MIA stock vs CS 60 jazz pickups

[lawrence2]

here we go

after a couple of decades the cheap molded-plastic bobbin american standard pickups are finally upgraded to proper vintage-construction custom shop versions, and people start getting it in their heads that the old ones were actually better somehow!

don't get me wrong, the regular ones were OK, but they weren't as good as the rest of the instrument.

I agree with that one. I think that for standard CS 60's are better and more quality like ever before, finally; but if that is your thing; it is sound like it is.
If we talk about fender pickups: we have
- "original", like on 62 RI, I think also on Geddy Lee model and some custom made models.
- 75 RI, which is on 75 RI jazz bass, which I do not know where you can buy.
That's it

 

[Ray man]

Lawrence, these are some good questios.

I would say yes the stock have somewhere in the middlle of the road in the upper midrange bark; The 75's haveing more and the CS having less.

As far as the stock being somewhat deeper, they are deeper but a shy kind of deep while the CS have such a thump in the low mids it may acctualy seem fatter or mor chunky down there, But its low mids your hearing. This thump isnt on the stock so you may miss it if you swap, but you get more even mids with some top end restored.

Yes the stock would be the most modern middle of the road tone in my opinion,there flater and wider.

I assume you mean putting a 75 pickp in a bass with 60's spacing. It will still sound fine but it just wont have the 70's spacing which by itself makes a tonal difference.

And finaly, hers where i got a few sets of 75's over the years.
http://angela.com/fender75jazzbassbridgepickup.aspx
http://angela.com/fender75jazzbassneckpickup.aspx

Btw... All my observations are re-evaluations since in the recent past I refered to the CS as being glassy, but that was through a sansamp rbi so thats where the glass came from.

 

[pattyløve]

Hey Ray Man, now im interested in these 75s, how would you describe their tone in comparison?

 

[Ray man]

Hey Ray Man, now im interested in these 75s, how would you describe their tone in comparison?

Stock, even from top to bottom.
Cs, the balance is toward lower mids.
75's,the balance is toward upper mids.

As far as which ones are considered 'stock' im not sure cause mine are listed as Standard Vintage Alnico Magnet Jazz Bass pickups. I don't know if there the same as the 62' vintage or the 'original' for that matter. I did have a set of 62' vintage about ten years ago but I realy dont remeber them.

I think the 75's would be the best choice for say a Geddy Lee jazz. Even though some of his basses use CS pickups, I find the 75's give the upper mids similar to his main jazz.
Of course I never heard real vintage pickups in person just so you know.

 

[Ray man]

For those interested in specs, the neck pickup reads 7.88k
I cant find the packaging for the bridge pickup but i think it was near or over 8k.

 

[lawrence2]

Hey Rayman, some nice answers and thinking,

- About CS and its low mid; I thought that I would really like that ( I still think that "to be heard" in guitar riffs low mids are important) but I find CS to warm and some kind of strange low end, like you said it is more of a low mid, omph. And yes, it sound beefier or fat cause of this; I am sure that it can be missed, but I think I need some more lows and a little more agressive.

- I also think that CS is a little glassy (of course with Sansamp it is more). Some said that because of this it is heard a little "modern" sometimes. My tech-man have similar bass then mine ( fender jazz bass, heavy ash body and rosewood neck) and he has "original 62" pick ups and I have CS 60 - He said that mine has more low end and more high ( maybe more low mids, but on first ear it is like this), the "original 62" have more mids, more punch - he said that his bass it is like punch in the head; while mine it is more mellow (which I agree). I didn't hear the difference ( next time I will ask him to show me - I will write here, when I do). I think it is the difference like the videos, that I send before.

- 75 pickups in 60 spacing: yes, I agree it will be stil sound of pickups, maybe a little less high mids or mids, cause of spacing, or maybe just a little diferent, maybe in a good way .

- 75 ri: I agree, great for Geddy Lee sound, bark and high mids; but I think that in his Japan jazz bass are "original 62"; but in 70's spacing, so more high mids.

example, from the same man of some 70's fender, custom made, just for sound, pick ups shoulf be 75 ri, not sure:

Ok, our problem here is, that we do not know about "original 62" pick ups, cause I am almost sure, that they are not the same as "standard alnico", what we called here "stock".
I am trying to change CS 60 and I am choosing beetwen "original 62" and "75 ri"; I really like 62 sound better, but I am afraid of lacking bottom, low end. I think that 75 have more lows. I need sound for riffs with guitar ( RATM, Audioslave let's say), but also some funk, so I need also some clear notes; but for riffs I need lows ( my drummer wants to have it ).

---- I want to stay at fender topic; but just for knowing; I was thinking of differenet animal also - Dimarzio model J ( like realy beefy, low end , to be heard and feel in riffs; but I like fedner vibe ). And we can also go for all the rest of pickups, but let's try to focus on fender here, maybe just a shor opinion on that one.

Nice to talk with you guys

 

[lawrence2]

Something more, just to check it out:

Geddy Lee bass with "original 62" pickups (time: 3.02):


It's a Lakland theme ), but so you can compare better, and the same player.
What do you think?

 

[lawrence2]

Some description and specs for "original":

Original Jazz Bass™
To get an Original, we started with a classic! We carefully studied Jazz Bass pickups from the early '60s and duplicated the materials and construction to produce these modern classics. We've made everything as original as possible, from the flush-mounted Alnico 5 magnets and enamel- coated magnet wire to the fiber bobbin and cloth output wire. The result is a sound that's articulate, with plenty of definition and mid-range with tight low-end growl. OEM on American Vintage and Geddy Lee J-Basses.


