I have a G+L JB Fullerton Deluxe.I love the way it plays,how the neck feels in my hand etc.What I'm wanting to change is the sound.Im trying to get a bit more of the P bass vibe/sound out if it.Im running the neck about 90% up.The bridge about about 25% and the treble about the same.Im getting a bit of that single coil noise and hum.Does anybody know of any aftermarket noiseless pickups that will drop right in without having to carve/rout the pickup cavities out.If I get a little more P bass sound out of it I'm ok with that.It appears that G+L doesn't make a noiseless JB pickup.
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Running the 5 string JBE set in my JB5. You will want to double check sizing, but I think the 4 string set is also the correct size. Hum cancelling. A bit more aggressive. Great pickups.
J-Style Pickups for Jazz Basses - JBE Pickups
J-Style Bass Pickups offer the same great JBE tone, power, and response for the bass guitar as our ground breaking dual-blade guitar pickups have done for the last 25 years. Available in 4 and 5 string models, our J-Style pickups were designed to maintain authentic J-Bass™ tone and character...
jbepickups.com
Fralin got my vote:
www.rocketmusicshop.com
Lindy Fralin SPLIT JAZZ 4-String Bass Pickup Set
Description Lindy Fralin SPLIT JAZZ bass pickups offer a loud, clear and even response to four string bass players. The split coil design ensures no hum. These bass pickups allow you to get all of the Jazz-Bass vibe that you love, minus the hum. Being a hum-canceling Jazz Bass pickup, it’s fat...
www.rocketmusicshop.com
Try these; J-45
These are the noiseless pickups deigned by Bill Lawrence that also became Fender's SCN pickups albeit with different magnets than these. Bill's widow Becky and their daughter Shannon have kept their company Wilde alive and continuing to produce Bill's pickup designs. They're the best JBass pickups I've ever played.
The J-45 is a coaxial coil design incorporating our air spaced micro-coil system, to reproduce a noise free and Traditional Jazz Bass Sound. Nine evenly spaced direct Alnico 2 magnets provide a wide magnetic field to perform equally well on most 4 and 5 string basses.
The J45 comes in a black cover with either flush pole pieces or a slight stagger that can accommodate most radii.
Height: 0.830"
Width: 0.720", with mounting holes 1.110"
Length: Neck 3.530", Lead 3.90"
I'm curious about the sizing of these. The neck appears to be correct for a traditional Fender 4-string neck pickup, if not a hair short. The "lead" pickup, though, is much too long (3.9" vs 3.73"). Likewise, the mounting holes are not correct (should be 1.5" for neck, 1.58" for bridge). I'd be interested in these for a 5-string bass I have. The current pickups sound fantastic, but the width of the strings at the bridge pickup is marginally outside the sensing width of the bridge pickup, so I'm on the hunt for a better matched set of studio-quiet J-style pickups.
They are a drop in fit for any Fender bass or bass with the same rout dimensions. I've used them in Squier CVs as well. I've never had a G&L JB or JB-2 so I would suggest measuring those pickup or the routs to be certain. Or you could call Becky Lawrence and she would probably know if they're a drop in fit for a G&L. There may be a difference between Tribute models and Fullerton models as well. That I don't know.
The additional poles pieces make it possible for both of Bill's bass pickups to be used with four or five string basses and in some cases even with a six string. However, I have never used them on a 5 string version myself. So here again I would suggest speaking with Becky directly to discuss your needs. She's the expert when it comes to all of this having been with Bill for many, many year winding his pickup designs.
Contact Us
Call or text:Becky Lawrence: 951-371-1494
Shannon: 951-310-9033
[email protected]
I find it best to call her. She responds much faster that way.
With reference my new to me US L2500 (and at 2022 and mint fairly new anyway) and the treble tone control issues I'm having. Having unsoldered all the pots and checked that the pot values and cap values are all in the ball park I've still got no discernible treble fall off on rotating the knob. The pots weren't matched and had quite a wide variation in resistance.
I got a reply from G&L support and they suggest checking wiring for continuity and damage and possibly replacing the volume and treble pots. I double checked the wiring was correct and in good condition with good connections.
Today I fitted new strings to see if that would help (DR Lo Rider - great strings imo). They don't although they needed changing.
I already have a matched pair of 250k audio pots and I'm awaiting new caps. I'll replace the volume and treble pots and put new caps in throughout.
I've found two other posts with people having the exact same issues. One of those was on a new bass and the wiring was checked correct on both. There was no resolution posted on the threads though. Anyone here one of those posters that has the cure?
Many thanks
Peter
I got a reply from G&L support and they suggest checking wiring for continuity and damage and possibly replacing the volume and treble pots. I double checked the wiring was correct and in good condition with good connections.
Today I fitted new strings to see if that would help (DR Lo Rider - great strings imo). They don't although they needed changing.
I already have a matched pair of 250k audio pots and I'm awaiting new caps. I'll replace the volume and treble pots and put new caps in throughout.
I've found two other posts with people having the exact same issues. One of those was on a new bass and the wiring was checked correct on both. There was no resolution posted on the threads though. Anyone here one of those posters that has the cure?
Many thanks
Peter
I like that the Lawrence pickups can be set up for staggering the pole pieces, especially important on 7.5" radius necks.
