Pickup Replacements

[IzakDavid]

I have a Fender American Standard Jaguar Bass. I am looking for pickup replacements I can't seem to figure out what would be good since almost all of EMG pickups aren't active and the ones that are, are solderless I've look at some other pickups but they say they aren't active which had me wondering are my pickups active or are they passive with an active preamp? Which would make sense since they can switch between active or passive.

My Bass Below.

 

[ctmullins]

Nice looking bass.

I’m not a Fender guy, but I’m 98% certain those are passive pickups with an active preamp.

Can you describe what you don’t like about the current pickups?

 

[1bassplayinfool]

Nice bass... What kind of sound/tone are you after?

 

[IzakDavid]

Nice looking bass.

I’m not a Fender guy, but I’m 98% certain those are passive pickups with an active preamp.

Can you describe what you don’t like about the current pickups?

Thanks!
I am mainly not a fan of the Jazz pickup it has a much lower output sound and sounds pretty flat... I have a friend with an EMG-JHZ jazz pickup that has a way nicer mid range. I tune my bass BEAD and often tune to CCAD or DDAD I am looking at the Delano PMVC4 FE/M2 and the JMVC4 FE/M2 pickups I like the low end in the P pickup up and the almost Musicman tone the J pickup has but since I wasn't sure about what I could put in I stayed away from changing them and just using my Darkglass M500 to get my tone.

 

[IzakDavid]

Nice bass... What kind of sound/tone are you after?

Thank you!
I play in a band that does mostly covers anywhere from rock to pop to punk. A little bit of everything but the tone I normally lean twords is bass boost, scooped mids and a little treble boost or I play kinda opposite and cut bass, boost mids, boost treble manly use my J pickup when distortion is engaged but output is pretty weak on it.
Not sure if that gives you an idea of what I want.

 

[ctmullins]

Lots and lots of choices for replacements, but in the mean time, have you experimented with pickup heights? Raising the J closer to the strings might help a bit, and it’s free!

 

[IzakDavid]

Lots and lots of choices for replacements, but in the mean time, have you experimented with pickup heights? Raising the J closer to the strings might help a bit, and it’s free!

Yes I have experimented with the height a bunch. I have it as close to the strings as possible without it sounding like it's phasing or something? I set up my bass myself alot of trial and error with the trussrod finally got it right but took it into to have it set up by someone who lnew what they were doing but he said the only thing that needed to be adjusted was intonation so I did that afterward. The output issue is one that can be fixed with the bass boost on the bass it makes it louder but also adds to much bass and switching between the pickups there is a noticeable drop between the J pickup and the P pickup

 

[1bassplayinfool]

Don't know what your budget is, but have a look at these...

 

[IzakDavid]

200$ to 300$ is my budget I looked at nordstrand puckups but I didn't do much research on them but I will do some digging and see if I like them

 

[IzakDavid]

Thanks for the replies guys I am gonna go for the PJ Blade set from Nordstrand I went and listed to some demos of them and the J pickup has what I'm looking for and the P pickups will definitely be an added bonus.

 

[1bassplayinfool]

Thanks for the replies guys I am gonna go for the PJ Blade set from Nordstrand I went and listed to some demos of them and the J pickup has what I'm looking for and the P pickups will definitely be an added bonus.

Give them a call... super customer service!!!

 

[IzakDavid]

Give them a call... super customer service!!!

Will do! I appreciate it!

 

[And I]

most PJs i've played have this same issue -- P output higher than J output, J pickup sounds weak solo'd. the strings are vibrating less down closer to the bridge so there is less magnetic content down there. the nordy blades probably sound bad ass, but still, if you want more of the J tone / more balance between the two, consider lowering the P pickup height if you hadn't.

 

[johnson79]

That bass is seriously beautiful. Nice job!
And yes, those are passive pickups with an active preamp. Those Nordstrands sound like they'd be a good choice, and will look very badass.

 

[mikewalker]

Upgrade? I'd put in a Bartolini hum-cancelling Jazz, and a matching Bartolini P

 

[Kmonk]

Check out Lindy Fralin and Nordstrand.

 

[JimmyM]

EMG pickups don't have much in the way of active? Of course they do! They pretty much invented active pickups. Check out their product line a little more. Plenty of active stuff.

 

[IzakDavid]

EMG pickups don't have much in the way of active? Of course they do! They pretty much invented active pickups. Check out their product line a little more. Plenty of active stuff.

I miss spoke they have plenty of active pickup options just most are the solderless setup.

 

[MotorCityMinion]

I'm am not a Fender fan but I have have to agree with the others in here. That bass is sharp looking to me. Something like a Retro / Industrial vibe going on there. Satin Black, graphite, chrome. It just looks fast.

 

[And I]

Upgrade? I'd put in a Bartolini hum-cancelling Jazz, and a matching Bartolini P

I have bartolini "Classic Bass" pickups in one of my PJs. You won't find the J output matches the P, it will be lower. You might want to go for a Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounder in the bridge with a lower output P pickup. Or perhaps the quarter pounder set would do the trick with a low height on the P pickup and higher on the J.