Original Jazz Bass Bridge
DC Resistance 7.5K
Inductance 3.35Henries

Original Jazz Bass Neck
DC Resistance 7.25K
Inductance 3.2Henries

Available in black only, sold as each.

 

[GlennW]

I had a few Fender JB pickups and saved some specs.

Original/Geddy Lee
neck 7.43K; bridge 7.70K - plain enamel (dark) wire

Marcus Miller
bridge 7.97K - Formvar wire (copper colored)

Fender Custom Shop
neck 7+? (after removing some coil wire to repair, was DOA) - Formvar

There was another fairly recent MIA type with one-piece plastic bobbins like the Am Std Strat pickups. On these it's safe to raise/lower the magnets because theyre mounted in the plastic.

 

[lawrence2]

I had a few Fender JB pickups and saved some specs.

Original/Geddy Lee
neck 7.43K; bridge 7.70K - plain enamel (dark) wire

Marcus Miller
bridge 7.97K - Formvar wire (copper colored)

Fender Custom Shop
neck 7+? (after removing some coil wire to repair, was DOA) - Formvar

There was another fairly recent MIA type with one-piece plastic bobbins like the Am Std Strat pickups. On these it's safe to raise/lower the magnets because theyre mounted in the plastic.

Thanks for informations, but looks like we find somebody here that tried "original" ones; I am really interested in "original" fender pick ups; comapare to CS 60's or even better, compare to 75 RI. How is the low end, I heard it is lacking bottom? I am really interesting if "original" can do more heavy rock riffs?
Any feelings or some words a bout "originals" will be nice.

 

[Ray man]

Thanks for informations, but looks like we find somebody here that tried "original" ones; I am really interested in "original" fender pick ups; comapare to CS 60's or even better, compare to 75 RI. How is the low end, I heard it is lacking bottom? I am really interesting if "original" can do more heavy rock riffs?
Any feelings or some words a bout "originals" will be nice.

I gotta reread all your post latter but a quick answer is the differences are subtle. For example, the 75's have good upper mids, but that doesnt mean they have bad lower mids with no bottom end. Likewise the cs have more lower mids, but that doesnt mean that there have bad upper mids with no top end.
I dont want to give the impression that one set is so much better than the other like night and day but rather just slightly different.

Dimarzio or EMG would be night and day.

 

[lawrence2]

I gotta reread all your post latter but a quick answer is the differences are subtle. For example, the 75's have good upper mids, but that doesnt mean they have bad lower mids with no bottom end. Likewise the cs have more lower mids, but that doesnt mean that there have bad upper mids with no top end.
I dont want to give the impression that one set is so much better than the other like night and day but rather just slightly different.

Dimarzio or EMG would be night and day.

Yes, I understand what you mean and I agree. We are just talking in which area are more pronounced. For example For example, I also think that 75 have more bottom than CS 60's.
And I also do not want to say which one is better, and ofcourse a lot of diferences are subtle. But trying to talk about objective difrence in sound or how the things are doing in the mix, with drum and guitar for start.
I know that Dimarzio and EMG are like night and day compare to fender, I was just mentioning Dimarzio model J, which is quite special pickup also among Dimarzio pickups.
I know I write a lot before, put some examples; when you have time, check it out.

 

[Ray man]

I re-evaluated these pickups a few weeks ago and had changed my mind. The CS were only glassy cause I was trying to restore uppermids with the eq which boosted super highs at the same time, so you can see where the glass came from.

I think the stock pickups may give you a clean slate to work with.
Its hard to descibe, but I can hear how those CS low mids overstep the low end that the stock or 75's may have. But its all upper-bass energy, its ballzy but can get thick. The bass on the stock and 75 will be plenty for sure just cleaner. The'll be more room for the other frequencys without that thickness.

Also, if your friend has 70's spacing, that could a factor as to how he gets that 'punched in the head' sound.

 

[lawrence2]

No, for the bass I was talking about there was not 70's spacing; normal 60's spacing; ash / rosewood - only normal bridge ( not bad ass 2) and "original" fender pickups, not CS60's; the man tryied them both, said that CS60's have more low and more high, the "original" more mids, he said really more punch in the head.

 

[lawrence2]

Rayman, so you are talking about low-mid how over-step the low in cs60's; I quite agree. Can also be that a problem with loud rock guitar riffs, cause sometime I think it lacks real lows there, I mean CS 60's pickups.

 

[BlazingRiCO]

I have CS60 J pickups in my custom Jazz bass. When I heard them for the first time I was like: YUUUUUM !

But after some time I started to notice those pickups have some sort of thump sound (especially when I play the E string) which I'm not really looking for.

So I may plan to buy other pickups. Doesnt mean I hate them or that they're bad. They sound great ! I just don't want that thumpy low mid sound or so.

 

[invalidprotocol]

I don't experience any thump or boom with my CS60's unless pickup height is set too close to the strings. Paired with DR Sunbeams I get thick and very warm low mids that in a modern P&W church setting work great because there is the sonic space for them.

In a hard rock setting with heavy rhythm guitar riffs the CS60's would get lost in the mix. In that setting I'd go for low end thump and high end grind which is what my stock 2008 pickups did well. The original 60's pickups would also sit well there.

 

[walterw]

But after some time I started to notice those pickups have some sort of thump sound (especially when I play the E string) which I'm not really looking for.

that sounds like they're just too close to the strings; since they're flat, if they get too close the E starts to boom out because it's closer due to the radius of the fretboard.

keep the E side of both pickups a little further away and they won't have the hot E string issue.