Recommendations for Jazz pickups?

[DCCat]

I know there have been a lot of threads about this general topic, but not with my specific goals and constraints in mind, so here goes ...

I've got a MIM fretless jazz with stock pickups. I'm not particularly happy with those pups relative to others I've heard on similar basses. They seem to be kind of muddy, with not very good low and mid articulation. I'd like to replace them with something that is generally vintage-ish sounding with good balance, including a round but solid bottom, clear articulate mids, and clear/smooth but not bright/forward highs. I finger pluck and currently have D'Addario tapes on this bass, but have liked TIJFs and Sadowsky blue flats on it, and am considering LaBella copper whites and TIJRs, if any of that gives you an additional idea of what I like or what would fit. Oh, and these will be hooked up to ObsidianWire electronics.

I have a budget of up to about $120-130, so the Fralins, Nordys, Lollars, higher-end Duncans, etc., are out. Based on clips and vids I've listened to, I've eliminated some standard vintage options, including the Fender CS 60s (I can get them within my budget, but they sound a bit too bottom and low-mid heavy to me), PV 74's (seem kinda bright), Vintage Noiseless (seem a little lifeless), QPs (way too scooped), and a few others.

I'm still considering the following:

Fender Original Vintage
Duncan SJB-1
Dimarzio Area J
StewMac Golden Age

I've really only heard the Fender and Duncan and they sound like legit candidates. Some people rave about the Area J's, but I don't think I've heard them in comparison to anything. The StewMacs seem not to be used very heavily and there's little usable info on here about them, but what there is is pretty positive. Don't really care about noiseless or not, as long as the tone is right.

I guess I haven't completely ruled out the Fender V-Mods, but there are some very polarized views on them. Some say they're thin and bright, but others say they're very sensitive to things like pickup height and string position over the magnets, and when set up properly, they're really good.

So I'm curious what y'all think about the contenders (or others you think would fit), especially relative to one another. I will say, based on what I've heard, that I think the Lollars sound really good, so if you think any of the cheaper options are similar, let me know.

 

[Bassist30]

Any of them will be an improvement but my vote goes to the Duncan SJB.

 

[DCCat]

Any of them will be an improvement but my vote goes to the Duncan SJB.

Thanks for the response. Can you elaborate on why you prefer that one?

 

[Bassist30]

As far as vintage they stack up pretty well. It may not be the sound in your head but they come pretty close to the era. Its a great idea you are getting an Obsidian wiring set up. The soldering process will end. I like Duncans and they are one of the companies that respond to your mails. They do have a custom shop and if you mail them they can be of help. If you mail them they will respond with questions. Again their vintage style pickups are very good and priced well

 

[Yahboy]

Base on your statement, keep the pickups stock, both Ti flat and labella copper white nail the tone you looking for.
The copper white has low output and possible make your bass has hum even run with both pickups.
If your stock pup are Alnico V, try raise both A and D magnet pole piece 1.5mm which possible make pickups output well string to string balance.

If you dint do this , you will found the E sound loud and A and D spund weak which possible make you think Ths stock pup sound bommy and muddy.

Hopehelp

If I become you and no budget worried, I will go with TI flat and Dimarzio Area J.
Ti flat has sweet and unique mid voice, no thuddy low but nice low mid once broken in . The Area J is hum free , overall tone is clean and sweet , not overly growl , not too punch, confirm has no scoop like Fender CS J pup. She sound like Fender PV64 j pup but cleaner tone and lack some warmth. And I found Area J tone character are pretty friendly and easily dial out the nice tone with Amp EQ tweak.

 

[iiipopes]

With your budget, have you looked for slightly used in the Classifieds? When on a budget, that can be a great source. Many of us TB'ers have swapped around pickups, strings and other hardware, especially me. If you get something you like, great! If not, take good care of it and you can usually recoup selling it down the line. For example, right now there are a set of the Fender '60's pickups in your budget, and don't be bashful about respectfully negotiating.
For Sale - Custom Shop 60’s Jazz Pickups NIB

 

[ctmullins]

J-45

Ridiculous value for money!

 

[jongor]

I love me some Aero type 1’s, they are everything you say you’re looking for. I’m using them with TI flats and the combo is amazing.

 

[DCCat]

Base on your statement, keep the pickups stock, both Ti flat and labella copper white nail the tone you looking for.
The copper white has low output and possible make your bass has hum even run with both pickups.
If your stock pup are Alnico V, try raise both A and D magnet pole piece 1.5mm which possible make pickups output well string to string balance.

If you dint do this , you will found the E sound loud and A and D spund weak which possible make you think Ths stock pup sound bommy and muddy.

Hopehelp

If I become you and no budget worried, I will go with TI flat and Dimarzio Area J.
Ti flat has sweet and unique mid voice, no thuddy low but nice low mid once broken in . The Area J is hum free , overall tone is clean and sweet , not overly growl , not too punch, confirm has no scoop like Fender CS J pup. She sound like Fender PV64 j pup but cleaner tone and lack some warmth. And I found Area J tone character are pretty friendly and easily dial out the nice tone with Amp EQ tweak.

Thanks for the input. I've done extensive pickup height adjustments but feel I can do better with pups that have a better inherent tone. Thanks for your description of the Area J.

