Squier VM Jazz love, but considering other pickups. Help?

[mcnach]

I bought a Squier VM Jazz a couple of months ago between soundcheck and a gig outside of town (that, kids, is using your time efficiently )

I like this bass a lot, although I felt the pickups were a bit polite.

I did a couple of rehearsals with it, and it was ok, but nothing fantastic. I have to admit this was at a rehearsal place that has pretty crap gear and the acoustics are not much better (but one of the band members works there so...) and my Stingray never sounds amazing there either.

Last night I had a gig and I took the Jazz along with my own amp etc.
And it made me smile.

I really really liked it. Now I am not sure whether to replace the pickups or not. I like the sound these produce, I definitely don't want to get something with a very different character. This one has a very traditional bass sound (oh, and I'm keeping it passive, that's a first for me!!! ) and live through my own rig the sound was much better than what I had experienced before. I still feel it could do with a tiny bit more "punch"... it's hard to describe. I feel very tempted to keep them in...

But the other thing is that I tend to use the bridge pickup alone a lot. I'd say it's bridge 80% of the time, both pickups 15%, and neck alone only 5%. This means I get some hum most of the time. Last night it wasn't bad. But I know the place and it's not a very hum-prone place. At another venue it could be a different story. So I guess I will start by shielding the thing, and see how it goes. But the idea of humbuckers is in my mind.

So... I would be after some kind of humbucker that still sounds very "traditional jazz", if such thing exists. I want growl on the bridge, that retains its punch when I roll the tone control off, but not ultra nasal. Not looking for lots of highs. The neck pickup I'm not very fussed about. I like it warm and fat, but mostly I want it to blend with the bridge nicely so that when I have both pickups on I have a nice mid-scoop, not so pronounced that my bass disappears from the mix, but a clear hollow "honk" when playing with the tone control open, which can become a wall of bassiness as I roll the tone off.

Any ideas?

 

[Jmac66]

DiMarzio model J does alot of of that. They are split coil humbuckers in a j pup housing. There is a sticky comparing all the different brands and types of j pups in the pickups and electronics section

 

[SurferJoe46]

The shielding is a painted-on system and is very good unless the star connex is somehow defective. I don't think copper foil or whatever is gonna improve any problems you perceive. I know I don't have any hum and I sometimes play right next to my computer tower and it emits a LOT of RF - and unless I am less than 6 inches away, there is no hum or noise.

I added a Parallel/Series Push-Pull pot to my VM-Jazz and although I didn't think much of it at first, I now find it is fantastic.

What I found was that the choice of strings is critical to the VM-Jazz and I took the original phony 'Fender 7250 NPS' BLACK-silk strings that were on it and installed Elixir Nanos and I haven't looked back!

If you have the '7250 NPS' RED silks however - they are pretty sweet. The 'NO-silks' aren't as nice either.

 

[Internet Police]

I would said install EMG JVXs but you said you didn't want something that's a lot more different than what you have now. Have you considered putting in a preamp?

 

[The Birdman]

I got a set of Fender 75 Jazz RI pickups online, installed them with CTS pots and a Switchcraft jack. MUCH, MUCH fatter tone. I REALLY like it now.

The 75 RI pups fit in the original pickguard fine. Yes, it will take some work with a Dremel in the control cavity to make room for the CTS pots. The cavity is only meant to fit the mini-pots. And you will have to file open the holes in the control plate a little to fit the CTS pots also. No biggie.

Roger

 

[SurferJoe46]

^^ All well and good - but the pots have absolutely NOTHING to do with tone - only preconceived faults in the original pots that aren't a big factor anyway.

One COULD drop in some 500KΩ pots for a little more upper-bite, but the values are really the only difference that would be discernible to the ear of the player. Certainly the manufacturer of the pots - up and until the pot(s) actually fall off the bass - makes NO difference in the voice of the bass.

The original pots are just fine - and if one is ostensibly wanting otherwise for bragging rights, there are mini big-name pots available that won't require modifying anything with a Dremel or router - so that's a non-issue.

Ripping out perfectly good pots in the quest for 'tone' is a fairytale.

 

[mcnach]

DiMarzio model J does alot of of that. They are split coil humbuckers in a j pup housing. There is a sticky comparing all the different brands and types of j pups in the pickups and electronics section

Just spent some time going through *some* of it... LOTS of pages!!

INteresting info, thanks!

 

[mcnach]

The shielding is a painted-on system and is very good unless the star connex is somehow defective. I don't think copper foil or whatever is gonna improve any problems you perceive. I know I don't have any hum and I sometimes play right next to my computer tower and it emits a LOT of RF - and unless I am less than 6 inches away, there is no hum or noise.

I added a Parallel/Series Push-Pull pot to my VM-Jazz and although I didn't think much of it at first, I now find it is fantastic.

What I found was that the choice of strings is critical to the VM-Jazz and I took the original phony 'Fender 7250 NPS' BLACK-silk strings that were on it and installed Elixir Nanos and I haven't looked back!

If you have the '7250 NPS' RED silks however - they are pretty sweet. The 'NO-silks' aren't as nice either.

No idea what strings are on right now. They have red silk, and I suspect they came with the bass. I bought it off someone who barely used it. I have not replaced them yet because they feel alright and I haven't played this bass much... but it's bound to get D'Addario EXL170s, like most of my basses (if they have roundwounds).

I installed a parallel/series switch on my first Jazz a while ago, and it was indeed an interesting option to have.

I didn't even know this bass had some shielding already.. ha, that tells you how much time I spent messing with it!
It is not terribly noisy, but it gets hum. On my first jazz I shielded the pickup cavities too, and put a metallic pickguard which was grounded too... That bass was very quiet. I'm not going to change the pickguard, but I am sure i can do a more extensive shielding job.

 

[mcnach]

I would said install EMG JVXs but you said you didn't want something that's a lot more different than what you have now. Have you considered putting in a preamp?

I have a J-Retro preamp in my drawer.
I had it on another Jazz bass and removed it when I gave it to my brother thinking I'd use it elsewhere. I haven't yet.
It's a great preamp, but I find you don't really get the same passive tone even when flat, and I really like that tone on a Jazz. Maybe I will try it some time, it is a tone monster of a preamp! But I am thinking I'd want this bass to stay passive.

 

[mjl9787]

DiMarzio model J does alot of of that.

Dimarzio Area J, too- they're designed to sound like vintage single coils without the hum.

 

[mcnach]

Dimarzio Area J, too- they're designed to sound like vintage single coils without the hum.

Thanks for this.

After reading and listening to clips, I was leaning towards the Model J. The bridge pickup alone on clips I heard sounded very very pnchy indeed even if not so "classic J". So it´s probably going to be a Model J, or an Area J, depending on whether I go for "punchier" or "traditional"... hmmm. Decisions decisions.

Thanks for all the comments!