J-Bass pickup question

[pmfman]

Considering I want a low end tone (yes, I realize we are talking basses here) and often have the bridge pickup turned down slightly more than the neck; how would it sound if I installed a second bridge pickup in place of the neck pickup?

 

[Diesel Kilgore]

It depends what pickup you're looking at and possibly what DC resist you're considering. For the tone you're looking for as a general guide...match the dc output on the neck with the bridge. Bridge pickups usually always have a higher output.

It's obvious you already understand this. So I would just buy 2 bridge pups at the same K and try it.

If you're experimenting and unsure and don't want to burn a ton of cash finding out...GFS or Dragonfire pickups are a great place to look.

 

[pmfman]

That's exactly it, I don't want to waste money experimenting on something I haven't tried. I was considering either getting an oem bridge pickup for simplicity and cost, or possibly get lace sensors for both if I know it will sound good. The problem is that I cant find anyone that has done it on bass and recorded it.

 

[Sid the Kid]

Single coil hum all of the time. Plus you would have to route your body and/or pickguard for the privilege. No thank you.

 

[Diesel Kilgore]

The closest I've come to this is on a Squier Bronco where it only has a single pickup. Stratocaster style.

I used a bridge position pickup because it had the highest output.

That bass absolutely rocked. If it had 2 pickups I'd buy both bridge position and only worry about wiring them parallel or series. I might actually worry about toning them down!

I wouldn't hesitate trying a 2 bridge pup setup for your J. It's something I would go for....definitely....actually sounds very interesting for me to want to do.

Again, take a look at Dragonfire. They have good pickups and I've used them before and you won't spend more than $40. Their bridge pups are either 6.4k in Ceramic or Alnico 5. GFS has a 10k bridge J.

 

[JIO]

I'm not sure if I'm reading you clearly, but on my (custom) build I switched the 2 60's vintage Teisco single-coil pu's (same size) so the neck pu is at the bridge/bridge pu at the neck and it sounds great. I play (right hand) at the bridge primarily so it favors doing so w/o compromising girth. It also has a coil-split switch which adds tone flavors. As far as doing this on a J - there are J's that have same-size pu's. I have a MII Squier from 2000 and have owned a '93 Jazz Plus that had same size pu's.

 

[MobileHolmes]

I'm not sure if I'm following what you are trying to do here. Are you wanting a higher output pickup in the neck? Some J sets have a slightly hotter bridge pickup (but not by much), others are equal (I've even seen older fenders where the bridge pickup was lower output than the neck, they just didn't seem to check). Or are you trying to do a 3 pickup bass with a middle pickup near the neck pickup? You may still want a neck pickup for that role. J bridge pickups are wider than the neck pickups to get the pole piece spacing right. The bridge pickup near the neck might not line up right.

 

[pmfman]

I'm not sure if I'm following what you are trying to do here. Are you wanting a higher output pickup in the neck? Some J sets have a slightly hotter bridge pickup (but not by much), others are equal (I've even seen older fenders where the bridge pickup was lower output than the neck, they just didn't seem to check). Or are you trying to do a 3 pickup bass with a middle pickup near the neck pickup? You may still want a neck pickup for that role. J bridge pickups are wider than the neck pickups to get the pole piece spacing right. The bridge pickup near the neck might not line up right.

I want higher output on the neck

Single coil hum all of the time. Plus you would have to route your body and/or pickguard for the privilege. No thank you.

I'm not too concerned about the natural hum with my rack mounted compressor

GFS

 

[MobileHolmes]

I want higher output on the neck



GFS

Just get a hotter neck model pickup then. Duncan Quarter pounder would be one choice. There are also some decent humbucking J pickups that might help

 

[Zoobiedood]

'Neck' and 'bridge' are just labels, but many basses use differently sized pickups (by a few mm), so there is that to consider, too. I am a fan of just using a slightly hotter neck pickup in the neck if the size of the pickup is an issue.