I have a set of Fender CS60's coming today or tomorrow, I'm going to use them to replace the stock pickups in my MiA '99 Jazz.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
"J" pickups discussion and comparisons - PART II
- Thread starter grygrx
- Start date
Exactly what I did with my 2010 AM STD...They have a very nice tone and growl...Surprised that they seem to have a lower output. I am very happy and would not change them...It has been many years , but I think they are similar to my Fralins
CS60s are what I had swapped into my MIM FSR Ash Jazz as well.
Just to add to the discussion / knowledge base: Fender Yosemite Jazz pickups.
I bought a Squier James Johnston Signature Jazz Bass, with the idea I'd hot-rod it. The OEM pickups were alnico and just fine, but this was going to be a 'project' bass, so there they went.
I originally envisioned it with full-tilt EMG, but then thought I'd be a little silly to wind up with a $900 Squier !
I was trying to decide what to use instead, and it dawned on me, 'what happens to all those take-out pickups?' AFTER guys bought Fralins, EMG's, Seymours, etc. Lo and behold I found a set of as-new 'take-out' Fender Yosemites in Cali from just such an occurrence. $60 (half of brand new price) and I got them for the JJ Jazz. They were, indeed, as new and no problem to install. They'd been carefully un-soldered and removed, wire ends trimmed neatly with plenty enough length left for easy install.
So, my take is they are very modern sounding, more like an EMG or Bart tone than a traditional Jazz tone. More than useable and very quiet in my application whether solo'd or singled. The neck is very meaty, and the bridge pickup is a lighter tone, but not thin or tinny. In this installation, I like them a lot.
I'd also recommend shopping for 'take-outs': There's lots of pickups out there that got yanked right off the bat, and often are for sale in Reverb and the other usual suspects for very reasonable prices, from guys looking to try and make some money back on their updates.
I bought a Squier James Johnston Signature Jazz Bass, with the idea I'd hot-rod it. The OEM pickups were alnico and just fine, but this was going to be a 'project' bass, so there they went.
I originally envisioned it with full-tilt EMG, but then thought I'd be a little silly to wind up with a $900 Squier !
I was trying to decide what to use instead, and it dawned on me, 'what happens to all those take-out pickups?' AFTER guys bought Fralins, EMG's, Seymours, etc. Lo and behold I found a set of as-new 'take-out' Fender Yosemites in Cali from just such an occurrence. $60 (half of brand new price) and I got them for the JJ Jazz. They were, indeed, as new and no problem to install. They'd been carefully un-soldered and removed, wire ends trimmed neatly with plenty enough length left for easy install.
So, my take is they are very modern sounding, more like an EMG or Bart tone than a traditional Jazz tone. More than useable and very quiet in my application whether solo'd or singled. The neck is very meaty, and the bridge pickup is a lighter tone, but not thin or tinny. In this installation, I like them a lot.
I'd also recommend shopping for 'take-outs': There's lots of pickups out there that got yanked right off the bat, and often are for sale in Reverb and the other usual suspects for very reasonable prices, from guys looking to try and make some money back on their updates.
Last edited:
I bought a set of Fralin Jazz pickups from a fellow TB'er earlier. Not sure which bass to put them in, either my MiM Geddy Lee or the MiA Jazz that is supposed to get the CS 60's I bought last week. And then I'll have 2 sets of extra Jazz pickups, one of which could go in my FrankenFender Jazz, that currently has Fender Originals. Lots of options 
LoveThatBass
Supporting Member
I would put the CA60’s in the MIM Getty Lee and the Fralin’s in the MIA Jazz
I bought a set of Fralin Jazz pickups from a fellow TB'er earlier. Not sure which bass to put them in, either my MiM Geddy Lee or the MiA Jazz that is supposed to get the CS 60's I bought last week. And then I'll have 2 sets of extra Jazz pickups, one of which could go in my FrankenFender Jazz, that currently has Fender Originals. Lots of options
Options are nice! Can you pinpoint if anything is lacking tonally in the Geddy, the MIA, or the Franken, or are you swapping the pickups for the exploration/curiosity side of things? Knowing what your sonic goals are would help with providing advice
I have a set of Fralins in my CV 70's J, which sound absolutely fantastic. It's a similar core bass to a Geddy (I've also added a hi-mass bridge), so I feel like the experience isn't too far away from what you may get out of them. But again, knowing what, if anything your bass currently lacks would help!
