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Jazz Bass pickup advice

J

John J Nicholas

Aug 17, 2022
18
21
#1
This might be my first post here… I’ve got a parts Jazz bass. I think the body is alder or poplar and it’s got a maple/maple Allparts neck. It’s got quite a bit of warmth and depth but is lacking in upper midrange zing and grind. I pretty much only use it for recording DI into a Neve style pre. I’ve had a Custom shop 60s set and currently have Duncan Heavy Weather set that I’m not in love with. Thinking about Aguilar 70s set but would love advice on J bass sets with more lively upper midrange presence.
Thanks
John
 
#2
My opinion of the Custom Shop 60s pickups is that they are overpriced and don’t sound as good or open as their cheaper brother: Fender Originals. The originals are cheaper and sound better to me. They used to be the stock pickups on the geddy lee, marcus miller and jaco signature models. They have plenty of upper mids and nice clear top end and are affordable.

The CS60s sounded dark and lacked articulation in my findings. The originals sounded much brighter and more aggressive. I would start there, hard to find a cheaper set of pups for the quality.

If you wanna spend a bit more, I would check out Aero Type 1.
 
#5
John J Nicholas said:
Just looked the originals up online. There appears to be two different fender models labeled originals, one with A2 mags snd the other with A5. I’m assuming you are referring to the A5 model…
Click to expand...
As far as I know, the Fender Original Jazz Bass set is only available in Alnico 2, and thats what I have. You must be looking at a different set if it says Alnico 5. The ones i’m talking about should be around 130$US. Also, if you try a third set of pickups on the same bass and still don’t like it, i’d be looking for a different bass or at least a different set of strings. Your setup will have influence as well.
 
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#7
John J Nicholas said:
This might be my first post here… I’ve got a parts Jazz bass. I think the body is alder or poplar and it’s got a maple/maple Allparts neck. It’s got quite a bit of warmth and depth but is lacking in upper midrange zing and grind. I pretty much only use it for recording DI into a Neve style pre. I’ve had a Custom shop 60s set and currently have Duncan Heavy Weather set that I’m not in love with. Thinking about Aguilar 70s set but would love advice on J bass sets with more lively upper midrange presence.
Thanks
John
Click to expand...

Thanks for starting this thread. Try small pickup height adjustments first. I had the complementary problem. When both pickups were on full, my sound was too scooped and lacked body. When soloed, my bridge pickup had too much in the way mids, lacked clarity, and was prone to a subtle bit of chorusing. I brought my bridge pickup down a half turn for each screw and now I have a much improved Jazz both-pickups tone and my bridge pickup sounds much more defined with when used alone. The chorus effect is lessened as well. (For reference, I have a Player Jazz). My mid/neck pickup is as wonderful as ever. :)

I hope that helps you.
 
#8
That is good advice but alas I have tried that and I think it is more of how the pickups are voiced and their DC resistance. I listened to several pickup shootouts and decided to try the Fender pure vintage 74 pickups. Even though my bass has 60s pickup spacing I believe the 74s will enhance the upper mids noticeably
 

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