"J" pickups discussion and comparisons - PART II

[JIO]

As there are 18 pages I haven't time to go through every post, so I apologize if this has already been covered - but I recently installed the now discontinued Fender Pure Vintage 74 J set in a J that had Super 55's for the last 4 years. (splits vs singles) I very much liked the 55's but my bass has taken on a whole new character with the PV74's. Having never owned/played a 70's Fender, I can't say that they replicate that era's J pu's but I can say they sound great and sound very much what a Jazz bass should sound like to my ears. I understand the PV64's are very good also but they are very hard to come by being discontinued as well. I've read that these pu's are in the Flee trib J - I played one recently and it too sounded great.

 

[Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati]

Well my generalizations about those classic eras' pickups were the tonal goals when the different Antiquities were designed. I know that real vintage pickups varied greatly, but in general, the sound of a Fender pickup made in the 50s differed from the ones in the 60s, as well as the design of those classic basses.

Taking into account that there were no jazz bass pickups in the 50s so I don’t really understand the point ... what I know is that Antiquity I’s magnets should be made of AlNiCo 2 which should be the real difference between the two kinds of Ants.
However I yet have to read an acritic review of the two types of pickup from SD ...

 

[narud]

Well my generalizations about those classic eras' pickups were the tonal goals when the different Antiquities were designed. I know that real vintage pickups varied greatly, but in general, the sound of a Fender pickup made in the 50s differed from the ones in the 60s, as well as the design of those classic basses.

im talking about antiquity pickups. theyre not wound with a set number of turns like the sjb1's which consistently sound the same from set to set. the antiquity's are random like vintage pickups. ive owned more sets of 1's and 2's than i can remember over the years and some of them come with the amount of turns i like for the sound im going for and other times i send them back in to mj to pull windings to get them where i like them. but theres definitely no, "ant1's sound like x and ant 2's sound like y" generalizations that can be made. at least with the experiences ive had with the jazz bass sets.

 

[narud]

Taking into account that there were no jazz bass pickups in the 50s so I don’t really understand the point ... what I know is that Antiquity I’s magnets should be made of AlNiCo 2 which should be the real difference between the two kinds of Ants.
However I yet have to read an acritic review of the two types of pickup from SD ...

ive posted quite a bit about the 2 different antiquity sets over the years. given the same amount of turns, the ant 1's are a little softer in the high mids than the ant 2's. pre cbs pickups have a high mid content combined with a top end presence which most "vintage" pickups miss out on ime. the ant 1's get there a little closer.

 

[Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati]

ive posted quite a bit about the 2 different antiquity sets over the years. given the same amount of turns, the ant 1's are a little softer in the high mids than the ant 2's. pre cbs pickups have a high mid content combined with a top end presence which most "vintage" pickups miss out on ime. the ant 1's get there a little closer.

I’ve listened to several sound samples from Norstrand’s NJ4V single coil pickups ... mainly 70s winding (should thus be of some importance) ... they seemed to me as the epitome of what I would consider a vintage sounding jazz bass pickups ... also Lollars are quite convincing from this point of view .... I am looking for a Jaco-like tone refurbishing my Fender MM jazz bass ...
This bass has got a preamp but no passive tone control; I’ll swap it for a Pope ... thd bass is currently equipped with Fender Super 55 split-coil pickups ... do you suggest changing the pickups towards SD Ant. 1, Nordstrand or Lollar?

 

[eastcoasteddie]

Zobie you work for SD? Super good ... shall I go for SD Antiquity I (AlNiCo 2 right?) to look for Jaco or Antiquity II?
Planning to make my Fender MM jazz bass a passive one ... need powerful bug mid-rich bass tone from bridge pickup

How about the SD “weather report” pickups?

 

[Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati]

How about the SD “weather report” pickups?

What thd hell??? SD Weather Report?

 

[eastcoasteddie]

What thd hell??? SD Weather Report?

Yes. Seymour Duncan re-wired Jaco’s pickups when he smashed the Bass of Doom (at least that’s what I remember reading...i could be wrong about when the pickups were rewired...) and sent it to Florida to get put back together. SD started offering these pickups when Seymour cleaned out some 30 years of notes out of his desk and found the piece of paper on which he wrote the specs of Jaco’s pickups.

Weather Report

 

[JIO]

Yes. Seymour Duncan re-wired Jaco’s pickups when he smashed the Bass of Doom (at least that’s what I remember reading...i could be wrong about when the pickups were rewired...) and sent it to Florida to get put back together. SD started offering these pickups when Seymour cleaned out some 30 years of notes out of his desk and found the piece of paper on which he wrote the specs of Jaco’s pickups.

Weather Report

You can't fool me - it's obviously the Tokai Jazz Bass that is responsible for that sound.

 

[Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati]

Yes. Seymour Duncan re-wired Jaco’s pickups when he smashed the Bass of Doom (at least that’s what I remember reading...i could be wrong about when the pickups were rewired...) and sent it to Florida to get put back together. SD started offering these pickups when Seymour cleaned out some 30 years of notes out of his desk and found the piece of paper on which he wrote the specs of Jaco’s pickups.

Weather Report

WOW!! Ok Tokai made a good job, but the pickups sound phenomenal ... i'd say, they have to as are not cheap ... but thank you for the valuable info!

 

[JIO]

WOW!! Ok Tokai made a good job, but the pickups sound phenomenal ... i'd say, they have to as are not cheap ... but thank you for the valuable info!

Sorry Gianni, I was being cheeky - the pu's are where a basses sound originates from and those pu's sound good - but Tokai does make a nice bass no doubt!

