I've just placed an order for a set of Antiquity II's from Darren Riley. I'll post again in here when they turn up. He's been really promt and helpful so far.
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"J" pickups discussion and comparisons.
- Thread starter SMASH
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I have the Fender Jazz with the S1 switch. This takes it from parrel to series. As I have been told. I like the sound difference I get between the two. Great for slapping and then pushing the switch to normal finger style. I would like to change pickups. The pickups I have just do not have the sound I am after. I want warm sounds, but yet I need those great mids and highs for slapping. What do you think?
Thangfish
...overly qualified for janitorical deployment...
Darren is a good dude. He did the setup on one of my basses.
Honest and fair. Talented too.
Yep. Either those or the Ultra Jazz set. I've got them in a passive Franken-jazz and the only other bass I've had that can hang with it is my old Music Man Sabre. No reservations on those p/u's whatsoever.
I broke down and ordered a set of Nordstrand NJ4s to put in my 70 jazz while I wait for my originals to be rewound.
They arrived in yesterdays mail and I installed them post haste.
I first played it with the originals in, well only the neck works, to get a reference point.
Im amazed at the difference they made. I had gotten used to the muted highs and lower volume of the originals.
Leaving out all the gushing and hyperbole I now have the sound I loved when I first bought it back in 74.
As an added bonus the Nordstrands are dead quiet. I dont miss the hum and michrophonics of the originals in the least.
Sadly I may not want to take them back out when the rewinds are done, and I now want to change my 3 pu fretless over to Nordstrands.
MM
They arrived in yesterdays mail and I installed them post haste.
I first played it with the originals in, well only the neck works, to get a reference point.
Im amazed at the difference they made. I had gotten used to the muted highs and lower volume of the originals.
Leaving out all the gushing and hyperbole I now have the sound I loved when I first bought it back in 74.
As an added bonus the Nordstrands are dead quiet. I dont miss the hum and michrophonics of the originals in the least.
Sadly I may not want to take them back out when the rewinds are done, and I now want to change my 3 pu fretless over to Nordstrands.
MM
You are the man. This is exactly what I needed to know for my project bass. I'm going with Seymour Duncan Antiquity II.
I've just had the chance to A-B Nordstrand's NJ4's and Dimarzio's Ultra Jazzes in my active Fender.
My first impression was that there wasn't really that big a difference. Maybe this is because of the crappy preamp that comes in the Fender? (Someone care to elaborate on that?)
That being said, I'm going to go with the NJ4's, and re-solder them back in.
The UJ's definitely had a mid-scooped tone which I love but overall I found this took away some clarity from them and made them too boomy in comparison to the NJ4's - and basically if I want a mid-scooped tone, I can just scoop the mids with the NJ4's
The NJ4's, to me, are the quintessential Jazz pickups (and this is also in comparison to the Fender CS 60's I have in my fretless). However, both the NJ4's and the UJ's (and CS 60's) are definite improvements over the stock Fenders.
-Eric
P.S. Can someone shed some light for me on the whole issue of amazing pickups can only sound as good as the preamp supporting them? ie: should I be looking at an Audere?
My first impression was that there wasn't really that big a difference. Maybe this is because of the crappy preamp that comes in the Fender? (Someone care to elaborate on that?)
That being said, I'm going to go with the NJ4's, and re-solder them back in.
The UJ's definitely had a mid-scooped tone which I love but overall I found this took away some clarity from them and made them too boomy in comparison to the NJ4's - and basically if I want a mid-scooped tone, I can just scoop the mids with the NJ4's
The NJ4's, to me, are the quintessential Jazz pickups (and this is also in comparison to the Fender CS 60's I have in my fretless). However, both the NJ4's and the UJ's (and CS 60's) are definite improvements over the stock Fenders.
-Eric
P.S. Can someone shed some light for me on the whole issue of amazing pickups can only sound as good as the preamp supporting them? ie: should I be looking at an Audere?
As I mentioned last year (!) I replaced the Carvin J99s with DiMarzio Model Js and was very happy.
I have since converted to all Fender and currently have a Jazz Standard fretless with Antiquity IIs in it. The review matches my experience pretty well.
Is there a thread of Precision reviews? I have 3 (again, !) Precisions, all of which have Basslines Quarter Pound pickups (one single coil -- '51 P RI -- and two split coil -- Classic '50s and Standard FSR).
If there's a better pickup out there, I'd love to know about it.
I have since converted to all Fender and currently have a Jazz Standard fretless with Antiquity IIs in it. The review matches my experience pretty well.
Is there a thread of Precision reviews? I have 3 (again, !) Precisions, all of which have Basslines Quarter Pound pickups (one single coil -- '51 P RI -- and two split coil -- Classic '50s and Standard FSR).
If there's a better pickup out there, I'd love to know about it.
