Ultra jazz vs. EMG JV

[Surprise Panda!]

Hi,

I'm looking for great thump, fat, mid punch, and crystal clear highs. I know the Ultra jazz is passive and EMG active. I would pair the Ultra Jazz with an Audere. I have heard the EMG JV's have no high end, is this true? Would having an OBP-3 help? Would there be another preamp that would help with the high end?


Thanks,


-Roy

 

[badboy1984]

I'm not sure about the 2 set of pickup you consider but i use stuff similar.

On my fender jazz i use Dimarzio Model Jazz (DP123) and the pickup gave me hugh low end, high output and clear high which is the sound i like on my jazz bass.

And in term of EMG i use a set of EMG Standard Jazz set on my Warwick Corvette with bartolini preamp. The output is very high, great low end and very very bright type of highs. I'm not sure is it my warwick bass or what but the highs are very very crispy and clear.

 

[4StringTheorist]

The bass I've been playing since 2000 has a set of EMG-JVs in it run through an EMG preamp. I'm going to be removing them since they won't jibe with the Audere preamp I'm about to buy. 90% of the time I ran the preamp entirely flat, so I'm very acquainted with the sound of these pickups.

I think the JVs fit your desire for "great thump, fat, mid punch, and crystal clear highs"

I would say that they're not the brightest pickups ever, which sounds weird to say about a set of EMG pickups, but these are really out of the norm for EMGs. Describing them as "no high end" is definitely not true.

The midrange is present and you can get some good punch out of it. You definitely can't describe them as "mid scooped" which is what I hear a lot about the Dimarzio Ultra Jazz.

The lows are solid. My favorite aspect of these pickups is that you can boost the low end a lot without the sound getting muddy. That aspect is a lot of fun.

The Achilles heel of this is that the JVs won't work with any of the Audere Z-mode preamps. You mentioned that pre. If you're committed to it, that won't be a workable combo. An Aguilar OBP-3 should do some great things with the JVs though.

 

[Surprise Panda!]

The bass I've been playing since 2000 has a set of EMG-JVs in it run through an EMG preamp. I'm going to be removing them since they won't jibe with the Audere preamp I'm about to buy. 90% of the time I ran the preamp entirely flat, so I'm very acquainted with the sound of these pickups.

I think the JVs fit your desire for "great thump, fat, mid punch, and crystal clear highs"

I would say that they're not the brightest pickups ever, which sounds weird to say about a set of EMG pickups, but these are really out of the norm for EMGs. Describing them as "no high end" is definitely not true.

The midrange is present and you can get some good punch out of it. You definitely can't describe them as "mid scooped" which is what I hear a lot about the Dimarzio Ultra Jazz.

The lows are solid. My favorite aspect of these pickups is that you can boost the low end a lot without the sound getting muddy. That aspect is a lot of fun.

The Achilles heel of this is that the JVs won't work with any of the Audere Z-mode preamps. You mentioned that pre. If you're committed to it, that won't be a workable combo. An Aguilar OBP-3 should do some great things with the JVs though.

yeah it sucks that you can't use an Audere with active pickups. What kind of EMG Pre do you have?

 

[Lincoln]

I can't speak to the EMG's, but I can tell you that the Dimarzio Ultra Jazz pairing with the Audere is wonderful. I put in the Dimarzios first and with just the pickups I noticed huge output, thunderous lows, growly midrange. and excellent pop in the highs. These pups are powerful. When I added the Audere, I got transparent flexibility -- I can go from Marcus to Jaco sounds with relative ease. And then you add in the Z-Mode which gives you even more colors.

The bottom line for me is this -- you won't get a better bargain for the maximum amount of sound.

 

[4StringTheorist]

yeah it sucks that you can't use an Audere with active pickups. What kind of EMG Pre do you have?

I've got the Link Removed. A decent pre. I've been itching for something yet more flexible. The 4-band Audere is what I'm aiming for.

 

[Surprise Panda!]

Gah!!!

Both Lincoln and 4string have good agruments. I think I'm going to have to go with the Ultra jazz and audere, cheaper and I love the Audere. I'm definatly going to try the JV's one day, though

 

[4StringTheorist]

Gah!!!

Both Lincoln and 4string have good agruments. I think I'm going to have to go with the Ultra jazz and audere, cheaper and I love the Audere. I'm definatly going to try the JV's one day, though

I think that'll be an awesome combo.

If you're wanting to try the JVs for the fun of it, I can get you a used pair for super cheap.

There's a little bit of corrosion starting to appear on the pole pieces. Gives 'em character. There's also this slight scratchy sound that the neck pup has always had.. ever since the bass was assembled in 2000. Completely absent in the bridge pickup, so it's either the neck pup, the blend pot or the soldering job between them. It's a very low level bit of noise, utterly inaudible when actually playing, even solo.

If the problem is just the pot or soldering job, I'll let em go for super cheap, given their age.

If the problem is in the neck pickup, I'm not going to be selling them to anyone, so I'd be happy to let em go just for shipping. They can bounce around TB as demo pickups so people can see what they think.

Here's TBer luknfur's review of the JVs by the way.

Anyway, I think you'll love the Ultra Jazzes and the Audere. I'm headed for an Audere with a set of Nordstrand NJ4SVs myself.

 

[chopthebass]

yeah it sucks that you can't use an Audere with active pickups.

You can use Active EMGs with Audere preamps - I'm doing it now. It's just the Z mode switch doesn't work properly. In the mid position it is fine, in the neck direction it is too percussive and has attenuated the low frequencies (which it shouldn't), and in the bridge direction it is the same as the middle (but it shouldn't be!). So if you can live without the Z mode switch it is a great preamp.

 

[TonyP-]

The bass I've been playing since 2000 has a set of EMG-JVs in it run through an EMG preamp. I'm going to be removing them since they won't jibe with the Audere preamp I'm about to buy. 90% of the time I ran the preamp entirely flat, so I'm very acquainted with the sound of these pickups.

I think the JVs fit your desire for "great thump, fat, mid punch, and crystal clear highs"

I would say that they're not the brightest pickups ever, which sounds weird to say about a set of EMG pickups, but these are really out of the norm for EMGs. Describing them as "no high end" is definitely not true.

The midrange is present and you can get some good punch out of it. You definitely can't describe them as "mid scooped" which is what I hear a lot about the Dimarzio Ultra Jazz.

The lows are solid. My favorite aspect of these pickups is that you can boost the low end a lot without the sound getting muddy. That aspect is a lot of fun.

The Achilles heel of this is that the JVs won't work with any of the Audere Z-mode preamps. You mentioned that pre. If you're committed to it, that won't be a workable combo. An Aguilar OBP-3 should do some great things with the JVs though.

Very Well Said...I have own/owned both combinations and used them to record and gig in different scenarios.

I have a similar conversation with 4ST before on the EMG-JVs

I really like them but I really wanted to use the Audere as well and have it on 4 basses at this time.. I also own the Ultra Jazz with the Audere and I personally think it leans to it very well.

Another very good winning combo with the Audere is the is the Nordstrand NJ4s will have more of a natural presence then the Dimarzios Ultra Jazz.

Its all depends on what you are looking for and what your bass acusticially sounds like.

If you bass is very bright (naturally not plugged in)...Or your looking for the thick mids with a passive type of tone out there then EMG-JVs are a win.

If you looking for more open slightly scooped Ultra Jazz is very very cool and it takes to the EQ-ing well.

If you want natural mids non-scooped and very very even J bass tone the Nordstrand IMHO is your best bet.