Pickups and electronics upgrade for my Jackson JS3V

[Troy Laue]

I just purchased a Jackson 5 string JS3V. Im looking to upgrade the pickups and eq. I would like something similar to my other Jackson Dave Ellefson sig that has the EMG’s stock. These pu’s seem weak on the J3 and the bass itself is very hissy if that makes sense. Hoping for suggestions on something I can do to upgrade. With pickups that will fit in place of the stock ones. Thanks!

 

[sikamikanico]

They look EMG-sized, so I think you can just get an EMG system if you like that sound and call it a day. But of course measure first and confirm sizes will match...

Or get other EMG sized pickups. You will have to be more specific about what your sonic goals are, there lots of pickups in EMG-sized housing. While they look similar, they can be internally different designs (single, split, dual; wide and narrow, etc...) and thus sound different.

 

[bestbassgear]

The stock pickups look like EMG40 shaped cases from the photos I have seen. It's easy to know for sure, the pickups would measure approximately 4" in length. It is possible the pickups could be EMG45(4 1/2" long) but, just measure to be sure.

The links to the pickups and preamp below would get your JS3V bass into the same level tonaly and output wise with the DE signature bass. Best of all, the EMG pickups and preamp can be installed very easily without soldering. Also, The EMG preamp would be an upgrade over the stock preamp (even in the DE bass) the EMG preamp has sweepable, not just a single fixed mid-range control.

2 x EMG 40DC pickups
EMG 40DC 5String Pickup - Best Bass Gear

EMG BQS System
EMG BQS System Active Pickup Input System - Best Bass Gear

 

[Troy Laue]

Thanks Best Bass Gear. You’ve been great!

 

[bestbassgear]

It's our pleasure! Thank you!

 

[twssbassman]

I'm in a similar situation, new JSV3, weak pup's and very hissy preamp. For the price (I got a deal at $199), I like it enough to keep and eventually upgrade the electronics after I play a few more gigs to get the funds. In the meantime, I'm experimenting with passive mode to at least get rid of the hiss. The non-eq pots on this one are volume/blend, not volume/volume. So far I've removed the battery and jumpered the volume output to the output jack, without changing/removing the existing preamp connections. What I find now is the blend knob goes from max output at one end, to near zero in the middle, to max at the other end, so it is effectively a selector switch to have one pup or the other, and not useful for blending at all. Is there some other wiring change I can make with the existing components to restore a useful blend function? Would disconnecting the (unpowered) preamp make a difference?

Question for the OP (or anyone else who has done this), did you change to the EMG DC's and BQS, and how does it compare to the stock parts?

 

[crguti]

I’ve got the Jackson CBXV. You can fit the soapbar EMG 40s. For standard tuning I would recommend PJ set. For lower tunings I go for JJ set.

 

[marq1965]

so have we confirmed EMG is a drop in replacement for the Jacksons and will fit the same

 

[crguti]

^ i have replaced the pickups for EMGs in 3 of my Jackson basses.