PJ Content

[jamersonburton]

So a bit of background, my two main basses are a squier Matt Freeman Pbass (soon to be strung with ghs precision flats) that will remain stock. My other bass is a squier standard pj special from 2002. I have a seymour duncan spb-3 QP lying around and was considering the Seymour duncan sjb-2 for the bridge pickup (technically it would be the neck pickup of the sjb-2 because I've heard that those dimensions fit the squier pj standard special better).

Now my question is noise. Obviously, it's been well established on talkbass that it is hard to find a noise-free pickup that won't be completely overpowered by the QP. Note, I do know that the SJB-2 IS a true ingle coil and I was thinking that I might be able to compensate with the nosie,.

given that the DC resistance is higher in the sjb-2 than the spb-3, would this be a good match? Does anyone have clips of this combo (preferably passive)? Any suggestions of high output noise-free single coils that will pair well with the spb-3?

 

[IWieldTheSpade]

Just first off, DC resistance does not equate to the output of a pickup, but the ins and outs of that topic are a bit off track here.

The sjb would likely be a good match in hotness for the p pickup, however if noise is a concern then you should look into getting a split coil rather than standard single. Even if the pickup is not quite even in output, that's where volume and blend controls come in. My experience has been that the SD single coils tend to hum a bit when not noise cancelled by another pickup. Having a single coil with the split p also has the potential to introduce some phasing issues

 

[bassbenj]

So a bit of background, my two main basses are a squier Matt Freeman Pbass (soon to be strung with ghs precision flats) that will remain stock. My other bass is a squier standard pj special from 2002. I have a seymour duncan spb-3 QP lying around and was considering the Seymour duncan sjb-2 for the bridge pickup (technically it would be the neck pickup of the sjb-2 because I've heard that those dimensions fit the squier pj standard special better).

Now my question is noise. Obviously, it's been well established on talkbass that it is hard to find a noise-free pickup that won't be completely overpowered by the QP. Note, I do know that the SJB-2 IS a true ingle coil and I was thinking that I might be able to compensate with the nosie,.

given that the DC resistance is higher in the sjb-2 than the spb-3, would this be a good match? Does anyone have clips of this combo (preferably passive)? Any suggestions of high output noise-free single coils that will pair well with the spb-3?

My Squier PJ uses a Fender NOS P pup and an Demarzio Ultra jazz hum-canceling J. Note that a single coil J will hum and the P-bass pup is noise cancelling so that won't help the J.

Here's the deal. When you put pups in series they are 3 dB louder than when in parallel. P-bass pickups are two large coils in series, hence typically louder than a single coil J. On my PJ I can switch the P-bass pup to parallel wiring and that does balance with the J pickup. However, it does change the tone of the P-bass pup. My solution (vol/vol) is to simply run the p pickup down at about 80% of full on.

If I had it to do over, I'd get TWO ultra J's, sand the ears off of one side of them and glue them together in a series mode to give me the added 3 dB. Only problem with that is it changes the "j" tone since it's a humbucker configuration.

Active mixing is the only REAL solution to these problems. One of these days I may try adding a simple gain stage to the Dimarzio to boost it up just a tad.

 

[jamersonburton]

Hmm. Would the dimarzio model J or Ultra J be a better fit in this case? This bass sounds a little thin to begin with (with both rounds or flats) so I figured pickups with good bass (QP) and midrange (sjb2) would be a good match. Maybe a model j as I heard they have good mids. I generally have the p pickup level with the pick guard and the jazz close to the strings.