Nordstrand NJ4SE
In case it isn't obvious via the following review, I mean to express that these should be very much to the liking of the active/modern sound crowd, but as a result not so much to me personally.
Carey's documentation states (I'm paraphrasing until tomorrow when I can copy directly from his papers and I'll edit accordingly) :
The NJ4SE is geared more for the modern player, with the tone being a bit more aggressive and slap friendly. The NJ4SEs are similar to the NJ4s, but are hum-canceling split coils (like a P pickup), so you don't have to deal with the noise and 60 cycle hum associated with a true single coil. While this set delivers a classic jazz single coil tone with zero noice, these pickups have a bit more growl and punch than their vintage-spec brothers
Smash states :
Aggressive yes perhaps, but more so up-the-middle sonically and I prefer aggressiveness to be in the lows. So to me these have a more polite tone than the NJ4, comparatively thin in range when passive though the NJ4SE expand nicely when pumped by a preamp (active). Quite sweet, where the NJ4 has more of a grunt .. how to describe that? Basically the NJ4 had more to it sonically especially in the lows when passive.
As I tried to say at the top though, I expect the boutique/modern/slap/articulate/active crowd would prefer these NJ4SE. Those just happen to often be dirty words to me and so these just happen to be not my "thing", or in line with the vibe of most of the other pickups reviewed here. By this point in the thread, my tonal bias should be very apparent.
If this were a concert review, the editor would not have sent me along and it would do Carey - and the readers of this thread - a much greater service if someone more knowledgeable of, and fit to judge, a modern sound would review these. I didn't even have anything similar to compare them to.
They look really cool - spilt coils, an extra metal plate on the bottom (they're kinda deep like the Model J), and some big screws holding it together. The poles on these are also beveled and flush with the covers to save your fingertips the grief. Definitely well-made, though as an aside here I'll make one recommendation to Carey. I've seen another maker put the wire-to-bobbin contacts on the inside (winding side) of the bottom bobbin, with the hot/ground wires threaded through a hole in the bottom bobbin to kind-of anchor it. Works great, as after enough ins & outs the wires can come unsoldered from the bobbin otherwise.
Essentially these have much the same tone as the NJ4 with a sweeter vibe - a bit better balanced in the lows though I prefer the heft of the NJ4's lows - and so you're left with a choice of two great different sets depending ***IMO*** whether you favour a more refined sound or more of a classic "ooomph".
Nordstrand NJ4SE
Warmth: 3
Clarity: 5
Output: 3.5
Punch : 3.5
Amplified Sound: 4
Recorded Sound: 4
Value: 4
Warmth: 3 - I'm rating these in passive mode in which the NJ4 are beefier, exhibit a greater breadth of range, but also more coloured which for some would be a negative so it comes down to personal preference. These don't lack warmth per se, I just think they'd benefit from a preamp to bring it out. By comparison with the NJ4 you might be cutting the lows a bit, so it comes down to *my* score being based on *my* personal preference.
Let me say this here too. I've come to notice that some pickups may sound much more like another pair of pickups with one set of strings with differences becoming more pronounced between the two sets on other sets of strings. True of the Nordstrands and maybe Carey can address why this would be. I can guess it's got something to do with the windings and magnets.
In case it hasn't sunk in though - you might dig a pickup with one type of strings and not another. Yikes !!! They've gotta have complimentary tones. Another variable. What this means for Bass Player is that they can't meaningfully review pickups without using different fretboards and strings, IMO. Hell, they didn't even rate their control group pickups
which is what sent me bungling down this review path in the first place.
For my purposes it doesn't matter since I'm going to evaluate them on the bass I plan to use 'em on, and at least compare them to pickups dropped into the exact same bass. I ended-up with a mutt set of strings on a bass though and then I realized that the NJ4 set had much more personality/depth with what are normally too dark strings (LaBella Deep Talkin' rounds) than brighter strings such as a thin gauge set of D'Addario stainless.
Why mention this within the "Warmth" score of the NJ4SE? Well, I do enjoy my tangents but it is also relevant. With bright strings I found the stock set of '74 sounded better/warmer than the NJ4. Not so with darker strings - the 74s didn't bring it out while the NJ4 really came to life in the lows. I tried my beloved Antiguity II set on brighter strings and thought "eh, maybe they're not the be all end all" whereas with flats and such they're crushing. So maybe on some other set of strings the NJ4SE would really stand out more than they did (or didn't) to me in my tests.
Clarity: 5 - These too are very clear, and a bit better balanced with a very sweet tone. So, it isn't "Clarity" in a weak way.
Output: 3.5 - Again I say that I prefer these with a preamp, after which time they obviously have more output but I'm rating 'em passive here.
Punch : 3.5 - as per Output, just not quite as much heft as the NJ4 especially in the lows.
Amplified Sound: 4 - A bit sweet for my tooth. I like the less refined NJ4, noise and all (though with proper shielding and grounding you shouldn't have any noticeable noise, when you're playing it especially in a mix, even with stingle coils).
Recorded Sound: 4 - No doubt this and the "Amplified" score would be a '5' in the ears of the modern sound crowd.
Value: 4 - I prefer the NJ4s and since they're cheaper I can't rate the NJ4SE as high a value. If these are the tonal characteristics you want though, I think you'd get full value for your purposes.
The Bassline - I feel I'm just not the guy to do these justice. I can say that by looking at them (after seeing as many pickups as I have lately) it's obvious you're getting pickups that are well-made and with some creative engineering going into them, and that doesn't come cheap. These are certainly more than "just" a superior J pickup, but for me an excellent *single coil* classic-sounding J pickup is where it's at (in fact I installed the NJ4 set).
That said though, if I had one of those fancy Nordstrands with a preamp in it I'd likely opt for something more refined like these NJ4SE. In my ancient passive J though, the NJ4 sounded "right" instead.
NJ4SE sets are $240 from
Link Removed
BP didn't review these either.
I guess my tastes are almost polar opposite of SMASH's. 