As far as the MiA goes, it's more experimentation than anything, and picked up the CS '60s for that bass. I am curious to hear what they sound like in that bass, as these are the pickups Fender used for MiA basses for a while, and they got good marks. My MiA is a '99. The Geddy Lee sounds good, but I want to hear what another option sounds like. Maybe the Fralins will be a good fit. The FrankenFender has a set of Fender Originals, and they really aren't that good, tone and output lacks compared to everything else I have, so I might drop the MiA pickups in there.
I've completed most of my pickup swaps:
MiA '99 Jazz - I put the CS '60s in this one. Wow! Very much an improvement over the stock pickups, which aren't that bad in the first place. I got a lot of kudos for my tone over the weekend at rehearsal.
Geddy Lee Jazz - This one got the Fralins, standard winding. This was even more of an improvement in tone from the stock pickups. The one that really amazed me was the bridge pickup. It's a little more present, but not super honky like the original pickup, even with both pickups on full. I'll bring this one to rehearsal when we reconvene in a couple of weeks to see how it handles a full band.
FrankenFender - I decided to put the Geddy Lee pickups in this one, and it sounds better than the previous set, the Fender Originals. Not much to say about this one at the moment, it needs some other work on it before I use it for anything.
I'm normally a guitar guy so I know what is probably too much about guitar pickups but bass is somewhat of a mystery to me.
I picked up a Squier Jaguar SS with a P&J setup. The J pickup is noisy and lackluster. I have no idea how it manages to both be too quiet and too loud but there it is. I'm looking for some grunge-era heavy bass tone sometimes, so I don't know if I want a stacked J or a hot J and just deal with the noise or what. I see lots of good things about the Nord NJ4SE/SV and was wondering if anyone had strong opinions as to what they're good for. My instinct is just to slap a SD hot stack in there but I'm not sure if I'd lose too much of the high end doing that.
I picked up a Squier Jaguar SS with a P&J setup. The J pickup is noisy and lackluster. I have no idea how it manages to both be too quiet and too loud but there it is. I'm looking for some grunge-era heavy bass tone sometimes, so I don't know if I want a stacked J or a hot J and just deal with the noise or what. I see lots of good things about the Nord NJ4SE/SV and was wondering if anyone had strong opinions as to what they're good for. My instinct is just to slap a SD hot stack in there but I'm not sure if I'd lose too much of the high end doing that.
I have one of those basses. Actually, I have two -- my niece has one, and a friend has the other. I got a set of Wilde (Bill Lawrence) PJ pickups, but I haven't yet had either bass back in my possession to do the swap. In your case, I'd advise avoiding the stacked coils. There are a lot of other options for noise-free pickups with higher output now. Examples include Aguilar's DCB-J, DiMarzio's Ultra Jazz, Nordstrand's NJ4SE, Seymour Duncan's Apollo... If budget is a concern, probably the DiMarzios are the best bang for the buck.
…also the Lindy Frahlin split coil Jazz Bass pickups, which have the option of stock wind, +5%, +10%, and 5% under wound. I know your talking P/J, but I have many Jazz basses with a split coil stock at neck and 5% over at the bridge, and one that is 5% over at the neck and 10% over at the bridge. I find this combination to work really well. I also have a maple fretless with a P/J setup a the Lindy 5% over P at the neck, and a 5% over split Jazz at the bridge, and this was surprisingly a great tone, especially given that the J was cut a bit too close to the bridge.
Was the Geddy a Japan, MIM or US made?
I tried a couple of Japanese versions side by side when introduced and they were vastly different. One was so so and the other a gem, a real stand out for any Jazz bass , even the many tried and owned since. The necks were surprisingly thin too which surprised me. Always wondered how stable they would be?
Mine is an MIM from 2012. It's a great bass, never had any issues with the neck. I think the CIJ ones might have been a hair thinner, but I don't know for sure. Only played a CIJ once, in 2001.
Aloha Folks! Question on Dimarzios. I added a set of the pre wired Jazz pups to my Squier. I seem to lose some signal on the D string as it sounds lower than the E and A. I can't adjust the poles on this. I tried adding some foam from Stew Mac under the high end side, but that seemed to make it worse. Any thoughts or do I just have a bad pup? Thanks in advance!
How does the G string sound? It's on the same coil as the D string. If you have an issue with both the D & G strings, it could very well be a faulty coil. If the D string sounds weak while the G string is at full strength, I don't know what to tell you, but I'd ask DiMarzio about it.
The G is weak also but not as weak as the D. I did contact Dimarzio and they said if I send the pickup back they will test it, but that puts my main bass out of commission until I get th epup back.
