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"J" pickups discussion and comparisons.
- Thread starter SMASH
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The DiMarzio Model J's came and I put them in. It was my first time doing any wiring on a guitar, although I have done intricate wiring and soldering before with other hobbies of mine (radio controlled airplanes). It was easy and fun. I took my time, working carefully, and it took about two hours. At no time did I ever even remotely feel like I was in over my head.
I had three noteworthy observations about the installation. First, these pickups are much heavier than the Fender pickups I took out. These model J's weighed 4 oz apiece. The Fenders were 3.2 oz. Secondly, just like the instructions said, they are taller. I made foam pieces about 1/8 thick. They are cranked down as much as I felt comfortable with the four screws and they are still closer to the strings than the Fender ones were. No string contact yet, though, in playing so far. Thirdly, Fender put LOTS of shielding in there. I don't know if that's with all guitars or because this is a step up bass (Geddy). Anyway, I was impressed.
All the ground wires soldered to the bridge volume cover. One big solder blob. Convenient!
No hum now, ever, even when bridge and neck pickup volumes are uneven. Nice! That in itself is a reason to upgrade pickups in my opinion.
I love the new tone. Rich. Harmonics sing. A great improvement indeed.
P/j bass passive 75 reissue or 62 fender original pups? I'm undecided. Help!!
Hi I'm in the process of rebuilding an old sx bass. New paint job, bridge and neck etc. I was didn't know whether or not to install fender 75 reissues or fender originals 62s?
Maybe a 75 reissue j bridge and a 62 p pickup?
Anyone have any thought or experience with this?
Hi I'm in the process of rebuilding an old sx bass. New paint job, bridge and neck etc. I was didn't know whether or not to install fender 75 reissues or fender originals 62s?
Maybe a 75 reissue j bridge and a 62 p pickup?
Anyone have any thought or experience with this?
RaginRog
Last guy you want to see is Employee Relations guy
2 gigs this weekend...took my Select Jazz with stock pickups the first night, and then my trusty old '99 Am Std with SD Antiquity IIs the following night. The Ant IIs rock. Great growl and/or smooth low end. I'm really glad I went with the the Ant IIs after trying Model J's, Area J's, EMG J set, EMG JVX, Nordy NJ4, Lindy singles, Lindy split coils, and SGD jazz pups.
I have a few sets of the 75's, a set of custom shops and the original stock pickups.
What did you wanna know?
I have a few sets of the 75's, a set of custom shops and the original stock pickups.
What did you wanna know?
Basically I play reggae and early ska and am wondering which set would give me a more dubby full but clear tone?? And would mixing a 75 reissue bridge pup with a 62 p pup have any advantages or disadvantages?
I read arguments for one or the other would mixing give the best of both? Or just ruin either or?
I read arguments for one or the other would mixing give the best of both? Or just ruin either or?
Hmm, I don't know how the P/J configuration works.
But as far as the bridge pickups, The 75's have the most uppermid, the custom shop have a chuncky lower mid while the original stock are somewhere in the middle.
Don't expect a night and day difference, its more like different shades of the same color.
Yeah I guess Iwas kind of hoping the 75 bridge pickup will give punctuation to the chunky 62 precision pickup. Blending the two colours to create a new shade was kind of my aim. Not expecting anything drastic.
I'll give it a go and let you know if it sounds good. Thanks for the input man.
Go with your instinct, it sounds like you know exactly what you want.
I do think that the 75 would prob give the best punctuation in the upper mids, but you won't go wrong with any of the sets mentioned.
Hope it turns out as expected.
Just to share my experience with Dimarzio Area J's ...
I recently bought a used 2011 Fender MIM Jazz. Very nice feel to it, but the tone was very dark and murky (something I've noticed with a '12 MIA Precision V and a '10 MIA P-Bass I own/owned as well. I always buy Fenders for the playing comfort though).
I previously had custom wound pickups made that are totally awesome, but expensive ... $320 for a Jazz set. Was hoping to avoid something that expensive this time. I was specifically looking for pickups that sounded like a bass, but had enough treble to cut through with a band that has two Les Paul players who like to favour their beefy neck pickups, and a keyboard player to boot.
I would usually prefer "real" single coils (Area J's are humbucking) since I love the single coil sound ... tight, not boomy. The description on the Dimarzio website (which I generally take with a grain of salt) and the relatively low price helped me decide to give these a try.
Two other important things to point out. Since treble and brightness was my goal, I also switched the 250k posts for 500k (thanks for that tip, WalterW). Finally, I usually go with Fender 7250 nickel wrap roundwounds, but this time went with the 7350 steels - for brightness, but also for some more output (the Area J's are considered to be relatively low output pickups). Wired in series, typical of humbuckers.
