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Grestch junior jet II pickup upgrade

#21
I managed to find the Attec alnico ($40 on ebay) and ceramic ($33 on ebay), a single (neck only) roswell filtertron ($137 with shipping from Europe for a set), and a dirt cheap h style ($25 on ali express).

I did find a link (can't find it now) to a gretsch blacktop, but it had been sold, probably a while ago.

All that said, I'm pretty happy with the stock pups. My bass is dead quiet (at least for my purposes). For now, I'll probably just stick with the stock pups and wait and see if the Filter'trons go on sale. I picked up a set of TV classics last year for $100 each.
 
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#22
Problem with me is I have very low income, I mean LOW (hey, but in 2 bands so that counts! Lmao). So just cannot afford, no way, the expensive alternatives, like the TV Jones, etc. Can't see puting expensive units in a low end guitar... otherwise I'd just buy that Rick I've always wanted and be done.
 
#24
Yep! That's the way to do it!!! Just about all my guitars are like that. Two partscasters I built myself, both with noiseless Dimarzios in em'. And yes, BTW, I love Scooby Doo!
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#25
Megan McDade said:
Hello all! Saw this Gretsch bass hanging on the wall at Sam Ash and had to have it. Needed some up work, but as I have the skill, I bought it on the spot. Love this guitar. Not thrilled with the single coils though, cause I really wanna record with it. Not many affordable options out there, right? WRONG!

Buy the Hipshot Kickass 5, got it with free shipping on the Bay. Direct replacement part. Sounds great and nice sustain improvement too on a shortscale guitar. It has adjustable spacing. REALLY IMPORTANT cause next go and buy the Artec MVBC4 4 pole humbucking bass pup. Nice units are Alnico 5, also available in ceramic, but the 5's are really good. Got a pair for $35, I kid you not, also on the Bay. DROP IN REPLACEMENT, literally, you can use the rings that come with them. No messing with springs n' screws. But here is where the beauty of that bridge comes in. You will need to visually bring the E and G in just a hair, and the middle two strings just a touch.

This is now a KILLER shortscale 4 string Gretsch bass!!!

You're welcome.
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I created an account to thank you for this.

Replaced the neck pickup last night with an Artec ceramic. My soldering is terrible, but i got it done. Gonna run it like that with the single coil bridge pickup and see if I like the sound.
 
#27
I got curious myself, so I threw one of the factory strings back on it before work this morning.

The first word I want to use is rich. It's punchy and warm how I've heard others describe ceramics. I need to install some foam underneath because it's not sitting quite level. I'll give updates once I straighten that out and put the flats I have arriving today on it.
 
#29
Megan McDade said:
Sounds sweet! I think Artec is awesome. Great products at a more than fair price.
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Got strings on and straightened out the pickup. Sounds really great! I imagine this setup is similar to a PJ, or the bass version of an SH Telecaster.

The humbucker is slightly muddy in the best possible way. And I barely hear that original pickup hum when it's on a clean channel.
 
#30
Everything being said here, I have been (and still have at least one guitar with a P90) a huge fan of the single coil sound. Single coils can be articulate and clear, and possess a certain sweetness that any really dedicated tele or strat player can testify to. That being said, the single coils that come on this guitar sound great for an inexpensive entry level short scale bass. One of my bands does shoegaze, and we're wanting to lay down some tracks, and for recording, we just want to have that quiet noise floor, one of the main reasons for switching out these pickups. The replacements sound great and in and of themselves are worth the upgrade, but for those tuning in to this thread who want to keep those single coils in there, that heavy Hipshot bridge upgrade is so sweet for around $50, it really makes this bass sound better even unplugged.
 
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#31
Megan McDade said:
Everything being said here, I... The replacements sound great and in and of themselves are worth the upgrade, but for those tuning in to this thread who want to keep those single coils in there, that heavy Hipshot bridge upgrade is so sweet for around $50, it really makes this bass sound better even unplugged.
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I've got a couple of heavy bridge options on my watch list. The nice thing is it appears that the same bridge will work for my Gretsch as well as my 60's classic vibe jazz bass.
 
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#32
Megan McDade said:
Hi Bud! I'm sure these are sold other places, want to make sure everyone knows I in no way benefit monetarily from sharing this link. Sold out on eBay, but Amazon has them, go figure, lol

Artec MVBA4 Alnico 5 Bass Humbucker Pickups Neck Bridge Pickups Set for LP or EPI Style 4 String Electric Bass Guitar, Chrome
https://a.co/d/akeqrLJ
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Are the Artec MVBA4 dropins for the G2220 basss
 
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#34
I have a friend who purchased one of these basses last year. Like the OP and most of the others in this thread, I started researching what would sound "better." But when he brought it over after having it for some time (he lives out of state) I was absolutely impressed with it. I wouldn't change a thing. It is what it is.
 
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#35
Then don't! It's a subjective call! I changed out for recording purposes, lower noise floor. For gigging live, it's a great sounding bass. I think there were those who got pissed or felt cheated that it was represented as having humbuckers in there, when they didn't. Then the whole mess with Fender trying to make it right with that $100 swag, etc, offer. If the only reason to replace them was because a player was pissed, wrong reason to swap out. Glad you like it the way it is. A lot of people do. I played single coils many years, and it is a trade off, the hum, but damn, they sound good...
 
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#36
I went the tv jones thunderblade route, and wired it with a push/pull pot for series/parallel switching, now it's a worthy stablemate for my korean-made hollowbody, I dunno if anything short of tv jones could have gotten it there
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#38
I dunno if you recall during that whole debacle with the junior jet pickups, it was revealed that they were using bridge position singlecoils for both the bridge and neck slots which made them even noisier...well, they were putting all the neck position singlecoils in these single pickup basses
 

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