I ordered a Hot Stack Jazz set for my MIM Jazz from BestBassGear.com - they arrived before the tracking email told me they were in country 
Popped them in today. I'd previously star-grounded my Jazz, so installation was a bit more fiddly than I would have liked. I kept all cable at max length in case I change my mind and experiment with series/parallel switching. As advertised, absolutely hum-free when soloed... marvelous I mostly play with the bridge pickup soloed, so this makes me a very happy camper.
Once I'd restrung and played for a minute, I had a moment of worry. There wasn't the high end zing I was used to, and I assumed I'd wired something wrong. I'd forgotten about the relationship between DC resistance and tone - with values of Neck: 17.8 k & Bridge: 25.2 k, these are not the brightest sounding J pickups you've ever heard. For the first time ever, I found myself turning the Treble knob off the 12 o'clock position - problem sorted
I do have a small grounding issue though: with any amount of neck pickup rolled in, I get buzz when I take my hands off the strings. The bridge is _perfectly_ silent - it's like my Warwick. Any advice on this issue would be much appreciated.
All up, a relatively simple mod that has vastly impoved the recordability of my bass, but requires a major re-think in terms of EQ. I'll give it a few weeks to settle in before I do any sort of comprehensive review.
Popped them in today. I'd previously star-grounded my Jazz, so installation was a bit more fiddly than I would have liked. I kept all cable at max length in case I change my mind and experiment with series/parallel switching. As advertised, absolutely hum-free when soloed... marvelous
I mostly play with the bridge pickup soloed, so this makes me a very happy camper.Once I'd restrung and played for a minute, I had a moment of worry. There wasn't the high end zing I was used to, and I assumed I'd wired something wrong. I'd forgotten about the relationship between DC resistance and tone - with values of Neck: 17.8 k & Bridge: 25.2 k, these are not the brightest sounding J pickups you've ever heard. For the first time ever, I found myself turning the Treble knob off the 12 o'clock position - problem sorted
I do have a small grounding issue though: with any amount of neck pickup rolled in, I get buzz when I take my hands off the strings. The bridge is _perfectly_ silent - it's like my Warwick. Any advice on this issue would be much appreciated.
All up, a relatively simple mod that has vastly impoved the recordability of my bass, but requires a major re-think in terms of EQ. I'll give it a few weeks to settle in before I do any sort of comprehensive review.
Smash, thanks for your review and the recommendation on the Dimarzio Model Js these things are sick! They sound great on my Geddy Jazz.
I ordered a push/pull pot from Dimarzio at 500k...I like how it sounds now...will it be less ballsy at 500k? I'll be playing thrash metal, witha pick next to two distorted guitars with active EMGs. My friend that installed them in for me recommended the 500k pots, plus I sw Dimarzio recommends the 500K for these. Right now I cut through well...but what is the main difference with the 500K pots and the 250K pots?
I ordered a push/pull pot from Dimarzio at 500k...I like how it sounds now...will it be less ballsy at 500k? I'll be playing thrash metal, witha pick next to two distorted guitars with active EMGs. My friend that installed them in for me recommended the 500k pots, plus I sw Dimarzio recommends the 500K for these. Right now I cut through well...but what is the main difference with the 500K pots and the 250K pots?
FWIW, Thanks to all for the great info on pickups etc. I just picked up a 1998 MIA jazz bass, (my '74 needed a mate). When I plugged it in I was quite disappointed with the sound, not even close to the stock '74 (not even close to a Jazz bass IMHO). I wouldn't even consider it gig-worthy as the tone sucked that much. Based on what I have read here, I got a set of SD Antiquity II's and an Audere JZ pre. Either one would have brought the bass back to life, but the combo of the two together is killer. I had to call Audere for some help as I had some extra grounding wires to connect, but all in all, an easy job. Great customer service!! And the pre is built like a tank. I still need to tweak the Low z-mode gain adjustment to fine tune it, but this bass is now mega sweet. The cost of the upgrades was well worth it.
Thanks again for the sharing!!!!!
Thanks again for the sharing!!!!!
when it comes to the stock SX jazz pups - surprisingly, it seems that a lot of people here like them, the pickups seem to have a cult following-
I know a lot of SX-players will change them out right away...
...but for the players who kept them in long enough- how would you rate them using the same rating system as Smash and BP originally used???
I know a lot of SX-players will change them out right away...
...but for the players who kept them in long enough- how would you rate them using the same rating system as Smash and BP originally used???
i just took my bass in to get the dimarzio js put in and a badass 2 bridge dropped in too... can't wait for next week
Get ready to get rocked! That's my setup too. I have 250K pots in but will have 500k pots in the next two-three weeks, I read here that it makes a difference. I'll report on here once the 500k pots are in!
Get ready to get rocked! That's my setup too. I have 250K pots in but will have 500k pots in the next two-three weeks, I read here that it makes a difference. I'll report on here once the 500k pots are in!
i got a MIM 60s Jazz and dunno what pots i got in there, but i'd be interested in changin em if it will make a difference... how would it change it?
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