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"J" pickups discussion and comparisons - PART II

#502
gareth travis said:
Fender custom shop 60s jazz pickups are worth owning once as a non- noiseless referance (and i believe would work just great for your requirements) if u don't completely love them they will be easy enough to sell on but also make a great comparative referance to any other "vintage" style set u buy ... my 5 cents Fender still do their own single coils designs well but should stay away from noiseless designs ... far better companies selling "noiseless" products for J bass
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What would you say are the best noiseless J pickups out there?

What are some favourite noiseless J pickups?

(Don't need any or want any, just curious. I have a set of noiseless Aguilars in my fretless Jazz that I really really like)
 
#503
I have Dimarzio Ultras in a few and they are rock solid, very classic tone, sound great. I have a set of Sadowskys in one and honestly can't tell them apart from the Dimarzio's (I suspect the Sadowsky magic is the preamp). I love the Fender Super 55s, pity they don't make them any more. Hands down my favorite right now is the Bartolini B-AXis, but definitely not classic, full, loud, tons of presence.
 
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#504
InnerBass said:
Hey Pbassmanca-

I don't have any sound clips yet, but I have had a lot of gig / rehearsal time with some different boutique pickups and here is my take :

First off, I have been playing bass since I was a kid and I've never looked back. I'm not a techie kind or gear head, but I do know what I'm looking for, as far as copping a tone for a particular project goes. Lately, it's been either a vintage Fender P/J tone or that deep/pre-amped 5 string tone that I cover with an FBass.

I have a '68 P bass and a '66 J Bass - both alder / rosewood. I had Lollars in both, with the J Bass having the bridge pickup 10% overwound. I also have a Mike Lull V4 (passive J) and it had Fender Select pickups in it - which I really like. I replaced the FS pickups in the Lull with a set of Klein '62 J's and that bass just pops now. Absolutely wonderful pickups. The Lollars ended up sounding bland/boring to me, in comparison to the other two. They are indeed "balanced", but I just found them to be lacking in the "personality department", as it applies to pickups. They were great for my last recording project because the bass needed to be "felt", as opposed to being "punchy". One person's "dull" is another person's "warm". One person's "balanced" is another person's "flat". I do know that even with the treble all the way up, the Lollars weren't the least bit harsh or brittle. I couldn't get much "sizzle" with the Lollars - but that is what I wanted at the time.

Here is a link to the recording with the Lollar P in the '68. The last song (Still Gonna Want You) was recorded with an all original '75 P Bass. TI Flats on both.
Amp was either 400 + / Verellen Meatsmoke / or Thunderfunk 800. Berg HD212.



As far as the Klein's go, I think they are tremendous pickups, if you like a pickup that allows you a lot of space to shape the tone with your fingers. You can slap, finger funk, thumb pluck and they'll respond perfectly. On their site, they claim to have sent magnets from a '62 Jazz bass to a magnet manufacturer to have them analyzed and copied exactly, as far as magnet composition goes. Something like that. All I know is I liked their '62 J pickups so much that I put a Klein '62 split coil in the '68 P bass. The bass just seemed to come back to life. The tone felt "airy" again. It had so much more clarity than the Lollar, but the response was still really smooth. The tone wasn't "colored" or "affected" by the pickup wind, but it had it's own tone personality which seemed "sunnier" without being "sizzly". I am really excited to hear these pickups on our next album.

So here's where it gets interesting. I mentioned I took out the Fender Select J pickups out of the Lull, in favor of the Kleins. So then I took the Lollars out of the 66 J Bass and replaced them with the Fender Select pickups - WOW !! It's a totally different bass. I had Lindys in there prior to the Lollars and they were a bit too aggressive for me. But while the Lollars were good for that classic J thumpy kind of vibe, these Fender Selects feel like they have brought some life back to her. Sometimes I really like to dig in with my finger picking. And both of these pickups (Klein/FS) took it and responded without honking, but growling like a good J should. Now with the Lull and the 69 J, I feel like I have more room to express myself tonally, without fear of the dreaded ugly overdriven high end nastiness. I never feel like I am going to have a note honk/fart out from plucking it too hard. The response on both are superb.

SO - here's what a set of Fender Select J Pickups looks like on the bottom.

View attachment 1174977



I have seen these numbers on a few Fender Select pickups posted by reputable TB'ers. The numbers match other Fender Selects I've seen on the web. But here's what's odd. Those ID #'s (this is from a trusted TB source) are also on the Am Std Jazz pickups as well. Are they the same pickups? Was there a slight tweak internally but Fender used the same casings? Who knows. It would be great if other TB'er who have Fender Select pickups would post photos of the pickup ID #'s on their undersides. The more info the better. But whether the Fender Select pickups are unique to those basses or not, I sure dig them. I actually had a local luthier tell me these pickups (with these numbers) were Fender's cheap pickups from the factory in Mexico. I personally have no idea, but I do know I like the way they sound - cheap or not.

