"J" pickups discussion and comparisons - PART II

[David Canady]

Yeah....the SR800 seems like a rock bass to my ears....since I found this near mint 2003 MIM J bass, I find the SR800 to be complicated to play. Maybe I am just lazy! The sounds are there in the SR800 but its like I would need to spend a LOT of time with it whereas the MIM J bass is so simple. Do you favor either pickup in the SR800?

You want lazy....all my bass knobs are normally centered and I grab my tone from my Sansamp....meaning, I tap one button on the floor and my tone is set. I may lean towards my bridge pup just a little. My bass is a 79. I had to replace the preamp. The guy who owned it prior rewired the bass and screwed it all up. He had even added a switch to turn off the battery because he didn't know how to wire the jack to activate the power. I can't complain. $150 including the Ibanez hard case.

 

[Quilbert]

I have the Delano big pole piece pups on my passive Mayones Jabba 4 and they sound amazing. Great punch and clarity, would recommend these to anyone looking for a more focussed modern sounding jazz bass.

 

[winterburn69]

Putting Aguilar 4J-HCs into my Squier fretless J. Should I replace the pots as well?

 

[Stratro]

I have a 2016 Squire vintage modified jazz bass..
Should i replace the stock ( Seymour Duncan ) pick ups with Fender jazz bass ones?
If so, which ones do you recommend?
Are there any additional upgrades you recommend?

If not, why not?

Thanx in advance.

 

[JJR58]

Hey everyone.

Was looking for some suggestions since i came across this thread.
I've got Lollars in my '66 MIJ Jazz reissue.

Love the tone, but can't stand the noise when backing off the volume on either pup.
If i understand correctly, i would need split coil singles to eliminate the noise, correct?

If so, what would be your recommendations be, would love to stay in the realm of what these Lollars sound like, but don't mind straying a bit either tone wise.
And thanks in advance to anyone who cares to chime in.

 

[craigie]

Hey everyone.

Was looking for some suggestions since i came across this thread.
I've got Lollars in my '66 MIJ Jazz reissue.

Love the tone, but can't stand the noise when backing off the volume on either pup.
If i understand correctly, i would need split coil singles to eliminate the noise, correct?

If so, what would be your recommendations be, would love to stay in the realm of what these Lollars sound like, but don't mind straying a bit either tone wise.
And thanks in advance to anyone who cares to chime in.

I get brutal noise in my basement with my single coils but not other places. I have tried a dimarzio model PJ set, ultra jazz set and one area J neck with Nordstrom NJ4SE all split coil pickups. They all sound different and good in their.own way but none of them sound like single coils. You're not happy to play with both pickups full when you have a situation with lots of hum?

 

[JJR58]

I get brutal noise in my basement with my single coils but not other places. I have tried a dimarzio model PJ set, ultra jazz set and one area J neck with Nordstrom NJ4SE all split coil pickups. They all sound different and good in their.own way but none of them sound like single coils. You're not happy to play with both pickups full when you have a situation with lots of hum?

Thanks for the reply craigie.

The issue for me is, regarless, whether i roll one or the other back a bit, there's the infamous noise , hum, if you will that is inherent with traditional Jazz pickups.
I rarely play my Jazz with both full on.

And at times really favor the neck pup alone.
Which used alone sounds awesome, but just to much noise, now i don't know if a proper sheilding job would help at all, hence my thinking of going split coils, like Franlins or Delanos.

 

[craigie]

Thanks for the reply craigie.

The issue for me is, regarless, whether i roll one or the other back a bit, there's the infamous noise , hum, if you will that is inherent with traditional Jazz pickups.
I rarely play my Jazz with both full on.

And at times really favor the neck pup alone.
Which used alone sounds awesome, but just to much noise, now i don't know if a proper sheilding job would help at all, hence my thinking of going split coils, like Franlins or Delanos.

Strange, I don't get much hum in a lot of situations with my AM std jazz basses and you get it in all. Maybe you have no shielding? Copper shielding foil is cheap and easy. Maybe try that first and it doesn't hurt to have it in any case.

 

[JJR58]

Strange, I don't get much hum in a lot of situations with my AM std jazz basses and you get it in all. Maybe you have no shielding? Copper shielding foil is cheap and easy. Maybe try that first and it doesn't hurt to have it in any case.

Both full on, no hum, but you know the rest.

I haven't opened her up since having it, so i agree with you that there is probably no sheilding, i'll give that a try, i'm sure it will help a bunch, and thx craigie!

 

[craigie]

Both full on, no hum, but you know the rest.

