pickups will have some noise. If the answer is yes than I'll get the noiseless. Just trying to save a bit of money if I can get by with the regular set. I figure that some here have had experience with both. Thanks for any info.

my vintage '62 Fender J has Lindy Fralins, not the split versions; single coil. Bass is dead quiet with either pickup solo'd. Never ever a problem with 60 cycle hum.

 

[mrperkolator]

my vintage '62 Fender J has Lindy Fralins, not the split versions; single coil. Bass is dead quiet with either pickup solo'd. Never ever a problem with 60 cycle hum.

You're lucky. This is not the norm. I cant play single coils without noise. Perhaps my environment is noisier.

It bugs me, so split coil is the way for me. I've heard that LF, Nordstrand, and bart biaxis split coils sound very much like single coils, even though they're splits.

 

[Geri O]

I agree, shielding doesn't solve all the susceptibility of hum for single-coil, but I gotta say, I have the single-coil Fralin Jazz pups in my Mike Lull M5V and I simply haven't had any noise issues with the pups.

I do play with both pups at 100%. Only occasionally do I ever listen to only one pup at a time, but I have yet to hear any hum that I can perceive .

I do know that the Mike Lull basses are shielded extremely well. And a few years ago, I properly shielded a Fender American Elite Jazz that benefited greatly from that effort, enough so that the Nord Single Coils I put in it were very quiet.

(I suppose, I should 'fess up and reveal that I've begun to notice some hearing issues crop up, but I'm not having trouble using my IEMs to play and all the audio guys I work with have checked my levels from the console to my IEM transmitter and so far, I'm not pushing the levels above reasonable).

But I will say, my Jazz bass tone is always both pups 100% all the time. If one uses either bridge or neck pup or a combination of both other than 100%, the Fralin hum buckers may be the way to go.

 

[Rnr..........4]

Have you tried WDmusic copper shielded pickguards?

 

[micguy]

yep thats what I said. "if you shield your bass you MAY eliminate SOME hum". I've properly shielded some jazz basses now and I can say while I never expected it to eliminate the hum, it did in fact cut down on the overall noise coming from the bass.

I don't disagree with what you said, I was just making the information more complete.

 

[Cleezmo]

Any true single coil will hum if solo'd. Split/hum canceling J bass pickups can sound very, very similar to a traditional single coil, without the hum. If you are dead-set on a true single coil tone, that's what you need. If you're okay with tone being 90-95% the same, but without hum, get the splits.

FWIW, I had a MIM Fender jazz years ago and I swapped the stock single coils for Fender noiseless; it sounded good and I had no complaints. I now have a USA G&L JB with the stock single coils, and it sounds amazing. I rarely solo one pickup, but when I do, the amount of hum is largely due to the room - in some rooms, it hums a lot, in others, it makes no noise. So, I deal with the hum occasionally because the bass sounds so good...

 

[MrClassicMetal]

So, I have a Fender Japanese Short Scale Jazz bass and I'm thinking of having Fralin pickups installed. They list their Jazz Pickups and the more expensive Split Jazz which is noiseless. I'm asking if the regular Jazz Pickups will have some noise. If the answer is yes than I'll get the noiseless. Just trying to save a bit of money if I can get by with the regular set. I figure that some here have had experience with both. Thanks for any info.

Just out of curiosity which short scale Jazz bass do you have, a Smart Scale or Junior Collection?

I've put split coils in mine recently. A set of DiMarzio DP123 pickups.