 

[JJR58]

I've grown tired of my Lollar's, great p/up's, don't get me wrong. Just looking for something completely different. So i just got a set of these.
They're the Apollo's.

 

[TonyP-]

I have put myself into a dilemma.
My Squier VMJV came with Fender-Designed pickups. I’m sure many of you are probably familiar with them, the pickups in mine are VERY bright. I have to keep the tone rolled off about 75% to keep the zing tamed. Another thing that bugs me about them is that to get the tone I want out of the bridge pickup, I need to set it really close to the strings.
They ohm’ed out at 7.5k neck and 7.8k Bridge. The windings are probably some sort of cheap copper-alloy material (darker in color than 100% copper), and the windings are not very neat. A couple of the alnico magnets are chipped on the edges.

About 9 months ago, I bought a used set of Duncan QP’s. They sound absolutely HUGE. Big bottom, decent midrange, not at all too bright. They sound great with 50-100% tone, but below 50% they seem to lose a bit of midrange. At 0% tone, they have a huge bottom presence, upper-mids are almost gone.

This brings be to an interesting observation regarding these two sets. The Fender pickups are mega-scooped when both are used, but seem to have more midrange when one pickup is soloed. The Duncan’s have huge midrange when both are used. But when soloed, they seem to have a bit less.

I would like a pickup that sort of morphs the characteristics of both of these sets. High-output with big bottom, but not lose the midrange so much, and a brightness that is somewhere between the two.
Is that even possible?

This bass has an SD 2-band Blackout preamp along with the passive tone control.
Would an Audere 3-Band Jazz plate give me more midrange for the QP’s?
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Or will I be on the quest for yet another pickup, winding up with 10 sets before I find the right one?

I love the Audere pre BUT the low Z function would be. To much for the Quater Ponders and Dimarzio model J.
That is a lot of lows and lower mids...

For those pickups a more neutral pre works better (like the Nordstrand) IMHO

 

[UmamiBass]

Waiting to try them well with a Flexcore installed in lieu of the stock preamp on my MM jazz bass ..

So I've been using these for a few weeks now, and I really like them! I thought these may be a hold over set until I could grab some Nordstrands or the hum cancelling Novak jazz pickups. I really appreciate their clean sound and full range. I haven't noticed that the high end has been significantly rolled off, and I don't hear that they are over wound too much to have more of a woolly characteristic associated with other "hotter" pickups. While they aren't as "raw" sounding as real single coils, they have a great modern voiced vibe that really works well with the East preamp that I have installed in my Custom Classic Jazz Bass.

 

[Maxfenderbass]

Hey guys, I have an American Standard jazz bass that I want to make as 70's sounding as possible. Obviously it will never be exact with the 60's spacing that the standards have, but I've tried the CS 60's and Seymour Duncan SJB-2 and they just aren't cutting it for me. Any Suggestions?

 

[mobdirt]

Hey guys, I have an American Standard jazz bass that I want to make as 70's sounding as possible. Obviously it will never be exact with the 60's spacing that the standards have, but I've tried the CS 60's and Seymour Duncan SJB-2 and they just aren't cutting it for me. Any Suggestions?

Suhrs, not the humphreys.

 

[TonyP-]

Hey guys, I have an American Standard jazz bass that I want to make as 70's sounding as possible. Obviously it will never be exact with the 60's spacing that the standards have, but I've tried the CS 60's and Seymour Duncan SJB-2 and they just aren't cutting it for me. Any Suggestions?

Nordstrand NJs 70s wind is as close as you will get...

For those who want a 70s bass with the pierod pickup spacing and all and don't want to break the bank with a Fender reissue.

Warmoth - Build a body option (I have never seen a body in the showcase have that option unless it's one of the crazy figured top ones that have not been drilled yet).
It's a $45 option and its you can really hear it. I always keep one bass in the stable like this (Ash - 70s wound NJ4 - Maple board).

 

[winegamd]

Nordstrand NJs 70s wind is as close as you will get...

For those who want a 70s bass with the pierod pickup spacing and all and don't want to break the bank with a Fender reissue.

Warmoth - Build a body option (I have never seen a body in the showcase have that option unless it's one of the crazy figured top ones that have not been drilled yet).
It's a $45 option and its you can really hear it. I always keep one bass in the stable like this (Ash - 70s wound NJ4 - Maple board).

Carey is good at working with what you want. He would probably do an underwound pickup for you to meet your needs.

 

[Rbh]

Hello all - My first post here and I'm hoping someone can advise. I'm repairing a 73 Jazz neck pick-up. It's Ohming out at about 4 meg and drifting to about 2 meg. The Bridge is about 7.2 K. So I'm going to take it apart to check termination and maybe peel a wind if needed and re-terminate. So, my though is - if this strikes out - would there be any value to baking it out and should I need to reseal w varnish ? I'm presuming a mild temp of 175 deg F to 200 deg F for about an hour.

 

[UmamiBass]

Waiting to try them well with a Flexcore installed in lieu of the stock preamp on my MM jazz bass ..

How did you end up liking your pickups? I've had mine for a while now, and I think they're pretty good for the most part, but have a but too much sparkle when combined with my East preamp. I'm going to take the preamp down to a 9v setup soon, and am changing out the wiring to include a higher value capacitor right before it hits the preamp to see if it smooths them out a little.

While they were a great value, and do most things well, I'm kind of missing my Nordstrand NJ4SV + 2 band that I had on a previous jazz bass that got stolen from me. I'm still thinking about checking out the Fralin Splits and having Curtis Novak wind some splits for me also, to keep the East preamp installed. I just want something that has a little more growl and a little more vintage type vibe. I'm not sure if the Nordstrands will do that exactly.