I haven't opened her up since having it, so i agree with you that there is probably no sheilding, i'll give that a try, i'm sure it will help a bunch, and thx craigie!

You're welcome! Fender always uses shielding paint, so should be shielded? Not sure about fender Japan though. Lollars are expensive and people rave about them so would be a shame to pull them.

 

[JJR58]

You're welcome! Fender always uses shielding paint, so should be shielded? Not sure about fender Japan though. Lollars are expensive and people rave about them so would be a shame to pull them.

I love the Lollars, so i'll get the copper sheilding and give it a go, anything i need to know other then doing all the cavaties?
And much appreciate your help.

 

[JustJoe]

Jazz Shielding Pictorial (Big Images Warning)

This thread has images and instructions on shielding and grounding. Also answers lots of questions if you read through it. I need to do this to my Tagima j bass.

 

[Zoobiedood]

Wanting to hear some peoples feedback on p-pup's. I love quarterpounders but wanted to see some other options

I have a 2016 Squire vintage modified jazz bass..
Should i replace the stock ( Seymour Duncan ) pick ups with Fender jazz bass ones?
If so, which ones do you recommend?
Are there any additional upgrades you recommend?

If not, why not?

Thanx in advance.

Only you can answer this. Is there a sound you don't have that you want? Is hum a problem? Do you want a different tone/more power/etc?

 

[Joybass]

I love the Lollars, so i'll get the copper sheilding and give it a go, anything i need to know other then doing all the cavaties?
And much appreciate your help.

You should shield all cavities (with copper tape), interconnect them (solder a piece of wire to the copper tape) and connect the control cavity to ground. Best thing is to use a multimeter to make sure all cavities are grounded. Once this is properly done there should not be any hum, whatever the pickup setting. There are great threads here on TB where all of this is explained and illustrated.

 

[JJR58]

You should shield all cavities (with copper tape), interconnect them (solder a piece of wire to the copper tape) and connect the control cavity to ground. Best thing is to use a multimeter to make sure all cavities are grounded. Once this is properly done there should not be any hum, whatever the pickup setting. There are great threads here on TB where all of this is explained and illustrated.

Much appreciated!

 

[JIO]

Much appreciated!

Another option is using the black carbon shielding paint (3 coats) in the cavities and lining the base/bottom of each with copper tape. FYI, copper tape can be bought in any hardware store (slug-tape) cheaper than from Stew Mac etc. As Joybass said, solder a continuous wire from each pu cavity (soldered to the copper tape base of each) connected to the control cavity and on to the ground. Also copper tape the inside of the control cavity cover. Point is to create a closed box of shielding. On a P-bass pg, copper tape the lower horn above the cavity, I also run a strip of copper tape around the pu cut-out(s).

 

[JJR58]

Another option is using the black carbon shielding paint (3 coats) in the cavities and lining the base/bottom of each with copper tape. FYI, copper tape can be bought in any hardware store (slug-tape) cheaper than from Stew Mac etc. As Joybass said, solder a continuous wire from each pu cavity (soldered to the copper tape base of each) connected to the control cavity and on to the ground. Also copper tape the inside of the control cavity cover. Point is to create a closed box of shielding.

And I thank you as well JIO.
I've also come to realize, since I haven't had a J bass in a while, the other types of interference that occur depending in various rooms, at times it's barely noticeable and sometimes it's horendous.

I know this things have been discussed here. Everyone has been very helpful.

On top of the shielding, I now want to convert my J to stack knobs. Another thing in the mix for me to do.

 

[JIO]

And I thank you as well JIO.
I've also come to realize, since I haven't had a J bass in a while, the other types of interference that occur depending in various rooms, at times it's barely noticeable and sometimes it's horendous.

I know this things have been discussed here. Everyone has been very helpful.

On top of the shielding, I now want to convert my J to stack knobs. Another thing in the mix for me to do.

Once it's been successful shielded - the only 'buzz/hum' you'l have to contend w/is due to single-coil pu's, and that's just the nature of the beast. Split-coil J's are the solution and will give you a dead-quiet bass.

 

[JJR58]

Once it's been successful shielded - the only 'buzz/hum' you'l have to contend w/is due to single-coil pu's, and that's just the nature of the beast. Split-coil J's are the solution and will give you a dead-quiet bass.

I know, I'm torn between the Lollars and possibly putting in some split Fralins.

By the way, are you a TBird club member?

 

[JIO]

I know, I'm torn between the Lollars and possibly putting in some split Fralins.

By the way, are you a TBird club member?

I've use Fralins, Fender Super 55's, and Dimarzio Model J's - all good.