Hum cancelling jazz without losing jazz tone?

[dwagner]

Playing a MIM Jazz. I play a lot in church. Lots of the modern stuff, like Bethel and Elevation Worship. My tone is predominantly neck pickup alone, and I push the mids with some good tube breakup style overdrive. I ride the volume knob a lot for dynamics and how hard I hit my preamp, so I hardly use the bridge pickup (don't like the mid scoop with both on), and I like the fatness of the single coil.

I love the sound of the pickups I have right now, they are stock. But, I have 60 cycle hum because I am running just the neck pickup. Is it possible for me to keep the same tone switching to something hum cancelling or am I better off getting a P Bass?

I was thinking maybe the Lindy Fralin Split Jazz or something.

 

[Isaac J]

Most guitar / bass parts companies offer hum cancelling J pickups. There are 2 designs, stacked coils and linear split coils.
I haven't tried any myself, but I'm aware of Fender's Noiseless series (stacked), Nordstrand NP4 (or NJ4 or something similar), Seymour Duncan Apollo and Aguilar HC (split). Maybe have a look (or listen?) for some sound demos and find the ones that fit your needs best.

Good luck in your search!

 

[Slater]

I was thinking maybe the Lindy Fralin Split Jazz or something.

Very good choice.

I also really like Seymour Duncan Apollo Jazz pickups.

 

[ShawnG]

I'm a Bart b-axis fan for HC jazz pup. Very "non-Bart", in a good way, to my ear.
Good demo here of neck only, bridge only and both.

 

[walterw]

I love the sound of the pickups I have right now, they are stock. But, I have 60 cycle hum because I am running just the neck pickup. Is it possible for me to keep the same tone switching to something hum cancelling or am I better off getting a P Bass?

the closest you'll get is a split-coil J pickup, that'll still have a strong lively tone. stacks tend to be kind of quiet and "polite" by comparison.

so far the closest i've heard is the dimarzio area J, in fact they'l probably sound more like "real" J pickups than the mexi ceramics you have now

if you really want "no compromise" single coil sound without noise then look at the ilitch pickguard coil stuff

 

[RobbieK]

Chris Kinman now makes a Jazz Bass set. I'd check these out. He is the guru of stacked coil humbuckers. He has several patents to his name. I'm pretty sure he was a bass player as well...

 

[Honkey tonk]

By design split coils look more like a P than J .
stacked coils are half way there for noise control as bolth coils share the same magnetic polarity.

 

[Slater]

By design split coils look more like a P than J .

There are plenty of split coil pickups in a Jazz housing or cover.

 

[Slater]

 

[Honkey tonk]

Yeapers, a tall split P stuffed into a J wrapper

 

[tb-player]

Playing a MIM Jazz. I play a lot in church. Lots of the modern stuff, like Bethel and Elevation Worship. My tone is predominantly neck pickup alone, and I push the mids with some good tube breakup style overdrive. I ride the volume knob a lot for dynamics and how hard I hit my preamp, so I hardly use the bridge pickup (don't like the mid scoop with both on), and I like the fatness of the single coil.

I love the sound of the pickups I have right now, they are stock. But, I have 60 cycle hum because I am running just the neck pickup. Is it possible for me to keep the same tone switching to something hum cancelling or am I better off getting a P Bass?

Don't do it. I had the same issue with a passive Nash PJ. Most churches aren't wired properly for sound so that hum is common. Rather than modding a bass you currently love, simply buy a small wireless unit. It breaks the physical connection and allows you to keep the tone of the bass you love, while completely eliminating the 60 cycle hum. I did this and it worked perfectly.

These Xvive units are an effective and inexpensive way to accomplish it. Or if you want something a little more substantial, I later upgraded from the Xvives to the Line 6 Relay G50. Both worked perfectly and the hum is 100% gone.

 

[Thegrandwazoo]

I put a set of EMGs (supposed to emulate a vintage Jazz, they're side-by-side humbuckers) in a friend of mine's Squier Vintage Modified Jazz (the 70s style one with the natural soft maple body), sounds for all the world like a gnarly classic '70s Jazz and dead quiet. I also shielded all the cavities, but I'm confident the bass would be mostly hum-free without it.

 

[dwagner]

Don't do it. I had the same issue with a passive Nash PJ. Most churches aren't wired properly for sound so that hum is common. Rather than modding a bass you currently love, simply buy a small wireless unit. It breaks the physical connection and allows you to keep the tone of the bass you love, while completely eliminating the 60 cycle hum. I did this and it worked perfectly.

These Xvive units are an effective and inexpensive way to accomplish it. Or if you want something a little more substantial, I later upgraded from the Xvives to the Line 6 Relay G50. Both worked perfectly and the hum is 100% gone.

this actually makes a ton of sense. I don’t notice it when I’m dialing tones in my studio and other environments. I’ve been wanting to get a wireless unit anyways, so maybe this is what I should do. I would prefer to keep the bass stock if I can.

 

[Lujon]

I replaced the stock pickups in my MiM with a set of Fender Gen 4 Noiseless and it was a night and day difference. They’re so much quieter and for whatever reason they’re actually even quieter when using just neck or bridge pickups, unlike stock pickups. However, they’re pricey, I picked mine up used for less than half retail.

 

[darwin-bass]

Split coil sound better than stacked hum cancelling in my experience. I am running simple Dimarzio Model J pickups in my fretless and they are great.

In my church the hum is terrible Darn light dimmers. Single coils won’t do so all my basses have to be well shielded and use hum cancelling pickups.

 

[DavC]

tried ... dual , stacked & splits .. to me , splits sound most like a single coil ( being quite similar to a P bass pickup , as in -Split ) ... i like to Blend the neck/bridge pups minus the hum = splits

for more dynamics .. i have DiMarzio Model J's ( splits ) in 1 bass ( Ti rounds ) like the adjustable pole pieces .!
on the other ... DiMarzio Ultra Jazz ... smoother , more refined ( Ti Flats ) if i wanted to spend more - Nordy's

 

[Chrisk-K]

Fender or Dimarzio Area

 

[Ric5]

Playing a MIM Jazz. I play a lot in church. Lots of the modern stuff, like Bethel and Elevation Worship. My tone is predominantly neck pickup alone, and I push the mids with some good tube breakup style overdrive. I ride the volume knob a lot for dynamics and how hard I hit my preamp, so I hardly use the bridge pickup (don't like the mid scoop with both on), and I like the fatness of the single coil.

I love the sound of the pickups I have right now, they are stock. But, I have 60 cycle hum because I am running just the neck pickup. Is it possible for me to keep the same tone switching to something hum cancelling or am I better off getting a P Bass?

I was thinking maybe the Lindy Fralin Split Jazz or something.

have you tried a jazz bass with the pickups wired in series?

 

[P Cheen]

+1 on the Seymour Duncan Apollos! I most likely am getting a set for myself very soon. It’s really clear and somewhat quacky. Of course the Nordstrand NJ4SV and Fralin Split Jazz are one of the best out there, so if you have the money I think these are great investments. The Aguilar 4J-HC is way too trebly IMO.

Take a gander at the Fender Gen 4 Noiseless set as well.

 

[Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati]

The Aguilar 4J-HC set is what you really need IMO.
You can usefully check this promotional video from Aguilar.



To me they sound as a nice blending between the 4J-60 and 4J-70, more aligned with the 4J-70 likely but decidedly lively and similar to a true single-coil pickup!