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Jazz bass pickups output/upgrade

Hetfield1966

Hetfield1966

Feb 16, 2017
43
36
UK
#1
Hello all. I’m after a bit of help. I play a MM Stingray but also recently bought a Japanese Fender Jazz. I love the sound of both of them but the output from the Jazz is a lot less than the MM. To be expected of course but when I take both basses to a gig and change guitars a couple of times during our set I’m having to scrabble around in the dark trying to adjust amp volume settings to compensate for the differing outputs.
Im Therefore thinking of changing the pickups in the Jazz to some with a somewhat higher output. Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounders appear to be rated and reviews suggest that I should hear a boost in output, but does anyone here have any experience with this or have any other suggestions. Cheers.
 
#3
danster said:
Do you use pedals? The reason I ask is, if you have a boost or a dual channel preamp pedal, you can set it up to compensate for the louder bass.
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Hi there. I use an overdrive pedal and that’s about it. I was thinking (hoping?) an easy solution to differing volumes (and a nice upgrade) would be to change the pickups to some with a proven higher output. Was hoping someone had some real world experience with this.
 
#4
Be careful. If you are trying to boost output by purchasing a pickup that has more turns of wire and/or larger magnets, the tone will change, and may stray from "Vintage Fender" to be too hot or too dark or too hard. A comparison video demonstrates this:
.

No passive Jazz bass pickup is going to have the breadth of a MusicMan pickup. The better option is to use a buffer gain of some sort, whether onboard or as a pedal, to raise the signal level of the J-bass to match the MusicMan when gigging with an A/B situation.
 
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#5
Honestly, I’ve owned and still own Jazz basses and Stingrays. My “Jazz” is made by someone else these days and its active electronics are a good bit hotter than my Stingray, to the point of wanting to do what someone else suggested and add a buffer boost-only preamp, but to the Stingray (I need both basses to have very similar output, that’s another topic).

Which brings me to my point. I’ve had a few passive Jazz basses and Stingrays and they were very close in output. Music Man has started that they purposely build the gain lower than most active instruments for that very reason. So I’m surprised to hear of someone needing to boost the output of a passive Jazz “up” to a Stingray. Surprised, but not out of the question, I guess.
 
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#8
Geri O said:
Honestly, I’ve owned and still own Jazz basses and Stingrays. My “Jazz” is made by someone else these days and its active electronics are a good bit hotter than my Stingray, to the point of wanting to do what someone else suggested and add a buffer boost-only preamp, but to the Stingray (I need both basses to have very similar output, that’s another topic).

Which brings me to my point. I’ve had a few passive Jazz basses and Stingrays and they were very close in output. Music Man has started that they purposely build the gain lower than most active instruments for that very reason. So I’m surprised to hear of someone needing to boost the output of a passive Jazz “up” to a Stingray. Surprised, but not out of the question, I guess.
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My Jazz Bass has a pronounced difference in output compared to my stingray. Clearly this isn’t your experience but it’s definitely mine.
 
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#9
iiipopes said:
Be careful. If you are trying to boost output by purchasing a pickup that has more turns of wire and/or larger magnets, the tone will change, and may stray from "Vintage Fender" to be too hot or too dark or too hard. A comparison video demonstrates this:
.

No passive Jazz bass pickup is going to have the breadth of a MusicMan pickup. The better option is to use a buffer gain of some sort, whether onboard or as a pedal, to raise the signal level of the J-bass to match the MusicMan when gigging with an A/B situation.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I’ve seen that video. Dunno if my hearing is not as tuned in as others, but I can’t tell a lot of difference between the pickups demonstrated, and it all sounds pretty good to me.
I’m not really a pedals sort of person, but I get that an easier solution would be to add a suitable pedal to boost output. Cheers.
 
#12
I’m not really one to use pedals...I like to keep it as simple as possible and travel as light as possible...however it would seem that the most cost effective and simple solution to my first world problem is to add a suitable pedal to boost output when required. Thanks all.
 
#13
I personally think that lower output basses often sound MUCH better than high output ones and would use a clean boost( or any pedal that can boost a signel) to solve the issue of not having enough output.
 
#14
cnltb said:
I personally think that lower output basses often sound MUCH better than high output ones and would use a clean boost( or any pedal that can boost a signel) to solve the issue of not having enough output.
Click to expand...
Personal opinion being what it is, I actually MUCH prefer the sound of my Stingray to my Jazz. Horses for courses. Note: pedal now purchased to boost signal.
 
#19
I recall years ago that that one of the online complaints about MIJ Jazz Basses was that some had weaker pickups. I don't have personal experience with that, but I recall it being discussed and was the subject of pickup upgrade discussions.
 
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#20
BobKos said:
I recall years ago that that one of the online complaints about MIJ Jazz Basses was that some had weaker pickups. I don't have personal experience with that, but I recall it being discussed and was the subject of pickup upgrade discussions.
Click to expand...
That’s very interesting, because I really wasn’t expecting the disparity in output between the MM and my MIJ Jazz. I knew there would be a passive vs active difference but not to the extent I have experienced.
 

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