Jazz Pickup Question

[rockbassist]

I just won on ebay a set of Fender Jazz Custom Shop 70s pickups ($49 includes shipping)! The set has 1 bridge and 1 neck pickup. I happen to have 2 different basses that are p/j configuration, and I wanted to try and replace the stock jazz pickups (both in bridge position) in both basses with the new Fender Jazz Custom Shop 70s pickups. My question is this : In general does a neck jazz pickup sound good in the bridge position on a bass? I know that you never know before you try but I'm curious to know if this is a good or bad idea before I start sodering and rewiring my bass. For reference, the 2 basses that I'm talking about are a Switch Innovo bass and a Drive Wildfire X2 bass. Both are cool affordable neck thru basses with p/j configurations.

 

[Puru]

I believe the Fender pups are two different sizes, the bridge pickup being longer. Good chance both will not fit in the bridge position on your basses. Measure all your pickups before you start.

 

[DavidRavenMoon]

Generally the pickups are wound the same, but yes, the bridge unit is longer. Another thing to check is the actual pickup size, since they sometimes vary.

For instance, the Mexican Jazz bass has two same size pickups, and the MIA ands MIJ pickups are slightly different sizes.

Most third party jazz pickups match the MIA pickups.

 

[jim primate]

...the Mexican Jazz bass used to have two same size pickups...

FYP.

 

[Baleen]

The pickups should be reverse wound from each other so they cancel hum when both at the same volume. But when either is matched with a P it shouldn't matter cause the P's two halves are reversed from each other, making a J only ever the same as one of them. But who knows, maybe it would need to be connected in reverse polarity to sound right. I wonder how much of a difference there is between being in or out of phase with each of the P halves.

As long as the outer pickup poles on the neck J were close enough to being centered on the strings in the bridge position, one would think they'd be alright. If your bridge would accept them, you could always get vintage style bridge saddles with the multiple grooves and reduce the spacing at the bridge if it were a big problem. A/B the pickups in one bass to figure out if there is a difference.

Good luck.

 

[bassmanrocke]

While both will work in the bridge position, there are differences that will affect performance. As stated above the neck position is shorter than the bridge position. However, I believe the mounting spacing is the same. This means the neck p-up can be mounted but there will be a small gap in the routing . Of more importance, the pole pieces are spaced slightly differently. As a result, the strings may not line up between the poles correctly. They will probably still work, but you may lose some response on the E and G strings