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Need new P/J pickups

D

Dallas852

May 5, 2009
137
0
#1
I have an SX PJ combo and I really dig the tones I get out of the p pickup but not the J pickup. Also my pots are pretty scratchy and one is super loose. Thinking about changing out the electronics. I know there so many opinions, but what are the closets to "standard P/J tones"?
 
#4
I think I have the same bass. I dont like the J by itself.
I like the P by itself and also both together. The J rounds out the sound a bit which is nice.
I am not sure if I will pay to replace the pickups. I already did the pots which helped.
But new PU for the bass will cost more than the bass. I just dunno if i can justify that.
but i love my SX its nice for the money.
 
#5
I am liking my Dimarzio Model P+J, the adjustable pole pieces are great for balancing the volume across the strings and pickups. (the J pickup is half as close to the strings as the P).

I swapped them into my Squier PJ, and the major difference is how much better the J sounds now. The pickups has some balls. (Maybe too much balls, now my guitarist is complaining.) Not quite the classic P pickup sound, though.
 
#7
PastorofMuppets said:
I just put a dimarzio model P in another bass and its awesome.
Maybe a set isnt the way to go. get two great PU and custom tailor a sound you like.

want that classic P tone then get that
want that bridge J jaco tone get that.

i like that idea. more money maybe but better sound
Click to expand...

This is kinda what I was thinking. I really like the P sound I get but the J is lacking. The pots need to go first.
Some people say don't upgrade the SX but it plays Soooo smooth and I have it set up perfect. Just want to update the pots and pickups.
 
#11
pots won't make much of a difference unless the existing ones are defective, or you went with a different value. i recently put a set of nordy single coil jazz in a thumb, and used 500k pots for volume and a meg pot for tone. this was a big improvement over the 250k usually recommended for singles, for me. dimarzio make good kit for less. you may want to check out what they have to offer. i would stay passive re pups, and look to separate on-board/pedal pres if you get curious about going active
 
#13
PastorofMuppets said:
On my bass the pots made volume transitions much smoother.
before it was nothing nothing nothing and then fully on.
not now, so I guess it was defective.
Click to expand...

The original pots just had a bad taper. But the pots wont make the pickups sound better.

There's nothing wrong with putting better pickups in an SX. One reason they are so cheap is the hardware they use. The woodwork is not bad. I have had customers bring me SX instruments, and we replaced the tuners and electronics, including the pickups, and they were nice instruments. One guy went on to win a bunch of blues competitions with a modded SX Tele.

So I would absolutely replace the pickups. They don't sound too bad for really cheap pickups, but better ones will make a difference you will notice.
 
#15
PastorofMuppets said:
On my bass the pots made volume transitions much smoother.
before it was nothing nothing nothing and then fully on.
not now, so I guess it was defective.
Click to expand...

i'm sorry, i should have clarified re 'value'. as david said, the taper (i lumped it together). not sure why they stuck a linear in there (unless they have some funny audio taper ones), though mr villex asked me to use linear volumes for the p/j set of his i was using at the time...
:o
 

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