I hate my Jazz bass... :: Update::

[TinIndian]

For Sale - DiMarzio DP 149 Ultra Jazz Pickups

 

[Tom Baker]

Have you tried a Warwick? I know...not really what you are looking for in terms of an answer. Try wiring it in series or try finding another bass. Instruments are really just commodities and there are a million j basses out there. I suspect no amount of pickup swapping will give you what you want but will deplete your bank account and slowly strip you of your sanity. Good luck.

 

[bdplaid]

Also, fwiw, my P bass has alnico magnets, and the Jazz has ceramics iirc.

I found that every time I veered away from Alnico 5 I didn't like the pickups - I like the A5's edge. I also think that for the classic J bass sound, one has to have single coils. No humcanceling J bass pu I ever used was worth the tone penalty. In my Franken J5 I have SD 67/70 pu's which I like a lot - they have that clanky Geddy Lee sound. Not sure what the 4 string equiv is, but maybe that?

 

[garmenteros]

I use bartolini classic series bass pickups in my 5 string jazz. No exposed pole pieces, loud, and round.

 

[fjbass78]

Responses to some of the above posts, apparently now sponsored by Dimarzio.
Yes, it is a Squier, but is a 30 year old MIJ instrument, and is not much like most Squier basses. It is well made, and plays great. The PUs are lacking, that's all.

Exposed poles are not a deal breaker. Again, I'm pretty sure my pole-contact issues are due to string proximity. Higher output PUs should negate that.

Also, fwiw, my P bass has alnico magnets, and the Jazz has ceramics iirc.

I definitely prefer passive on my P bass, and was thinking of similar for the J. I have 2 active basses now, so not especially seeking another, but...

And, was only hoping for suggestions, but have now received an offer to buy the bass as is. Crazy but true. So, considering that now also.

Thanks to all for the many suggestions, even the ones about strap height and cord length. Keep 'em coming!

My Jazz Bass pickups all have lower output compared to my other basses, so i have to set the gain higher. once the gain is set properly, the volume/punch is there. i'm assuming you're doing this as well on the SWR preamp you have?

 

[wraub]

My Jazz Bass pickups all have lower output compared to my other basses, so i have to set the gain higher. once the gain is set properly, the volume/punch is there. i'm assuming you're doing this as well on the SWR preamp you have?

Yep.

 

[seang15]

MIJ Squiers are in demand. Keep it intact, sell it, buy something you'll love.

For the $$ you'll fetch, get something in the Bacchus Craft series. You'll be glad you did

 

[RyanKW]

I have DiMarzio Model Js in one of mine, and Fender Super 55s in the other. I guess the pole pieces on the latter would disqualify those, but I don't really get that qualification.

 

[wraub]

So... I opened the bass up to look at the wiring, and contemplate a series mod. And I found- The PUs have 3 wires (2 blk, 1 wht). One of the black wires comes from the grounding plate under each PU. There is also a ground plate in the bottom of the control cavity, which has a wire attached to it but to nothing else. I had given this area a cursory glance before, but hadn't really looked at it, you know?

This is, because, apparently, I am an idiot.

So, it's basically a mess in there, and I am gonna have to wire it all up correctly to see if there's an improvement.

Any tips? Pretty sure the wires from the PU plates would also go to ground... maybe to the plate in the cavity?

 

[TrevorOfDoom]

Before OP spends any money, try wiring the bass in series.
Volume boost, and gives the bass more grunt. Takes it a bit more in a P direction, but still has some signature J bite.


OP beat me to it.

Treat both black wires as ground. Simple as that.
Make sure to ground the pickup casings with the bridge, and wherever the other two black wires end up is fine, as long as they're grounded.

 

[TrevorOfDoom]

There is also a ground plate in the bottom of the control cavity, which has a wire attached to it but to nothing else.

What is this wire attached to, other than the ground plate?
It can't be a free floating wire, attached at only one end. What's the other end attached to?

 

[wraub]

What is this wire attached to, other than the ground plate?
It can't be a free floating wire, attached at only one end. What's the other end attached to?