What's interesting is the output on these both the Kleins and the Fender Select pickups are a bit lower than other brands. I like that because between my amps and my picking style I have plenty of output / headroom for a passive bass without a "hot" set of J/P pickups. I find that if the pickup is too hot, it restricts my playing freely, as well as my amp's voicing.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I'll do the best I can to answer.

Cheers!

RBJ
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Fundamental and seminal post on J bass pickups ... thanks :thumbsup:
 
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#506
Pbassmanca said:
Excellent thanks for the review. The fact that they are dynamically responsive without having an overbearing top-end means they just might fit the bill of what I'm looking for. If you have the cavity shielded well and the studio is wired properly, you might be able to get away without running both pickups on full..;)
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Pbassmanca, have actually bought and install the Klein 62?
If so, how do you like them?
 
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#507
_Some Dude said:
Has anyone compared Fender CS 60s to Pure Vintage 64s?

I've tried doing a search but I'm not getting anything really useful.
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Good question ... I like my CS60's but I consider them being a little bit too quiet ... I mean, not growly enough, certainly not as growly as what we can hear in the Fender commercial video on YouTube with the Am. Std. played by Mel Brown which link I have attached herewith:



Is anybody getting such a growly sound using an Am. Std. jazz bass with CS60s pickups?
 
#509
Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati said:
Pbassmanca, have actually bought and install the Klein 62?
If so, how do you like them?
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You know what, I have not bought a set yet as it's not in the budget at the moment. Unfortunately a set of Klein 62's is $240 US which with exchange into CAN dollars plus shipping, and duty, comes in between 350 - 400 dollars. I would really like to order a set within the next 6 months , so hopefully business is good and the money will be in the budget!
 
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#511
I'm really looking for Jazz Bass pickups that have a good balance of nice useful lows and growly mids with a healthy bit of "wood" and "openness" in the tone. I can happily do without a lot of high end and sizzling treble, in fact, I would be happy if the pickups have a more moderate treble range even with the tone pot fully open. What say those of you with experience with various jazz bass pickups?
 
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#512
Pbassmanca said:
I'm really looking for Jazz Bass pickups that have a good balance of nice useful lows and growly mids with a healthy bit of "wood" and "openness" in the tone. I can happily do without a lot of high end and sizzling treble, in fact, I would be happy if the pickups have a more moderate treble range even with the tone pot fully open. What say those of you with experience with various jazz bass pickups?
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Klein Epic 62 Jazz or Nordys of any single coil variety
 
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#514
Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati said:
Good question ... I like my CS60's but I consider them being a little bit too quiet ... I mean, not growly enough, certainly not as growly as what we can hear in the Fender commercial video on YouTube with the Am. Std. played by Mel Brown which link I have attached herewith:



Is anybody getting such a growly sound using an Am. Std. jazz bass with CS60s pickups?
Click to expand...

Mel is a great player, but God, that wrist angle looks precarious.......
 
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#515
Pbassmanca said:
I'm really looking for Jazz Bass pickups that have a good balance of nice useful lows and growly mids with a healthy bit of "wood" and "openness" in the tone. I can happily do without a lot of high end and sizzling treble, in fact, I would be happy if the pickups have a more moderate treble range even with the tone pot fully open. What say those of you with experience with various jazz bass pickups?
Click to expand...
It sounds like your describing Dimazio Model J.
They pair nicely with that Norstrand Pre
 
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#518
Pbassmanca said:
Mel is a great player, but God, that wrist angle looks precarious.......
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Both hands! -my technique/positioning isn't 'textbook' but closer to it than that! Glad to see a respected player with less than 'ideal' form - makes me feel better about mine. I'm actually not that sensitive about 'form' - there are plenty of famous players (guitar and bass) with more 'creative' approaches...
 
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#519
Pbassmanca said:
I've never really considered the DiMarzio's and I'm looking for a strictly passive setup, but maybe they're worth checking out. :thumbsup:
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They are aggressive but yet still sound Jazz like...The top end is there but not sizzily at all, a bit thicker actually.
Very full sounding and based on your description you have to check them out...
 
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#520
Anybody had a chance to compared the Fender Pure Vintage '74's to Nordstrand NP4's with the 70's wind? Looking for something a bit different than '60's style Jazz pickups. Wouldn't mind a slightly brighter bridge pickup though I've been curious if adding a treble bleed mod to my neck pot might get me where I wanna go.
 

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