 

[DCCat]

With your budget, have you looked for slightly used in the Classifieds? When on a budget, that can be a great source. Many of us TB'ers have swapped around pickups, strings and other hardware, especially me. If you get something you like, great! If not, take good care of it and you can usually recoup selling it down the line. For example, right now there are a set of the Fender '60's pickups in your budget, and don't be bashful about respectfully negotiating.
For Sale - Custom Shop 60’s Jazz Pickups NIB

Yeah, fair point. I don't think I want the CS60's, and I've looked here and on reverb for at least some of the things I'm interested in without much luck presently, but that can change in an instant, so I'll keep monitoring.

 

[DCCat]

J-45

Ridiculous value for money!

I've read people say good things about these, but it looks like they're $79/85 per pickup, so outside my budget, unfortunately. Interesting design, though, with the 9 poles. Do you have any experience in how that works in terms of aligning 4 strings with those poles?

I love me some Aero type 1’s, they are everything you say you’re looking for. I’m using them with TI flats and the combo is amazing.

How much do those cost? I don't see anything on the site about that. Do you have any idea how the Type 1 and Type 4 compare? They claim the Type 4's are better for fretless, but they don't say much about why, exactly.

 

[nilorius]

Fender Jaco tribute pickups or maybe just Fender special vintage j-bass pickups.

 

[TN WOODMAN]

I like the Wilde J-45. I have one in a Fretless pj with the P-46 and that’s one of my best sounding basses.

That said within your budget the tried and true Di Marzio Model Js @ $119 are hard to beat. I have a set in a MIM Fretless Jazz with a John East Retro J preamp and GHS Tapewounds and it’s a monster.

 

[DCCat]

I like the Wilde J-45. I have one in a Fretless pj with the P-46 and that’s one of my best sounding basses.

That said within your budget the tried and true Di Marzio Model Js @ $119 are hard to beat. I have a set in a MIM Fretless Jazz with a John East Retro J preamp and GHS Tapewounds and it’s a monster.

You prefer the Model J's to the Area J's? The MJ's seem a little bottom heavy to me, but I'm curious about your thoughts.

 

[ChrisBowsman]

I put DiMarzio Model Js in my Warwick Corvette fretless. Couldn't be happier with them, and if I were to get another J bass, I'd watch for a deal on another set for it.

 

[DavC]

i have 2 jazz parts basses ... 1 bass was a MIM fretless ... swapped that neck with my other jazz ..

the MIM body ( Warmoth P neck bound/blocked ) now has Model J pups , and will wear some sort of smoother/warmer rounds ... GHS Pressurewounds , Ti Jazz rounds on order to try next ..! the model J pups are pretty gutsy , but that's easy to tweak via pickup height ... and i do like the adjustable poles ..!

the Mim neck is on a Squire VM body w/ DiMarzio Ultra Jazz pups ... another split coil ... less volume , i forget which pups have which magnets ..?? always liked the Ultras for a fairly natural , flat kinda sound ... tried a few different string sets ... GHS Preesurewounds, Roto Monel 77's ... currently has a lightly use set of Ti flats - JF344 ... with that thinner neck and low tension strings , it is very very easy to play ... slowly adjusting to the different kinda feel for my plucking fingers ... getting there with the Ti's ... with arthritic old hands ( played piano since 1963 , bass since 73 ) i figured i'd also try the Ti jazz rounds on the other fretted neck ... it is pretty chunky , but feels nice .. the low tension strings should feel good there also ..!!?? not slapping or rocking out to hard these days ..!! ha

i do like any type of humbuckers on my J type basses , so i can mix the volume between the pups for a variety of tones without any single coil hum - especially when recording ... split coils kinda make sense to me for some reason ..!? similar to a P pup , just side by side ..

i had some standard Bart split J pups installed for a while ... the current 2 sets have more oomph and clarity ... but Barts do have a unique sound for fretless on some occasions ..!?

both basses have CTS 250 pots , orange caps ... 1 w/standard stock bridge , 1 w/ Badass ...

 

[Killing Floor]

Lindys. I know you said they're off the list but that just shows how badly the list needs amending.
You can get a set of LF jazz for basically $20 more. They are worth it.

 

[bbh]

Sounds to me as you need to try out new strings first. I really liked the custom shop 60’s jazz pickups.
Had good luck with Fralins. They sound like a hopped up version of Fenders.

 

[ctmullins]

I've read people say good things about these, but it looks like they're $79/85 per pickup, so outside my budget, unfortunately.

That’s on par with the price for DiMarzio or Duncan, and less than many of the “boo-teek” winders.

Interesting design, though, with the 9 poles. Do you have any experience in how that works in terms of aligning 4 strings with those poles?

You don’t worry about it. The magnetic field picks up the strings wherever they happen to land and it sounds great.

 

[TN WOODMAN]

You prefer the Model J's to the Area J's? The MJ's seem a little bottom heavy to me, but I'm curious about your thoughts.

I haven’t used any Di Marzio jazz pickups besides the model J. Other sound bytes I have heard I still preferred the original model J. They probably are a little bottom heavy and may contribute to my liking them. Still one of the best J pickups on the market , especially for the price. I have several j basses but do tend to favor p or pjs.

Other j basses I have contain original EMG, Kent Armstrong, Fender 1st Generation Noiseless , Fender 2nd Generation Noiseless-the SCNs designed by Bill Lawrence and a Warwick Rockbass Corvette with MECs.

I have Duncan, Fralin and others in other non jazz basses. It just comes down to personal taste in the end.