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Jazz Replacement Pick-ups

agreatheight

agreatheight

Dec 23, 2005
4,269
33
55
Portland Area, ME
#1
OK, so I picked up a MIM Jazz a couple of months ago and really dig playing it, but I am not loving the sound. I bought it to sub for my Zon Sonus at the sketchier gigs. I love the sound I get from my Zon, which is Bartolini equipped, so I am thinking about just dropping in some Barts. Anyone think I should do something different?

Peace!
 
#2
I had some older barts(model 9v's) in my 74' jazz for a while and they were fairly good. They had a mid scoop sound. However; I got bored w/Hi-Fi sound and bought some Lindy Fralin's and they sound very good. Lindy's goal was wind them w/fatter spool just before the point of a blurry sound. Too much winding hurts the tone. There is a bit more bottom end w/fatter winding. I also heard that Nordstrands NJ4's are great w/clearer tone and a tad more bottom than stock Fender's as well. Go to Basstasters.com and listen to some of the j-pup sound bites.
 
#4
As indicated, Barts all sound different and they've made lots of J's so just be aware you can get some very different tones from different Barts. No doubt you can find one to suit your needs. Fact is all manufacturers are that way unless it's like EMG sticking their J coil in a soap housing so same pup different shape.
 
#5
I recently installed the Lindy Fralins on my MIM Jazz. They took 5 weeks to get. :( But definately worth the wait. :hyper: Great tone. I am thinking putting together another jazz with parts and getting another set. The stock MIM pups tone just wasnt cutting it.
 
#7
If you love the sound of your Zon's Barts, you could probably get close with something from Bartolini, but because of the other differences between the instruments I bet you won't match it exactly. So why not go for killer classic J tone? I'll add another vote for Lindy Fralin. I have his noiseless Split-Jazz. They're expensive, but worth it IMO. They sound nearly identical to pure single coils, with huge, growly lows and crisp highs. I've been very happy, whether on stage or recording.
 
#8
I can't reccomend them yet cause they've been sitting in my room for weeks but I'll let you all know what I think of my new Antiquity II's once I get my HWY1 Jazz back from being refinished. The plan is to record something with the stock pups then the antiquity's to get the best comparison.

From what I've heard, the Bart's are a smoother sounding pup with less growl than the Seymours.
 
#9
agreatheight said:
OK, so I picked up a MIM Jazz a couple of months ago and really dig playing it, but I am not loving the sound. I bought it to sub for my Zon Sonus at the sketchier gigs. I love the sound I get from my Zon, which is Bartolini equipped, so I am thinking about just dropping in some Barts. Anyone think I should do something different?

Peace!
Click to expand...
Bartolini makes wonderful Jazz bass pickups, I used to have a pair in a custom build jazz bass I had. If you like Barts, they'd be a pretty safe bet. I had the single coil ones that are designed to sound like vintage Jazz pickups. Personally I like the MIM standard pickups, I changed them out to SD QPs on a MIM jazz I used to have and I liked the stockers better.
 
#10
agreatheight said:
OK, so I picked up a MIM Jazz a couple of months ago and really dig playing it, but I am not loving the sound.?
Click to expand...

It all depends on what you want out of the jbass really. I wound a couple of sets for myself: one similar in sound to the NJ4's; the other similar to a slightly hotter and beefer stock Fender. Both sound good and have their own tone and application. Again, it depends on what music you play, where you're playing it (studio, live), the setup you have and what you really want to hear. As someone already mentioned, a set in one bass may sound really different in another.
 
#11
Nedmundo said:
If you love the sound of your Zon's Barts, you could probably get close with something from Bartolini, but because of the other differences between the instruments I bet you won't match it exactly. So why not go for killer classic J tone? I'll add another vote for Lindy Fralin. I have his noiseless Split-Jazz. They're expensive, but worth it IMO. They sound nearly identical to pure single coils, with huge, growly lows and crisp highs. I've been very happy, whether on stage or recording.
Click to expand...

I was going to start another thread about my particular J-pickup replacement interest, but, you and another guy mention Fralin's. I agree, I really like them in my Mike Lull passive 4. Sorry to hijack this thread, but, I just bought a Fender CS Classic Jazz. My intention was to decide to keep either the Fender or Lull, but not both.

While I love the neck, weight (8.4lbs), build quality, look, et al of the Fender, I kinda prefer the passive Fralin's. OTOH (and while I'm a passive player) I'm now kinda into having more tonal control on the bass via an active system as opposed to walking over to the amp to say go from a phat sond to a Jaco sound for a kick. And yet, I've always been a simple 2 knob player, turn up the volume, adjust the tone and play.
Well, anyone have any suggestions? Can Fralins be made active? Would my Fender Jazz accommodate them without modification? If they can go active, what circuits do you guys recommend, preferrably one that can also go passive just in case of battery failure.

If someone recommends I start my own thread I will. Thx guys.
 
#12
LarryR said:
...Well, anyone have any suggestions? Can Fralins be made active? Would my Fender Jazz accommodate them without modification? If they can go active, what circuits do you guys recommend, preferrably one that can also go passive just in case of battery failure.

If someone recommends I start my own thread I will. Thx guys.
Click to expand...

To my knowledge Lindy doesn't make active pups but it's a moot point as active pups give you no more onboard control than passive pups - they're just pickups. In fact less cuase in 95% of the cases it cuts out wiring options like single coil/series/parallel, not to mention passive by-pass.

An onboard pre is probably what you're talking about making use of - and they work equally well with active or passive pickups.
 
#13
luknfur said:
To my knowledge Lindy doesn't make active pups but it's a moot point as active pups give you no more onboard control than passive pups - they're just pickups. In fact less cuase in 95% of the cases it cuts out wiring options like single coil/series/parallel, not to mention passive by-pass.

An onboard pre is probably what you're talking about making use of - and they work equally well with active or passive pickups.
Click to expand...

Thanks for onboard pre-101. I know very little about this stuff. But, here's a dilemma of sorts. My Fender came with those "noiseless" pickups and an active pre (factory Fender). How do I know where to start changing things? In other words, maybe I'd like the noiseless pickups, but since they're now active (there's no passive option in the circuit) how will I know? Should everything flat on my pre tell me what "noiseless" sound like as passive? Should I presume that guys in my situation just start changing out the 2 elements (pickups and pre's) one at a time...to then see what combination works best?

In theory it seems I'd prefer new Fralin's and a J-retro Deluxe. Fralin's because I like them on my Lull. J-retro because of the reputation plus the passive option. I presume this is a common setup?
 

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