Initially, very first reaction ... whoa, friggin' bright! lol I thought that maybe just the pickups alone would have been change enough. However, I'm used to having my tone control turned all the way clockwise for the most treble. With these pickups, plus the 500k pots, I found having the tone control turned up only about 25% was about equal to having the tone all the way up on another Jazz I have with the 250k pots.
Fortunately, I had the bass ready the night before a gig and I know my perception of tone is totally different sitting in my basement than on stage in a noisy bar with a full band.
To keep this simple ... the description on the Dimarzio website is just not marketing speak in this case. Their description is 100% accurate. I was sharing an amp with another player (his amp, not mine, a Peavey TKO combo with 15" speaker, no P.A. support) and his tone was quite muddy - classic case of feeling the note but not hearing it. Everything just sounded like an undefined "boom" rather than an actual note (has was playing a '71 Fender P-Bass).
Once I plugged in my Jazz, it took seconds to find the magic spot ... bridge on full, neck at about 80%, tone at about 25% ... and into the first song. The clarity was something I never experienced in a crowded bar before ... it definitely forced me to play my best as there was no hiding under murky tone. The tone is "bassy" but big and clear as a bell, the highs cut through beautifully but are not piercing ... warm and balanced. I also had my signal going through my MXR Bass Compressor, but I always have that on every gig, so while that helped improve my tone over the other bass player this night, it was not the main difference in what I'm used to hearing from my own bass.
The biggest piece of evidence that the tone is totally right? A couple of audience members, my band and guys from the other band noticed and specifically complimented how the bass sounded (not just a "good job", but "THAT bass sounds great"). Even when I'm very happy with my tone during a gig, no one else ever notices enough to specifically bring it up afterward. They did on Saturday.
Perhaps as the strings die down a little bit, I'll be upping the tone control to compensate, and while the range on the tone control is not as wide as with a "normal" Jazz with 250k pots, I find that a good thing. With the tone control turned all the counter-clockwise, the over all tone dulls down but no mud. All the way up, it's definitely very bright on it's own, but not beyone being useful. Probably just right for brightening up the tone in certain rooms and your still going to very much sound like a bass player.
Without trying to hype things too much (since I so notice some people have their Area J's for sale so they are obviously not for everybody), but I am simply over the moon with these pickups. If they were $150-$175, I probably would not have tried them. Now that I have tried them, the $105 I did spend (before shipping) seems like an absolute steal.
Last thing I can say ... hope no one gets turned off by the term "treble", thinking "hey I play bass, I hate treble". I'm talking about treble in the context of how the bass fits into a band mix and sounds in a room. Playing live, I want the bass to sound as clear and clean as it would listening to a studio recording (as close to possible). So we're still very much talking "bass tone" here, but with clarity, definition, tightness, etc. ... that's what I'm getting with Area J's, straight out of the amp.
The guitarist took a video of the entire show so if the recording represents what I think the audience actually heard, I'll come back and post a link here !
I recently bought a used 2011 Fender MIM Jazz. Very nice feel to it, but the tone was very dark and murky (something I've noticed with a '12 MIA Precision V and a '10 MIA P-Bass I own/owned as well. I always buy Fenders for the playing comfort though).
I previously had custom wound pickups made that are totally awesome, but expensive ... $320 for a Jazz set. Was hoping to avoid something that expensive this time. I was specifically looking for pickups that sounded like a bass, but had enough treble to cut through with a band that has two Les Paul players who like to favour their beefy neck pickups, and a keyboard player to boot.
I would usually prefer "real" single coils (Area J's are humbucking) since I love the single coil sound ... tight, not boomy. The description on the Dimarzio website (which I generally take with a grain of salt) and the relatively low price helped me decide to give these a try.
Two other important things to point out. Since treble and brightness was my goal, I also switched the 250k posts for 500k (thanks for that tip, WalterW). Finally, I usually go with Fender 7250 nickel wrap roundwounds, but this time went with the 7350 steels - for brightness, but also for some more output (the Area J's are considered to be relatively low output pickups). Wired in series, typical of humbuckers.
Initially, very first reaction ... whoa, friggin' bright! lol I thought that maybe just the pickups alone would have been change enough. However, I'm used to having my tone control turned all the way clockwise for the most treble. With these pickups, plus the 500k pots, I found having the tone control turned up only about 25% was about equal to having the tone all the way up on another Jazz I have with the 250k pots.