I was looking into the Demarzio Relentless pickups for my jb2, both for the arched tops and soft radiused corners,
but was scared off by the high output specs. I tend to prefer the sound of clearer highs with a lower winding pickup.
I was looking into the Demarzio Relentless pickups for my jb2, both for the arched tops and soft radiused corners,
but was scared off by the high output specs. I tend to prefer the sound of clearer highs with a lower winding pickup.
It's weird that Fralin offer the option of raised A and D pole pieces for basses with 7¼" radius for their standard Jazz, but not for their Split Jazz (Assuming that their website is correct)
My fretboard is 9½", so I should be okay. Bass is with my tech atm, so I'll know soon enough!
Absolutely love the Wilde pickups. It's my understanding that several of the current purveyors of replacement pickups were tutored by Bill Lawrence. Back in the mid 70s, the Precision Bass in my avatar had one of Bill's first offerings, the L90 installed to replace the original split pickups, which were devoid of any pleasing tone…I had the choice of muddy or tinny, with nothing in between. Adding the Lawrence pickup opened up an entire palette of tonal possibilities. I had, mistakenly thought that Bill's designs had ceased to exist with his passing, so I was surprised and pleased to hear that his widow Becky, and daughter, Shannon were still producing his designs. I put a P46 in my Tribute LB100 and still marvel at the clarity and detail in the notes as well as the spread of useable tones…a big improvement over the original pickups. I also dropped a P46 and J45 in my Peavey Dyna Bass Unity to replace the stock Schallers (good pickups, by the way), once again being rewarded with a more clean and detailed variety of tones. I can't recommend them enough. The fact that they are so reasonably priced is just a bonus.
Kim
Kim
This M2K is finally back and I'm glad I took a chance on it sounds great somewhat different than the L2Ks I've tried.
I love that emerald green metallic. It's an under-utilized color in the G&L pallet, IMO. My Kiloton is in that color. And that Kustom amp...that's a dandy. No the M- doesn't sound like an L-. With those underwound MFDs, I found it to be closer to the sound of a Jazz Bass than an L-, but with more versatility. I wish I still had mine, but alas, it ended up being a good deal for someone. Congrats on that whole set up.
I don't know just how easily searchable it is but there's a thread here somewhere in archives about the P46 titled something like "The Best PBass Pickup I Ever Played" and it has quite a few responses including my own. Your description and experience with it's clarity and detail parallels with my own and many others. For me when playing with the LaBella DFT I have on my PBass it's clarity and tonal dynamics is a major factor.
There have been quite a few pickup winders who learned from or apprenticed with Bill back in the late 60s and early 70s including Kent Armstrong and Larry DiMarzio. The L90 you used was the very first twin blade humbucker ever produced and his Keystone Tele pickups are legendary for their clarity and low noise and are very popular with Tele players as are his Micro-Coil Tele and Strat pickups and Twin Blade L48.
One of the interesting facts about the J45 Jazz Bass pickups is that Bill's design was used by Fender for it's SCN Samarium Cobalt Noiseless Pickups. The Wilde version uses Alinico II magnets. Both the P46 and J45 pickups utilize additional magnets to accommodate 4 and 5 strings basses and also create a wider more balanced magnetic field and as you posted the quality and performance for the price is pretty incredible.
I made a guess here:
https://www.talkbass.com/threads/ca...ssive-without-a-preamp.1668763/#post-28967039
And that guess seems to have worked out here:
That is strange. Why would any company build pickups designed for a Jazz Bass and build them so they don't fit a Jazz Bass? It sounds like something I would do!
Have any of you who have used them had installation issues? Back in the '90s when I'd backed off on playing bass and pedal steel was my main instrument, a couple players I knew used Lawrence pickups on their steels and really liked them. I was satisfied with the sound of my steels, so I never changed, but since I've been back to playing bass in the 21st century, I was thinking about a set of these. But to say the least, I'd be very disappointed if I bought a set of these Jazz Bass pickups only to find they didn't fit. 
That is strange. Why would any company build pickups designed for a Jazz Bass and build them so they don't fit a Jazz Bass? It sounds like something I would do!
I'm suspecting it's bogus info on the website, or I think we'd hear a lot about it from people who couldn't fit them in their jazz basses. I'm not ready to purchase anything yet and I'm not sure that's the direction I want to go, so I haven't dug into it any further.
It's been years, but I do remember the Fender Roscoe Beck IV and V very fondly. I probably never should have sold my RB IV. Those were more or less J45 pickups set up as dual coils. However, I don't remember the Fender SCN pickups that fondly at all, but I don't recall what I didn't like about them at the time. Too long ago! My Jazz at that time had SD Antiquity II pickups, which were more to my liking (until they eventually went microphonic).
While I can't say whether the Wilde J45 will drop right into a Fender Jazz Bass, not having a Fender Jazz Bass, I find it hard to believe that it wouldn't. When I replaced the Schaller Jazz pickup in my Peavey Dyna Bass Unity Koa, it fit perfectly—it was a Jazz Bass style and sized pickup. The J45 was designed as a noiseless replacement for the Jazz Bass, and others that use the same size pickup, so it seems more than odd if it didn't fit in the application for which it was designed. Becky and Shannon have been known to have "holiday sales" from time to time adding even more value to their products.That is strange. Why would any company build pickups designed for a Jazz Bass and build them so they don't fit a Jazz Bass? It sounds like something I would do!
Kim
