I have single coil Fralins in my 2006 American dlx jazz 5 with no noise whatsoever. Everything else is original. Sounds good.
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"J" pickups discussion and comparisons - PART II
- Thread starter grygrx
- Start date
I have single coil Fralins in my 2006 American dlx jazz 5 with no noise whatsoever. Everything else is original. Sounds good.
My 2 builds
MIM Jazz 4 early 90s: Duncan Hot Jazz With Audere 3 band Pro Z. Mids & Aggression!
Squier VM Jazz 5: Stock Duncan Designed With Audere 4 band Pro Z. More traditional Jazz but with so many more tones
My pick of the 2? The VM Jazz 5... awesome grounding in these things. Stock duncan designed pickups are pretty good (Audere actually convinced me to keep em) Glad I did.
Audere Pres are the real deal.
The Hot Jazz pickups are very nice... aggressive mid forward musicman aggression more than what I would call a jazz honk tone.
MIM Jazz 4 early 90s: Duncan Hot Jazz With Audere 3 band Pro Z. Mids & Aggression!
Squier VM Jazz 5: Stock Duncan Designed With Audere 4 band Pro Z. More traditional Jazz but with so many more tones
My pick of the 2? The VM Jazz 5... awesome grounding in these things. Stock duncan designed pickups are pretty good (Audere actually convinced me to keep em) Glad I did.
Audere Pres are the real deal.
The Hot Jazz pickups are very nice... aggressive mid forward musicman aggression more than what I would call a jazz honk tone.
I have the J Retro on my Geddy. Sounds the same and gives me tonal flexibility at my fingertips. I recommend.
I currently have DiMarzio model J‘s in my FSR Jazz. I love the tone and punch from the neck PU, but the bridge just sounds too thin. I want to go for a 70's style tone with some grit to it, like Geddy on Rush in Rio. So I'm trying to decide between Nordy 70's wind or aguilar's J70's. Anyone got opinions on these pickups? Also, can i freely mix n' match pickups?
Hey all! I'm looking to replace the pickups in my Fender Jaguar bass and could use some suggestions.
What I'm hoping to hear is a big but tight low end and a more punchy/aggressive midrange (not burpy). I'd also prefer if the highs were a little less harsh than my current set.
Thanks!
What I'm hoping to hear is a big but tight low end and a more punchy/aggressive midrange (not burpy). I'd also prefer if the highs were a little less harsh than my current set.
Thanks!
Love the Nordys in my Geddy. Paired with a John East preamp and my Darkglass B7K it's as close to Geddy's tone as I'll ever get without chopping his hands off.
Does anyone have personal experience with Nordstrand NJ4SV and Aguilar AG 4J-HC pickups? If so, how do they compare?
thanks!
thanks!
The conclusion has been reached that Quarter Pounders are all about the body mass.
I had a pair laying around form a few years ago, when they resided in my honey-QMT G&L JB-2. With a black J pickguard lying around, and Squier Affinity J's now coming in a color to match the band logo, and selling for under $200US, I had a perfect excuse to put it together.
I am hard-pressed to recall the G&L sounding as good, with these pickups. The only other variable in the whole equation, sonically, would be the larger offset body of the J, and I was quite impressed with what it enabled the pickups to give me (and I use several different tones via the mere 3-knobs, too). Thicker P-bass rock and picked lines were great with the neck pickup wide open, and the bridge at 9/10. Authoritative burp came with the bridge favored in similar fashion, for lighter tunes, and a smiley slap curve was had with all pots wide open, when it's time to bring the funk.
I have not changed the bridge to a high-mass, yet, and think that I might not, for a while. I kinda like having a nicely-made, personalized beater J for acoustic gigs, and Mexico gigs.
I had a pair laying around form a few years ago, when they resided in my honey-QMT G&L JB-2. With a black J pickguard lying around, and Squier Affinity J's now coming in a color to match the band logo, and selling for under $200US, I had a perfect excuse to put it together.
