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Replace pickups or just turn up the amp?

#41
FatOwlBass said:
Audrey with the SCN pickups sounds killer.
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THIS best answers the OP's original request for a 'relatively inexpensive' solution.

For the OP - IME the SCNs and other Fender noiseless pickups can be somewhat 'polite' in tone and output. An Audere pre is easy to install, reasonably priced, and will wake your bass right up! It is the best bang for the buck you can do to your bass. There are those who prefer passive instruments, but I personally like active with a good quality onboard preamp.

It is pretty easy to spend $500 on an electronics setup for a 4 string bass. You don't need to in order to get great tone and gain.
 
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#44
Thank you everyone for your responses. I saw a lot asking about height, so the missing piece I probably should have mentioned is that I recently (like mid to late last year) refinished my bass. It's certainly possible that I lowered my pickups more than before without meaning to. An easy fix, so I'm gonna start there, then turn up my amp.

At least one person asked about potentially faulty wiring - I don't think that's the case. There don't seem to be any other symptoms of bad wiring - no intermittent signal loss or crackles or anything like that.

I think my perception of lower output is mostly in comparison to other basses that I own (especially my P, but my RS800 as well). The pickup height may be the issue, but if not the volume and/or gain knobs are right there!

logdrum said:
Are you not aloud to turn up the gain of the amp on the open jam?
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My bandmates won't mind as long as I'm not overpowering them. Maybe I'll take my J to our next rehearsal to see how it "sits in the mix," as they say.

In case it's not sufficiently clear, I don't think I'm gonna replace my pickups. I still like how they sound, and I have a lot of options before replacement anyway. Also, to answer some of the later comments, I also won't be adding a preamp. I prefer my basses passive.

Again, thank you for your responses - they gave me a lot to think about and much to consider that I hadn't though of already.
 
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#45
Incidentally, how difficult is it to wire up a series/parallel switch? My bass is currently wired with a 3 way switch, then volume then tone then output. Would I need to change that wiring at all, or is it possible to add a series/parallel switch to the current setup?
 
#46
definenredefine said:
Hello folks,

My J bass has Fender SCN pickups in it. Recently I've noticed that, compared to my other basses, the output is a bit low (especially compared to my P.) I like the tone of the SCNs, though I gotta say that sometimes it doesn't have quite the nasally growl that I associate with J basses (think David Sims' tone in Jesus Lizard.)

I assume the first step is to up the gain on my amp (and I will - promise!) But, if that doesn't quite get me where I want to go, tone and volume wise, what would y'all recommend as a relatively inexpensive replacement?

I should add that I love the tone of my P bass, which has a quarter pounder in it. Maybe QPs would be a good way to go in my J as well?
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It doesn't have a nasally tone when the bridge pickup is soloed? There's no pickup, in the bridge position, that won't give it to you. You can get that tone from a P bass also, by playing at the bridge.

If you like the pickups, keep'em. Get a compressor, preamp pedal, or anything else that let's you turn the volume up.
 
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#48
definenredefine said:
Incidentally, how difficult is it to wire up a series/parallel switch? My bass is currently wired with a 3 way switch, then volume then tone then output. Would I need to change that wiring at all, or is it possible to add a series/parallel switch to the current setup?
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Jazz Bass 1T, 1V, 3Way Selector + Series Parallel Help!

Different ways to do it. It's pretty easy. On mine I just put a mini DPDT toggle that didn't take up much room. If you're concerned about not wanting to drill another hole, you can get a push pull pot.

I would highly suggest just hardwiring them in series first, to see if you even like the sound, before buying switches or reworking things. If you don't like it then just put it back. If you do like it then you can either put in a switch or leave it permanently in series.
 
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#49
tlc1976 said:
Jazz Bass 1T, 1V, 3Way Selector + Series Parallel Help!

Different ways to do it. It's pretty easy. On mine I just put a mini DPDT toggle that didn't take up much room. If you're concerned about not wanting to drill another hole, you can get a push pull pot.

I would highly suggest just hardwiring them in series first, to see if you even like the sound, before buying switches or reworking things. If you don't like it then just put it back. If you do like it then you can either put in a switch or leave it permanently in series.
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I think it would pretty easy to handwire it into series. Even still, I don't think I'm gonna do it simply because I like how my bass sounds. I'm more just curious about it.
 
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#50
As a compressor freak, I have an always on compressor.
One benefit of this is it sounds good.
Another benefit is that you can tweak the master gain based on each bass. I set it for my quietest bass, first, and then find the lower settings for other basses. So on my "traditional" p-bass pickups I keep it dimed, but when I'm using a Spector with tonepump I set it at 1:00.
 
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#52
icefly said:
What about try to raise out you pickup height?
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Funny you should ask -

That came up a few times up thread, so I looked at that before I came into work this evening. I found that the bridge pickup is about 1/8" (maybe less) lower than the neck pickup. That may play into why my bass isn't quite as growly as I would like. Unfortunately, when I loosened the screws, the pickup didn't move. I think the foam blocks are too compressed to allow for any movement at this point, at least for that pickup.

So I guess the next step would be to replace the blocks. Fortunately, I had preemptively bought a few of those a while back.

I know what I'm doing when I get off work in the morning...
 

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