Pickups without copper winding..? Pickup wizards, Please look

[walterw]

I'm surprised that more pickup makers don't make bespoke J's for their PJ sets and match them well (at least in terms of output). It seems like most just recycle a J from a Jazz set.

that's tough because the inherent shape, design and especially location of each means that it's almost impossible to make a J bridge that actually balances with a P pickup, unless the J is so overwound and the P is so underwound that neither sound right by themselves.

for most folks "balance" isn't the goal anyway; a PJ set is really a P pickup with the J as a sort of "seasoning" for it, adding treble and scooping out mids as you blend it in. the J by itself is usually not the point.

as such, to my ear a regular vintage P plus a regular vintage J sound "right" for a PJ setup how it's typically used, either the P by itself or the pair put together for that scooped sound. the dimarzio area J does the best job i've heard so far of sounding like a real vintage jazz pickup without hum.

 

[dwizum]

That makes sense. I'm willing to admit that I have a different approach than most people would - based on your description of using the J to flavor the P, the "unbalanced" approach does seem to make sense.

 

[ctmullins]

The only PJ that makes sense to me is a JP - J by the neck and P near the bridge. Reversed, of course.

 

[dwizum]

Even better, a pair of quad coils in soapbar shells, wired so you can select an inline or offset combo at either position, and wound to give a J or P tone respectively!

 

[ctmullins]

Even better, a pair of quad coils in soapbar shells, wired so you can select an inline or offset combo at either position, and wound to give a J or P tone respectively!

Not sure how you could do that, since J coils are tall and skinny, and P coils are short and fat. ??

 

[dwizum]

It would be a compromise - but if you didn't care about running all 4 as a complete pickup, you could put two of each "shape" under the shell. You wouldn't get the same offset as you do in a real P, and the J would be offset too, but I bet it would be close enough that most people couldn't tell.

Or, literally split a coil. Wind a normal half-J as you would for a split J, connect the leads out to your eyelets, and then wind another coil right on top of the already wound one. Use just the center coil for the J, and add in the outer windings for the P tone.

We're probably way down the rabbit hole for this thread at this point, I should pick this up over in the pickup making thread in LC...

 

[larrysb]

I just spotted the thread. There's a "JP-90 Club" thread in the BG forum. I upgraded my pickups on the JP-90 I've owned since new and details are there.

I also just posted some pictures and measurements of the original JP-90 pickups. They are ceramic bar magnet versions of P and J pickups, and the coils are embedded in epoxy. You can't get them apart without breaking them, as what appears to have happened to the original poster's bass.

Fender JP 90 club?

I have to say, I've owned this JP-90 since it was new in 1993 and it is a favorite and has been my goto bass for all these years. If the neck is in good shape, it is well worth the effort to fit new pickups, pickguard and electronics too. It is made in USA and very light and comfortable to play. It was built to a low price point, but it has potential with just a few upgrades to be quite the player and a little unique at the same time. Mine's sporting a Fender Yosemite PJ set, copper shielding, JD-Products pickguard in thicker plastic and Bournes 95 series pots which are absolutely top of the line. Still really love it.