Nothin'.
This is a 60s style Jazz, so the bridge grounds to the plate under the bridge PU by an exposed metal strap.
There is indeed a plate in the cavity, with a wire soldered to it, and that wire is not attached to anything else. In fact, was nicely rolled up in the bottom of the cavity.

 

[gmarcus]

Proper pickup height can make a world of difference. Hold down the e string at the highest fret and adjust both pickups to be 1/8" from the pole piece to the underside of the string. Do the same for the G string. This is the factory setting and it sounds really good. The bridge pickup will be significantly higher. You can measure the distance by slipping a 1/8" allen key in between to top of the pickup and the string.

 

[Nickweissmusic]

Well, to be honest, I hate the way it sounds.
Sure, it has that great playing combination of aggressive delicacy and graceful rage that all good Jazz basses seem to have ime, and it is black, but, it sounds like an anemic coffee fart. No energy, just a tiny lifeless bundle of apathetic sound. Noise, barely.
It is, to say, blah, and trying to make it better with EQ and wishes is just hopeless. Even with an outboard boost pedal, it's like eating vanilla pudding through a straw that is well medicated and feeling fine thank you...
So, I'm pretty sure I'm gonna need some new pickups.

Requirements: Loud, high output; fit standard J bass routs; passive; no exposed pole pieces.

Any suggestions? Please? Help me love, or even like, my Jazz bass? Someone..?

(1985 MIJ Squier SQ Series Jazz Bass, stock pickups)

Hmm. The thing about the jazz pickup setup is, when they're both on and straight up, with broken in strings, the sound is just kind of "there." If you want a little p bass boom, roll off the bridge. If you want a Jaco twang, roll off the neck. If you want a bouncier sound, get a music man (or do what I did and install a Series/parallel switch, I can kinda fake that tone in Series), if you want a nice cheap active all arounder get an Ibanez, and so on. But whatever you do, don't settle on something because of a brand or a look. Use your ears. Sometimes your instrument just doesn't sound like "you." Going for some active pickups could help with what you're describing, but you could be throwing more good money after bad. Sometimes, for whatever reason, a body and neck just don't work well together. I really like my Dimarzio ultra jazz (which are passive but have exposed pole pieces. I'm not aware of any brand that fits all of your criteria, but going to active is not the end of the world and really the only way to significantly boost output and color your tone differently) I have on my Frankenstein bass, but I didn't put them in a bad bass to begin with. Don't get hung up on a brand, try as many basses as you can and see what you really want, then swapping out pickups can really make it sing.

 

[Altitude]

Somewhere in 9 pages, somebody had to mention the ongoing thread about J pickups, which has been going about as long as Talkbass itself. But just in case...

 

[TrevorOfDoom]

Nothin'.
This is a 60s style Jazz, so the bridge grounds to the plate under the bridge PU by an exposed metal strap.
There is indeed a plate in the cavity, with a wire soldered to it, and that wire is not attached to anything else. In fact, was nicely rolled up in the bottom of the cavity.

Weird. Is it bare wire?
If not, just join it with the other grounds.
If it is bare wire... just cut it?

 

[DavidEdenAria]

