Need a deeper, "punchy" tone from my jazz

[BassOutcast]

Hey guys.
I have a stock 62' reissue MIJ Jazz bass, and although she feels amazing, I want to upgrade her pickups to something with a more "edgy" tone, while keeping the ability to have that mellow stock sound as well.

My playing style and writing style shifts from heavy, pick/fingered treble hard rock, often boosted by an overdrive pedal, to a mellow, almost guitar-ish clean part with chorus (sometimes with chord strumming).

I love the mellow sound as it is, but I lack that "punch" of a higher-output pickup. An example for what I have in mind is somewhere between Jeremy Davis from Paramore (Mostly from their self-titled album, songs like "Ain't It Fun") and Chris from Muse (the heavier songs such as "The Handler")

Anyone got a recommendation? I've heard good things on some Duncan pickups, but I need a few options...

 

[OEW3]

I'll always suggest Bill Lawrence p/u's when someone asks. But have you tried the Earthquaker Devices Arrows pedal? Adds a bunch of punch for me.

 

[Toptube]

Try Dean Markley Helix Stainless Steel strings. You just might save yourself from spending big on pickups.

 

[RattleSnack]

Generaly speaking, different pickups mostly change character of your sound. So, if you don't like how you sound "in the mix", try something else.
"Punchy" relates to dynamics, so I would look in to your signal setup. Bump your amps input gain. Bump you lower mids. Check your technique.

 

[pickles]

I would try some aero alnico 3 singles. And the string change idea isnt bad.

 

[Jughead6]

As someone who has a lot of experience throwing good money after bad, may I suggest trying cheap and easily reversible solutions first i.e. check pickup height, change strings, use a clean boost pedal etc.

But if you do go down that route, I am a fan of Aguilar jazz pickups.

 

[LoveThatBass]

I put an S-1 switch on all of my Jazz basses that switches from normal both pickups in Parallel to fat and punchy both pickups in series mode. You can use a volume pot with DPDT switch OR what I like best if it is a Fender Jazz is Fender's S-1 pot w switch and S-1 knob with push button in the center. It not only looks nicer but easier to hook up.
You can tell what mode it is in as the center push button is recessed a little in series mode and flush in parallel mode, not to mention the big tone you get in series mode.

Below is a standard Push/Push 250K Audio pot with DPDT switch mounted below it (not the Fender S-1) but cheaper and works well. Have it on one of my basses. I like push/push better than push/pull.

 

[Lesfunk]

Duncan quarter pound jazz pickups

 

[devnulljp]

Get a good compressor.

 

[mmbongo]

Lace Sensor Man O War pickups. Give your sound some....man parts.....and ditch the noise while you're at it.

 

[The_Phoenician]

If EQ and strings don't work, there's also Dimarzio Model J's. Just keep in mind that they don't sound like traditional jazz bass pickups.

 

[decentbassbreh]

sansamp will benefit too

 

[two fingers]

Yeah it's your bass. You do what you want. I would try a stomp box for your aggressive sound and click it off for your more beefy tone. Either that or try the S1 swith idea. If you like the original tone and want something else too that will be hard to replicate with pickups.

 

[dfoehr]

Get a p bass. Worked for me.

 

[pickles]

If EQ and strings don't work, there's also Dimarzio Model J's. Just keep in mind that they don't sound like traditional jazz bass pickups.

Yeah, model Js in series are **plenty** punchy.

 

[Bent77]

series switch for the win/

 

[mpdd]

i put alleva coppolo vintage voiced jazz pickups in my 84/85 mij jazz and now i have more mids, more output, and more percussive sound

 

[blindrabbit]

1) If you are running both pickups on full (or at even volumes), try rolling off some bridge pickup and see if you like what you hear. This will "unscoop" the mids and fatten up your tone.

2) As mentioned above, get a switch to allow you to run the pickups in series. This will add a bunch more mids and fatness.

3) Consider some nice nickel rounds like DR Sunbeams.

4) Get a tonal enhancement compressor like the Diamond BCP-1.

5) Get a preamp pedal or dirt pedal that will allow you to enhance low mids, like an Aguilar Tone Hammer

6) Mess around with settings on your amp to make your sound richer in the lows and low mids

If you try all of these things and it still doesn't work, then I suppose you could try some other pickups.

 

[ursusaltered]

Lindy Fralin overwound Jazz pickups are amazing. Check them out. You will for sure get the tone you are looking for with them.

 

[Ten Four One]

Hey guys.
I have a stock 62' reissue MIJ Jazz bass, and although she feels amazing, I want to upgrade her pickups to something with a more "edgy" tone, while keeping the ability to have that mellow stock sound as well.

My playing style and writing style shifts from heavy, pick/fingered treble hard rock, often boosted by an overdrive pedal, to a mellow, almost guitar-ish clean part with chorus (sometimes with chord strumming).

I love the mellow sound as it is, but I lack that "punch" of a higher-output pickup. An example for what I have in mind is somewhere between Jeremy Davis from Paramore (Mostly from their self-titled album, songs like "Ain't It Fun") and Chris from Muse (the heavier songs such as "The Handler")

Anyone got a recommendation? I've heard good things on some Duncan pickups, but I need a few options...

Those are good tones. I just picked up a Jazz bass & something like Paramore is what i was aiming for - coming from a VERY vintage P sound. Though I've owned Jazz basses in the past, it's sort of something I'm rediscovering.

Before you go out & spend tons of money on pickups that have only vague effects on your sound (profound, but not something you can necesarily predict before you've spent your money on 3 or 4 differnt ones), go out and get a) a compressor pedal and b) an EQ pedal. The compressor will "tighten" up your sound and the EQ will give you the language to describe the tone you're looking for. Something like the MXR M108 or MXR 81. The M81 has a solid 40Hz boost (very standard for bass preamps- Sadowsky etc) and sweepable mids. The M108 is a 10 band graphic EQ. Either will give you lots of tone shaping ability.

The purpose isn't to get exactly the sound you want (though they'll get you close) - the purpose is to give you a language you can use to describe the tone you want. Instead of "mellow" and "punch" you can describe things as "with a strong 40Hz bottom and a bit of a low-mid 400Hz bite" or "Somewhat scooped upper-mids with a bit of 1Khz brilliance to cut through & give me a clean tone." Knowing what frequencies affect your tone in what way is a skill you'll take with you through the rest of your life & engineers (live & studio) will thank you for it. So then when you're in the market for pickups, you'll have a bit more ability to describe the tone you're looking for in a way that's more specific & less vague.

Also, in the short term you can try raising your pickups a bit. If you have to stick a bit of foam under them to bring them up more because unscrewing the screws doesn't let them go any higher, go for it- you were gonna chamge them anyway. Bringing them closer to the strings will naturally increase their output. You can, similarly, try lowering your action if it isn't already low.

In general, though, I think compression & EQ will bring you closer to a tone you like and then based on your experience there, you can start experimetning with electronics - and an M81 and a compressor will serve you well no matter what bass you own next.