single pickup to sound like fender jazz - how close can i get?

Is that a Strat shape pickup on a Bronco? If so, my first thought to avoid routing would be a dual rail Strat pickup wired in parallel.
No matter what you do, one or two coils in one spot will probably only go so far towards approximating two coils spaced far apart.

 

Not even close.

The distance of the two pickups involved negates any chance that a single pickup in a single location will emulate the Jazz bass tone.

 

In the strict sense it's not possible since a single pickup is only sensing the string at one point and the 2 pickup sound is sensing at 2 points and combining them which creates comb-filtering (a kind of phase cancellation) that causes that cool punchy mid-scoop sound jazz basses are famous for.

That said something with dual coils and Alnico pole pieces (Aguilar Super Double, Duncan NYC, etc.) would be about as close as you could hope for. Just make sure you get the neck pickup version so the pole pieces aren't too far apart.

 

I'm pretty sure these guys make a few drop in replacements for Music Master bass (Bronco is same size??). They are killer pick ups at a very reasonable price. $85 - $100 for the Music Master. I would email and discuss your needs.

Per their web page:
"Bass Guitar Pick-ups:
Made to order, we can build you a handwound P-Bass or just about
any other style bass pickup you desire".

Sentell Pickups bass guitar pickups

 

Little '59™ Strat - Guitar Pickups, Bass Pickups, Pedals



Here's a demo of a S.D. rails in a Bronco:



IME with the rails, the JB, & the 59, I think the 59 is the most scooped & suited to sound like a Jazz.

 

I think one of the NYC Style double-Jazz pickups (in a soapbar case) would do it as long as it's mounted towards the neck - which would be the case on the Bronco. You'd likely have to experiment with the wiring to figure out if series or parallel works best, but I'd bet it would be parallel that would sound most like a jazz bass if you were stuck with one pickup in that position.

Something like this: Delano DJC Double Jazz - Best Bass Gear
or this:
RARE! Vintage Schaller Double-J (JJ) quad-coil jazz bass humbucker 1984 Kramer Duke black pickup | ERGOTONE STUDIOS GEAR DISPENSARY | Reverb

That Duke/Alien pickup is one I'm familiar with. It's a polite sounding pickup if towards the bridge, but since you're mounting it towards the neck, it should be more tone-ful.

 

The characteristic sound of a Jazz bass with both pickups on is due to comb filtering caused by the physical separation of the two pickups. I just don't think you'll really get that out of a single-pickup bass. Maybe you could work out a passive mid scoop circuit of some sort that might help get you there, but it won't really be the same.

 

Why not route for two Jazz Bass pickups and get exactly what you’re looking for?

 

I love my hotrails pickup in my Bronco. I use it for the Fender with flats thing so it is more like a P than a J. I think a good option is to turn down the mids on the amp to get that scooped both PU jazz thing.

 

i believe two strat-style single coils will sound remarkably similar to two jazz-style single coils, if their voicing is similar. the compressed sound of a jazz needs two pickups to do it. good luck!

 

You could use a single coil pickup with a bar magnet, rather than individual pole pieces, and avoid that issue all together.

 

Some jazz pickup sets come in different lengths - the neck being shorter than the bridge one . For my SX Jazz short scale I just bought two of the shorter neck pickups so the poles line up better . ... Kelly

 

Gonna be really tough. The two pups is what gives you the highs (bridge) and lows (neck). That's a big reason the P is so mid heavy.

 

Along with the inherent electrical side effects of running two pickups at once.

you can replicate the electrical stuff, but yea you can't replicate the physical distancing between the pickups without actual pickups.

I actually would say that a humbucker with the right preamp might be able to sort of get you close, in the way a stingray sorta sounds a bit like a jazz, at times, in the right settings.

 

The most influential factor in how a bass sounds is the comb filtering imposed by the position of the pickup(s) - that's a much stronger influence than changing pickups. The filter they impose is also different on every string - If you want the mid scoop of 2 jazz pickups, there is no filter that you can use on the bass's output signal that can mimic what the two pickups in those positions do.

 

People will tell you it won't matter (theoretically) but try bending an upper fret on a J-bass and hear for yourself how the tone will not only get lower in volume but also change in timbre when the string is pulled outside the pole piece.

Strat rail pickups may seem like the obvious solution for Broncos but personally I have never been happy with the sound I've gotten from guitar pickups for bass. After trying lots of different pickups in my Bronco I ended up with a single coil Bronco/Musicmaster replacement from The Creamery. Great pickups! Two of these wired as a J-bass would give you the scooped, comb filtered sound you are looking for. They're not exactly J-bass pickups but probably as close as you're gonna get to a J-bass with a Bronco IMO. And probably close enough for that "both pickups at full" tone. They are blade pickups btw so spacing for the bridge pickup should (hopefully) not be a problem.

The size is the same as the stock Strat sized Bronco pickup so it would save you the trouble of making a J-sized hole in your pickguard. You would still need to route for the bridge pickup of course.

Curtis Novak makes a Musicmaster replacement too but it's not a blade pickup so spacing at the bridge may be a problem. Expensive but I'm sure it's very, very nice!

And like others have said: You will need two pickups for that sound. It's physically impossible to get that sound from one pickup.