Jazz bass pickups

[John Deacon]

Hey guys, I decided that I'm getting a jazz bass, but I am going to switch out the pickups. Give me some suggestions. Thanks!

 

[joeyl]

John Deacon does not need to switch pickups, he makes them work for him also none of the links work

 

[southernrocker]

My fender 70s classic jazz has vintage alincos, and they sound pretty good, they have a lot of "bite". My jazz 24 has seymour duncan quarter pounders, and the output is insanley hot (it's wired passive). It has a good solid rock tone.

I couldn't get your links to work, but I'd check out the seymour duncans. Good luck!

 

[chalie]

I have also posted question about Bassline Hot Stacked pickups for my jazz but now I removed it out as it doesn't seems to be good choice for the Jazz. It could be either the design for hi-output (which it is not in real) and the stacked type so the tonal are muddy instead of brite.
I think you need to leave it as single coil but which one is best I also have no idea, not enough experiences !

 

[John Deacon]

Sorry guys, I have no idea why the links arent working haha. But they were all the jazz pickup replacements on the Fender site. It was like the Custom Shop one, and like three others, if you go to Fender's site you can see them.

 

[king_biscuit]

What kind of jazz bass are you getting, and why do you want to change the pickups? If it's an American Fender, the stock pickups are as good as any replacement pickup out there, in my opinion.

 

[Steveaux]

Two words ...

Di

Marzio.

 

[John Deacon]

Oh I'm getting a Mexican one. And I want a kind of gritty tone, but can sound really warm.

 

[king_biscuit]

I really like the CS60s then.

 

[John Deacon]

I really like the CS60s then.

Are those the custom shops?

What about the others on Fenders site?

 

[John Deacon]

Ok guys I found the other three besides the Custom Shop pickups on Fender's site:

Original Jazz Bass Pickups

SCN Jazz bass Pickups

Vintage Noiseless Jazz bass Pickups

Can someone tell me how these are and the tonal differences between them?

 

[king_biscuit]

What else is on there? The Original Fenders are nice and stock in the 62RI bass (these probably sound a little closer to real 60s pickups than the CS60s (custom shop 60s, btw). Those noiseless modshop pickups are really just humbuckers, that don't sound all that traditional to me -- you may like them though. Anyway, the CS60s and the Fender Originals are both great sounding traditional style pickups -- six of one...

 

[John Deacon]

What do you mean six of one? What do the noiseless ones sound like? And how are those different from the vintage noiseless?

 

[Zombbg4]

I'd say ride it out with the stock pups for a bit and if you really cant get a sound you like the swap them.

 

[John Deacon]

Well, I mean, the stock ones are ok, but i want some better ones.

 

[king_biscuit]

What do you mean six of one? What do the noiseless ones sound like? And how are those different from the vintage noiseless?

I mean either the CS60 or the Originals will sound great. The CS has a bit more low mids -- which works great on a Jazz -- but the Originals have more 60s style sparkle.

 

[John Deacon]

Ohhh gotcha. And I can cross the SCN's off the list, they are too big. I would have to shave off some of the wood. So from Fender I have 3 choices, then DiMarzio and Seymour Duncan have to be looked at...

 

[king_biscuit]

Ohhh gotcha. And I can cross the SCN's off the list, they are too big. I would have to shave off some of the wood. So from Fender I have 3 choices, then DiMarzio and Seymour Duncan have to be looked at...

None of the single coils you are looking at are going to sound radically different. The DiMarzios are humbuckers and will sound quite a bit different: the 123s (Model Js) are very low mid heavy, sound like sledge hammers and don't sound at all like single coils, and the Ultras are very modern bright and midscooped -- again, nothing like single coils.

 

[SGD Lutherie]

The main question is, what kind of tone are you looking for?

 

[John Deacon]

There is this tone thats really hard to explain, its like, when I play fingerstyle, I want it to have that sound where it almost sounds like it snaps back. Maybe something like this:



But, with the mids a bit more scooped I think and less soft sounding. I don't want something overly aggressive, but more than my P bass with American Vintage 62's in it.