This will be long with detail.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and go against the majority who say change the pickups. And throw my hat in with the install a preamp crowd. And here's why. While changing PU's will make a change ranging from small to large installing a preamp will be a complete paradigm shift. I have proved this to myself on several occasions. By both changing PU's AND changing inPreamps AS WELL AS BOTH. Now for examples.
1) Fender Precision Bass Lyte
Installed Bartolini P/J PU's better but not dramatically better. Took them back out for another project and returned the originals which by the way, many say are the weakest link of that bass. Got a deal for an older Fodera 3band pre on CL for $75 !! Installed and it's become a best friend with night and day dramatically improved tone from lows to highs with sweet mids. I use it now on a regular basis.
2) Minnieweather 5 string with his own house wound pickups and I'm not really sure exactly what they are as he's passed. The bass was passive and played great but just sounded average. After much deliberation I took,a John East preamp out of another Jazz which I loved but can't play now due to weight and back issues. Installed it in the MW bass and voila' it's my main 5 out of several available excellent options. Punchy, phat, sweet mids, everything I wanted. I play it more than any other bass now.
3) early 60's P body w/Jazz neck, tried different pickups Fender, Delano, then while I had SDuncans in it I decided to look at Pre's that required no routing and settled on an Audere. Now it totally kills and I get requests to bring that bass because other players like it! I love it it goes from normal P to Super P and beyond.
4) 2009 Fender 60's classic Jazz Bass MIM. An extremely good recreation of a vintage Fender Jazz. Loved the neck, loved the weight, the look and the pickups sound good. We added a nitro 4 ply PG buffed the gloss off the finish. Perfect right, not quite. It just couldn't compete even with other passive basses. I loved the bass but wasn't playing it enough. Ok time for a game changer. Ordered the Audere Jazz bass drop in 3 band plate. Super simple installation, now every time I play it it's like wow this is Jazz bass heaven.... It, will, kill! ...(To quote the knife guys) Last night my buddy who plays mostly fretless and owns several Jazz basses sat in. As I listened I thought it sounded like Jaco on steroids, cutting mids, punchy, ballsy, growly, plenty of low end, pretty much everything you want out of a J. He was channeling Jaco. When he got off stage he was raving about this bass. He said "I love this bass, I don't want to stop playing it, it feels and sounds like a fretless!" He was blown away.
As others have said if you don't like it you can flip for little loss. I say do the Pre BEFORE you change the PU's you might decide you don't need to change them, you can still swap them if you want. If you paid attention 3 out of 4 examples STILL HAVE THE ORIGINAL PICKUPS!
I'm currently building another Jazz and already have an Audere that's slated for service in my new project.
I own and have owned a lot of basses and I stand by my suggestions. As always YMMV etc.

Number 4....I recently acquired a 2003 MIM Jazz....dang, I was floored at the clarity and punch of the stock ceramics.....I notice many replace the pickups in these with noiseless......but I LOVE this bass overall......the AUDERE pre sounds very tempting!

How did you get the gloss off of the finish if I may ask?

 

[FrenchBassQC]

Have you tried plugging into an 18" bass speaker?

I did own a cab with an 18" speaker and I hated it, too much rumble for my taste. It was an old JBL reflex cab and man it was not just sounding to my taste but it was huge and heavy.

 

[wraub]

Weird. Is it bare wire?
If not, just join it with the other grounds.
If it is bare wire... just cut it?

Hello again, all. First, please let me reiterate... I am an idiot. I am a giant, flaming bag of poo idiot.
As mentioned, the inside of the bass was a mess, which I would have likely noticed if I had paid attention to the cavity when last I was in there... which, admittedly, was several years ago, and I have learned lots since then... But, still, I am an idiot.

In comparing the guts to the many, many online diagrams available, I discovered many irregularities, which I set right. (the odd wire mentioned above was actually for the tip of the output jack...) And...

Holy Flurking Schnit! It is loud, punchy, clicky, meaty, reedy and insistent... all of that. It sounds like a Jazz bass now.
I threw some electrical tape over the poles, and all is now right and good with the world. You may all rest easy.

I may, possibly, still part with this bass someday, or at least upgrade the PUs, but, for now, I'm gonna attempt to learn this Jazz bass with it's various oddball quirks.
I do wish it was as easy as a P bass...

My seriously sincere thanks to all who chimed in here- all of your advice led me to a solution (for now), and, for that, I am very appreciative. You all deserve a cookie. Or several cookies. I'll leave that up to you. Basically, all of you should go get some cookies.

Thank you.

 

[Sweet Willie]

Congrats! We've all taken a tumble out of the idiot tree hitting every branch on occasion. Such is life.

Now, my friend, go and play along with some early Meshell Ndegeocello records. That's a lady right there who can make a jazz bass sound really, really, really good.