I am hard-pressed to recall the G&L sounding as good, with these pickups. The only other variable in the whole equation, sonically, would be the larger offset body of the J, and I was quite impressed with what it enabled the pickups to give me (and I use several different tones via the mere 3-knobs, too). Thicker P-bass rock and picked lines were great with the neck pickup wide open, and the bridge at 9/10. Authoritative burp came with the bridge favored in similar fashion, for lighter tunes, and a smiley slap curve was had with all pots wide open, when it's time to bring the funk.
I have not changed the bridge to a high-mass, yet, and think that I might not, for a while. I kinda like having a nicely-made, personalized beater J for acoustic gigs, and Mexico gigs.
I have those Nordies in a roadworn j. I can only compare them to the original pups and Fralin Split J's.
I can't compare them to the Aggies, sorry.
In general terms I find the bridge pickup (which I use a lot) to sound extremely faithful to the originals with similar output, plus of course noise cancelling, which is a particularly big deal at one of my regular venues. I'm always happy with the bridge pickup.
The neck pup I'm not so keen on and find it a bit on the "polite" side which may be good or bad, depending. I've tried different heights and right hand positions (I play exclusively finger style) and not been able to too happy with it generally.
For context, I mostly play blues, light jazz and some country. On both my J's I run TIJF's and I'm a bit strange in that I mostly use the bridge pickup but pluck fairly close to the neck.
Doubt this will help you much, but there you go.
I will say, my choice of the pups I've tried so far would be the Fralin Split J's.
Mike
- Aug 21, 2003
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- Disclosures
- A-Designs Mike Lull GK Tsunami Cables GHS Strings RMI Basswitch Nordstrand Pickups Darkglass
Thanks Mike,
I actually have the Nordstrands in my fretless Jazz. They sound very good, but there's something missing. I'd agree that maybe they sound a bit "polite." I've got Dimarzio Area Js in my fretted Jazz bass, and I love the sound of those, and while I originally thought they sounded pretty similar (I had put one of the Dimarzios in my fretless for a quick test), the my fretted jazz has a bit more aggressive sound. Obviously, it also has frets, so it's hard to make an apples to apples comparison.
I'm curious about the Aguilars because I like their other products, but I have no idea whether they're worth a substantial amount of money of the Area Js.
I actually have the Nordstrands in my fretless Jazz. They sound very good, but there's something missing. I'd agree that maybe they sound a bit "polite." I've got Dimarzio Area Js in my fretted Jazz bass, and I love the sound of those, and while I originally thought they sounded pretty similar (I had put one of the Dimarzios in my fretless for a quick test), the my fretted jazz has a bit more aggressive sound. Obviously, it also has frets, so it's hard to make an apples to apples comparison.
I'm curious about the Aguilars because I like their other products, but I have no idea whether they're worth a substantial amount of money of the Area Js.
Fender just released some new "Pure Vintage" Jazz pickups.
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f38/fender-pure-vintage-pickups-1048619/
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f38/fender-pure-vintage-pickups-1048619/
Hey, you guys seem to have experience with some pickups I'm torn between. I'm looking for some split coil jazz pickup that have a good upper mid (600-900hz) growl, sort of like Geddy Lee's overdriven Ric tone, specifically in the bridge pickup.
I was originally thinking Nordstrand NJ4SV's, but Mike, you said you refered the Lindy Fralin split coils. Can you elaborate why this is? And possibly which one has a better upper mid growl?
Also Jonathan, would you say the more aggressive sound of the Dimarzio area J's be caused by a bump in the low or upper mids?
Thanks in advance guys, Matt
Matt,
I'd say it's upper mids, but I'll do my darndest to remember to record some examples tomorrow, and you can hear for yourself.
Jonathan
I'd say it's upper mids, but I'll do my darndest to remember to record some examples tomorrow, and you can hear for yourself.