Fortunately, I had the bass ready the night before a gig and I know my perception of tone is totally different sitting in my basement than on stage in a noisy bar with a full band.
To keep this simple ... the description on the Dimarzio website is just not marketing speak in this case. Their description is 100% accurate. I was sharing an amp with another player (his amp, not mine, a Peavey TKO combo with 15" speaker, no P.A. support) and his tone was quite muddy - classic case of feeling the note but not hearing it. Everything just sounded like an undefined "boom" rather than an actual note (has was playing a '71 Fender P-Bass).
Once I plugged in my Jazz, it took seconds to find the magic spot ... bridge on full, neck at about 80%, tone at about 25% ... and into the first song. The clarity was something I never experienced in a crowded bar before ... it definitely forced me to play my best as there was no hiding under murky tone. The tone is "bassy" but big and clear as a bell, the highs cut through beautifully but are not piercing ... warm and balanced. I also had my signal going through my MXR Bass Compressor, but I always have that on every gig, so while that helped improve my tone over the other bass player this night, it was not the main difference in what I'm used to hearing from my own bass.
The biggest piece of evidence that the tone is totally right? A couple of audience members, my band and guys from the other band noticed and specifically complimented how the bass sounded (not just a "good job", but "THAT bass sounds great"). Even when I'm very happy with my tone during a gig, no one else ever notices enough to specifically bring it up afterward. They did on Saturday.
Perhaps as the strings die down a little bit, I'll be upping the tone control to compensate, and while the range on the tone control is not as wide as with a "normal" Jazz with 250k pots, I find that a good thing. With the tone control turned all the counter-clockwise, the over all tone dulls down but no mud. All the way up, it's definitely very bright on it's own, but not beyone being useful. Probably just right for brightening up the tone in certain rooms and your still going to very much sound like a bass player.
Without trying to hype things too much (since I so notice some people have their Area J's for sale so they are obviously not for everybody), but I am simply over the moon with these pickups. If they were $150-$175, I probably would not have tried them. Now that I have tried them, the $105 I did spend (before shipping) seems like an absolute steal.
Last thing I can say ... hope no one gets turned off by the term "treble", thinking "hey I play bass, I hate treble". I'm talking about treble in the context of how the bass fits into a band mix and sounds in a room. Playing live, I want the bass to sound as clear and clean as it would listening to a studio recording (as close to possible). So we're still very much talking "bass tone" here, but with clarity, definition, tightness, etc. ... that's what I'm getting with Area J's, straight out of the amp.
The guitarist took a video of the entire show so if the recording represents what I think the audience actually heard, I'll come back and post a link here !
RaginRog
Last guy you want to see is Employee Relations guy
I'm looking to put some new pickups in to my Lakland Skyline 55-60. I really like the tone of the stock pickups in my 2001 mij Fender Jazz 75 ri. Any suggestions on pickups that might sound similar, but available in a 5 string option?
I'm here to sing the praises of a stock pickup from a cheap bass: Duncan Designed J's. I put a used pair of these in a parts bass I put together. (They probably originated in a Squier VM). I really loved their tone, especially their clarity. The upper register notes on the G string sounded like bells. Not being a J expert (mostly play P) and wanting to know if another pickup sounded better, I bought a used set of Fender CS60's and put them in.
I've got to say the two pickups sound pretty close. The DD's are a little hotter and clearer. The CS60's are a little warmer and mellower. Of course, the CS60's are intended to sound like a 50 year old pickup.
I'd be interested to know if anyone's done a blind test on the DD's, comparing them to Fenders or other replacement brands.
I'll be holding on to this pair in case I decide to build another parts bass in the future.
I've got to say the two pickups sound pretty close. The DD's are a little hotter and clearer. The CS60's are a little warmer and mellower. Of course, the CS60's are intended to sound like a 50 year old pickup.
I'd be interested to know if anyone's done a blind test on the DD's, comparing them to Fenders or other replacement brands.
I'll be holding on to this pair in case I decide to build another parts bass in the future.
I can say, while I liked the Nordstrand NJ4SV jazz pups, I went with the CS 60's. The CS pups just sound more "raw" and they are single coil, which is prolly why.
They are pretty good pickups for the $. They are in the Squier VM fretless, as well as the VM Jazz (which generally gets good reviews, considering the price point). I've had a VM fretless that I did quite a few mods on, and the last things to go were the pickups; I always got compliments on the tone, especially when they found out what the pickups were. In fact, I've still got them lying around; I'm thinking they are going to show up here in classifieds real soon....
I had a set of Aero type 1 that sounded the same as the CS.
Only difference was the Aero's were built way better.
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