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Pickup upgrade for Fender Pro Jazz V

J

Jroc07

Nov 19, 2009
68
47
Ontario
#1
Hey there, wondering if anyone has advice or suggestions for upgrading the V Mod pickups on my Pro Jazz V. I find the V mods can do the hi fi Marcus Miller sound which is great, but they seem to lack some low end punch or fatness.

About 10 years ago I put together a Warmoth fretless jazz 4 string and used Seymour Duncan Antiquity IIs and am looking for that similar tone.

Currently on the fence between Lindy Fralin and Lollars so if anyone has used these in a 5 string, could you provide some insight into how they were for you? Also open to other suggestions to nail that Antiquity II sound.

Thanks!
 
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#2
I've never used Frailin pickups in a bass, but I've ordered several for guitar and Lindy will work with you to custom wind the pickups to get what you're after. My experience with the company has been fantastic :thumbsup:
 
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#4
Probably the best option was mentioned above, to call Fralin and find out what they can do to get your optimal tone - and Fralin's aren't too expensive for what you get. Maybe even a 5% overwind is what you want/need. They can even rewind your pickups for less than the cost of a new set.

I don't have experience with them, but others do and simply rave.

I currently have 2 Jazz V's, one passive, one active. The passive one has MIA Fender pickups (from the Am Std line) - your basic Jazz V pickup.
The active one has Duncan Apollo hum-cancelling pickups. These are actually my current favorite pickups. Lots of punch, more low end than the other pickups, and silent. They don't have as much top end, but more than a "hot" pickup would. There is a video out there where the author compared them to his MIJ Geddy Lee. There is less obvious top end, but in a second video he replaced stock 250k pots with 500k pots to get that top end back.
it's an idea, depends if you want to go down that HC road.
 
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#5
Thanks a lot guys, definitely going to contact Lindy Fralin and see if the 5% overwound is what I'm looking for.

I have considered HC and I was just looking at Bartoloni B-axis pickups today.

I just have a feeling I might miss that growl that you can get with single coils.
 
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#8
Jroc07 said:
Just for reference here's an idea of the tone I'm going for. Understanding that he's using a fodera with humbuckers and Sharay is an absolute beast, but digging the fat tone he gets.
Click to expand...


To my ear, this bass tone nothing sound vintage, but i been play the Fender Elite at GC which sound pretty close to it through Markbass 121combo.
 
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#9
Yeah I get a bit confused between the whole vintage/modern tone thing because I think what a lot of people refer to as modern is the scooped hifi thing with the deep lows and glassy highs. But guys like Marcus Miller have been using this for decades.
So to me the tone I'm after and what I'm hearing in that vid is maybe more low mids to get that punch? I'm finding the V-Mods to be pretty scooped.
 

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