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I'm the millionth person asking for jazz pickup replacement help, do I win a prize?

Bleeds Horchata

Bleeds Horchata

Apr 4, 2011
48
126
Northern California
#1
I'm looking into upgrading the stock jazz style pickups in an active Korean Tobias 4 string bass and I'm wondering if anybody has used any of the following (or had any other recommendations):

Joe Barden
Villex
Stan Hinesley
Rio Grande
Delano
Lindy Fralin

I'm basically after the most growl possible. I don't want delicate Jaco or Bartolini tones; I want mean, nasty, beefy aggressiveness in terms of overall tone.

Thanks and appreciation.
 
#2
I have only tried the Villex, and although are one of my favorite tones I don't think it fits the description you want. Full range, powerful yes with some growl. I just ordered a set of Delano jvcm fe and from sound bites I also don't think that model would be it either, more vintage meets hi/fi. You just need a good set of single coils in a passive bass with good strings. Sorry I couldn't be more help, though you can knock Villex off the list - YMMV IMO etc.
 
#4
Bleeds Horchata said:
I'm looking into upgrading the stock jazz style pickups in an active Korean Tobias 4 string bass and I'm wondering if anybody has used any of the following (or had any other recommendations):

Joe Barden
Villex
Stan Hinesley
Rio Grande
Delano
Lindy Fralin

I'm basically after the most growl possible. I don't want delicate Jaco or Bartolini tones; I want mean, nasty, beefy aggressiveness in terms of overall tone.

Thanks and appreciation.
Click to expand...


Your prize ... is the question - what the heck is growl ?

beefy I can almost get - but I think that is more the combination if the pickup AND the amp & cab in use - For instance the typical overwound sound has uh, beef. Beef in the flavor of a low mids bump that over shadows the *real* lows - basically you get a lot more 100 than you get 80 or 40. Muy Grandes would be an example - through my rig they sound lousy. Through a rig that doesn't have much going on down in the deeps - typical combo, badly tuned 1x15 cab, Schroeder 1212, 1210, 4x10 etc the mid bump kinda reinforces what the rig can do and it doesn't sound as bad to me. You can add Delano, SD 1/4 #, Antiquitiy II's, Dimarzio Ultra J to that list...

The point is that you have to take the pickup in the context that it will be used in.

Aggro sounding J Basses - to me, it has to do with being full range and clear. You want the upper mids to shine as that is where the grind I'm looking for lives AND you want very solid low' and low mid's for them to ride on. No mud in other words. The typical overwound pickup doesn't do that very well as the low mid's bump serves to mask a lot of the good stuff. A good Aggro J sound - to me it's all about balance...

My fav is the Vintage Vibe JBX-4 woulnd side by side. They rock!
 
#6
The Rio Grande Muy Grandes are very beefy and aggressive. Dying to try the Bardens, I've got several guitars with them. I expect them to be very clean and polite, but flexible with signal processing. Very neutral and versatile. The Fralins seem to be the most vintage sounding and the Delanos the most modern.
 
#7
Bleeds Horchata said:
I'm the millionth person asking for jazz pickup replacement help, do I win a prize?
Click to expand...
how about a free kick in the junk? :p

anyway, stock-wind fralins are all about the aggressive "grind", even though they're not overwound or anything. wire them with some 500k pots and you'll have all kinds of character in the sound.
 
#8
Another recommendation for Vintage Vibe here, and for "vintage spec" winds. Pete wound me a set of Jazz singles a while back, and they transformed my bass from "meh" to "fantastic!" They are extremely versatile pickups: Want grind and growl? no problem. Want soft and sweet? no problem. Want bright and snappy? no problem. The bridge pickup does the burpy Jazz thing in spades. They are extremely responsive.

Wait a minute -- what am I doing?! I've been on Pete's waiting list for a couple of weeks for my next Jazz set. I shouldn't be singing their praises here, or who knows what those waiting lists will be like in the future? Scratch all that. Please don't contact Pete for a set of pickups; get something else instead, ok? ;)
 
#10
ihave 2 mia jazzes a 74 and a 96 ... the only pup that comes close in terms of growl , which is more a 70's style pup and spacing than 60's in my experience is my 74 original pups. The closest after market of all those youve mentioned is actually...

seymour duncan sjb-2.... and Ive tried several.
 
#11
walterw said:
how about a free kick in the junk? :p

anyway, stock-wind fralins are all about the aggressive "grind", even though they're not overwound or anything. wire them with some 500k pots and you'll have all kinds of character in the sound.
Click to expand...

The Kick Michael In The Junk line is pretty long, bring your bass and a headphone amp, I've got a lot of ex-girlfriends angrily waiting for their turn to kick me in the giblets already.

:D

I hear a lot of people say changing the pots is also the way to go, what does this do? I'm quite rookie when it comes to the nuts & bolts tech side of things.
 
#13
I've had the Delanos and the Hinsleys. Hinsleys are/were very boomy, not so much growly. Fat.

Delano JMVC 4 FE/M2 (The ones with big single pole pieces) were deep and growly like all get out.

Dimarzio Ultra J's were too very growly.. I'm starting to notice that all the ceramic magnet pickups ive tried bring out more growl..

perhaps even some EMG J's (which I'm currently using) would give you that nasty growly tone your looking for, with a bit more refined sound when needed. The EMG J's are the only set that I've LOVED the solo bridge tone on, and the neck is great too solo. They still sound very J like, but go places that other sets have not done with vol-vol-tone. Again, ceramic magnets, bar style. Very low magnet strength, I've had them 2mm from the strings and they didn't stop the string from ringing true, but the sound was too aggressive for me.

I think keeping your bridge pickup as close to the strings as possible also brings out the growl in any J set.
 
#18
4Mal said:
...the typical overwound sound has uh, beef. Beef in the flavor of a low mids bump that over shadows the *real* lows - basically you get a lot more 100 than you get 80 or 40. Muy Grandes would be an example - through my rig they sound lousy. Through a rig that doesn't have much going on down in the deeps - typical combo, badly tuned 1x15 cab, Schroeder 1212, 1210, 4x10 etc the mid bump kinda reinforces what the rig can do and it doesn't sound as bad to me. You can add Delano, SD 1/4 #, Antiquitiy II's, Dimarzio Ultra J to that list...

The point is that you have to take the pickup in the context that it will be used in.

Aggro sounding J Basses - to me, it has to do with being full range and clear. You want the upper mids to shine as that is where the grind I'm looking for lives AND you want very solid low' and low mid's for them to ride on. No mud in other words. The typical overwound pickup doesn't do that very well as the low mid's bump serves to mask a lot of the good stuff. A good Aggro J sound - to me it's all about balance...
Click to expand...

Makes a lot of sense. The current stock Korean Tobias pickups are muddy and lack character. No grind. No nastiness. I've always heard mids are the source of the real audible beefiness of bass tone (or real lows as you put it) where as the lows are more felt then heard. Currently, the bass booms, but it's as if it's not really saying/voicing anything, it's simply hiding behind the girth of a three band EQ. Most of the time, I run an SVT4-Pro (for the time being, way intrigued with going full-tube) into an Avatar 2x12 and I play about 96% fingerstyle.

I should of just bought a stinking Fender Jazz instead of this Toby years ago, but I love the feel of the Tobias. Plus, I bought it off one of my best friends, so between the feel and the family, I'm kind of married to it, ha ha ha.

Cheers, man. Thanks.
 

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