Pick-ups

[RojoRocket]

Hello, I'm thinking about replacing my pick-ups and would like a piece of advice from you guys.
My bass is an Ibanez GSR200, with standard pups
I'm a total noob concerning pick-ups. I know for a fact that the original GSR200 pickups are a jazz pick-up near the fretboard and a presicion pick-up near the bridge.
Here come the questions:
Are all Jazzpickups in the "double, half pickpup shape"?
To illustrate the question here is a schematic drawing of how they look like this:
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(argh, it doesn't show my drawing correctly. It basically comes down to this: A normal pickup "sliced" in two, then placed underneath each other, halfway through the half pickup.)

The music I play with my band is doom/traditional/heavy metal; what would be the best choice of pickups to get a sharp, agressive sound that goes well with distortion?

Are there faq's on how to replace P-ups, and where can I find them?


Thats all for the questions for now, I hope I'm not boring you with my noobquestions and crappy ansidrawings of pickups, and any help is superbly appreciated.

 

[Luis Fabara]

What you describe is....
uh.. no..
I dont get it.

I thought you were talking about a P (Presicion) Style pickup (Split Coil Humbucker), but when I read again, and you said you have a P and a J , then I guess you know that.

But then again.. i didnt really get it.

What I can recommend for your particular style of music, is having a set of ACTIVE EMGs. They will sound GREAT.
But the thing is, that those dont get along distortion well... they get too trebly and harsh. Unless of course that the kind of distortion you want is Screaming Heavy Guitar like distortion. Then... they would be just perfect.

Now on the guide for replacement. If you dont have soldering skills and some electronic knowledge, it is best if you take it to a guitar repair shop for installing.

 

[Luis Fabara]

I read again. I see that you post the Jazz and Presicion describing the pickups, but you dont know wich one is what actually.

The pickup near the Fretboard, is a P-Style Humbucker. (The one that has 2 parts... as you describe)

And the one at the bridge is a Single Coil pickup. (used mostly on fender jazz basses, and thats why its called a JAZZ pickup)

You have whats called a P/J setup.

 

[RojoRocket]

Thanks a bunch for that post man... Really helped me out a lot. Seems I got it wrong with the P-ups on my Ibanez after all...
And yeah, the screaming guitar kinda distortion is what I was aiming for. Kinda suits the band formation (1 guitarist, drummer, 2 bassists).
Got any advice on the brand I should get? The price should be around $150. Could be a little more expensive, but not more than $250.

 

[Luis Fabara]

No problem.

As I said in my previous post... EMG´s

I did a search on Ebay and found a set:

EMG PJ Set

 

[bigbeefdog]

Another suggestion, if you don't want to go to the trouble of making the bass active.... an exceptional passive set, drop right in and solder the wires....

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[RojoRocket]

Yah, I'd rather put in some good passives than remodel my bass... Will I notice a great difference between the standard Powersounds I have now and the DiMarzio's?

 

[Luis Fabara]

trouble of making it active??? everything comes prewired!!!

 

[bigbeefdog]

Yah, I'd rather put in some good passives than remodel my bass... Will I notice a great difference between the standard Powersounds I have now and the DiMarzio's?

A major upgrade, IMHO.

On that particular set, the P pickup will no doubt fit - but check the J (the one nearest the bridge). There are "long" and "short" versions of Jazz pickups, and I'm not sure which length is in your Ibanez - measure to be sure.

The dimensions of the J pup in that set are shown here, bottom of page (it's described as a "Long" J pickup at top):

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The Dimarzio is also a 4-wire pickup - no problem, in the instructions it tells you to solder two together for an application such as yours, and solder the other two to the pots, same as your current pickups. I forget which colors are which, but the instructions that come with the set make it clear.

trouble of making it active??? everything comes prewired!!!

Sure.... but it's still a bigger job than simply dropping in passives, and soldering two wires from each to the existing pots.

And this is purely personal preference, YMMV.... but I've owned active EMG's before, and I much prefer the Dimarzio passives...... different strokes for different folks, I suppose....

 

[62bass]

The GSR 200 has an active EQ circuit built in I believe. Sort of a bass and treble boost which gives more of a mid scooped sound when used. If you want to upgrade pickups go for passive. Seymour Duncans work well in that bass.

But for the distortion you crave you'll get more of it from your choice of amp and cabinet than a pickup change. Different strings will change the sound a lot too. I didn't like the stock strings Ibanez uses on that model. Too much top end and not enough bottom.

The GSR stock pickups aren't all that bad with the right strings, and with a good amp the package can sound pretty good without expensive pickup and preamp swaps. It's a very decent bass for the money.

 

[JimmyM]

I agree. Too many people look to the pickups for some kind of miracle change and it just doesn't happen.

 

[Trevorus]

...The GSR stock pickups aren't all that bad with the right strings, and with a good amp the package can sound pretty good without expensive pickup and preamp swaps. It's a very decent bass for the money.

Expensive pickup swaps? A set of passive pickups is less than 150, usually. What good quality gigging amp can you get for that money? His amp may be fine, but a good OD/distortion pedal would do the greatest good, but you still would want to change pickups. I have noticed vast improvements with pickups. My Squier P (with EMG's) is proof, as I play it as much as my American Deluxe Jazz.