Jonathan
Matt, they are both very strong on mids, and I doubt you'd be let down by either of them. I have them on identical instruments with identical strings (but of different ages), and really, for frequency response across the spectrum, for my ears it would be splitting hairs between them. If forced I would say the Fralins might be a little stronger in the mids, but it's really not much, particularly in the bridge position.
Overall my Fralins are rather hotter output, which for me is good if you're shooting for a high mid snarly sound. This puzzles me somewhat since when I got these pickups I recall checking that the output was pretty near identical in their specs but I can only report what I'm hearing. THis applies particularly to the neck pickup which I only use for recording anyway, live I use the bridge all the time and alter tone by moving my plucking hand position.
The Nordies have one cute feature - the corners of the covers are rounded which is nice when you're sliding your thumb around the place, as I do.
Short story, I have both pickups, in identical basses, identical strings. Every time I head out the door for a gig I pick the one with the Fralins, even if I feel like the other bass is playing a bit nicer for whatever reason. If the Fralins bass is out of action cause I'm fiddling with setup and haven't got it quite right, I can certainly gig with the Nordies.
Mike
Overall my Fralins are rather hotter output, which for me is good if you're shooting for a high mid snarly sound. This puzzles me somewhat since when I got these pickups I recall checking that the output was pretty near identical in their specs but I can only report what I'm hearing. THis applies particularly to the neck pickup which I only use for recording anyway, live I use the bridge all the time and alter tone by moving my plucking hand position.
The Nordies have one cute feature - the corners of the covers are rounded which is nice when you're sliding your thumb around the place, as I do.
Short story, I have both pickups, in identical basses, identical strings. Every time I head out the door for a gig I pick the one with the Fralins, even if I feel like the other bass is playing a bit nicer for whatever reason. If the Fralins bass is out of action cause I'm fiddling with setup and haven't got it quite right, I can certainly gig with the Nordies.
Mike
Thank you both for your replies.
Mike, I am going for the high mid snarly sound, so I appreciate your feedback regarding the Fralins. The Fralins can be purchased with an even set or with a 5% overwind on the bridge pickup. Do you recall which set you purchased? I'm wondering if you got the 5% overwinded bridge which is why you feel that you're getting a higher output.
And Jonathan, thanks for your opinion too. You don't have to go through the hassle of recording a sample though.
Unfortunately, now I seem to be stuck between the Area J's and Fralins.
I know the Area J's can be wired in series or parallel, but I don't know if the Fralins can be wired up this way (they would require four conductors). Mike do you know if the Fralins can indeed be wired up this way?
Also, do you guys recall which pots and capacitors you guys used? I'm thinking of using 500k pots to get a little more brightness and possible output, but I'm not sure which capacitor(s) would be good. I'll be doing independent Volume and Tone pots for each pickup. The bridge I want that high mid snarly tone, but the neck I may want more of a warmer quality, which is also why I'm curious about the series/parallel options.
Thanks guys,
Matt
Too late! I already recorded some samples. I see you're in Toronto, so as a citizen of Buffalo, we'll consider this my small in helping to heal the lingering 200-year-old wounds of the war of 1812.
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It's a 99 American Jazz bass with DiMarzio Area J pickups. I didn't replace the pots or cap, so they're just whatever the stock ones are. I recorded through a Universal Audio LA-610 with the EQ flat and the compressor bypassed. Here's the order:
• Both pickups on full, tone on full, finger style
• Just the neck pickup, tone on full, finger style
• Just the bridge pickup, tone on full, finger style
• Both pickups on full, tone on full, played with a pick
• Just the neck pickup, tone on full, played with a pick
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
It's a 99 American Jazz bass with DiMarzio Area J pickups. I didn't replace the pots or cap, so they're just whatever the stock ones are. I recorded through a Universal Audio LA-610 with the EQ flat and the compressor bypassed. Here's the order:
• Both pickups on full, tone on full, finger style
• Just the neck pickup, tone on full, finger style
• Just the bridge pickup, tone on full, finger style
• Both pickups on full, tone on full, played with a pick
• Just the neck pickup, tone on full, played with a pick
