Uneven Pickup Pole Piece Heights?

[BillyBeatsBass]

Is it normal for each pole piece to be a different height like this? (pics below)

Bass: Fender MIM Standard Jazz Bass 2001-2005
Pickups: “Standard Single-Coil Jazz Bass”

I wasn’t able to find an answer for this specifically because every pole piece (8 total) is at a slightly different height. The posts I found here and elsewhere mostly talked about pole pieces that were designed to follow the fretboard radius or people wanting to adjust pickup poles. If this duplicates something, please let me know!

I recently picked up a not-so-gently used Jazz bass and noticed several days later that the pole pieces were at different heights. I’ve seen Jazz bass sets that have a poles arranged in a radius to match the fretboard, but these pickups have pairs for the same string that are different from each other. The other thing that is strange to me is that the heights of the poles on the neck and bridge pickups seem to match up (ie. the treble side pole of the A string is higher than the bass side pole on both pickups).

The bass sounds even from string to string and sounds like a Jazz bass . It plays fantastically because the bass came from a guitar tech that used it to practice working on a fretless. He got it in a trade to pay for some work for someone else, and he just worked on the fretboard, replaced the rusty old bridge and strings, and did a setup. I got a great deal on it because it’s in rough cosmetic shape and was taking up space in his shop.

It’s really not a problem because the pickups sound good to me as-is, I got the bass to work on my fretless technique, and I’m thinking about swapping in some noiseless pickups at some point anyway (recommendations for a vintage-ey noiseless set for a fretless Jazz bass are appreciated). So while this is a minor aggravation of my OCD, I’m really just interested--any insight is appreciated!

-Was it designed this way?

-Did someone adjust them like this?

-Could this happen over time?

-Something else I’m missing?

 

[Malak the Mad]

I'm gonna hazard a guess and say, "Probably not." Even if the A and D-strings have slightly higher pole pieces, they is usually a bit of "flow" to their arrangement. However, if there is no audible imbalance, then the strings are probably well within the sensing range of the pickups.

As for noiseless/hum-killing pickups that have that vintage groove, I cannot say. What I will say is to avoid Bartolini B-Axis pickups. Not because they're bad, though. I love 'em to pieces, but they are definitely modern sounding. Same for the Delano JMVC4 FE/M2 pups with the big humbucker slugs.

 

[DrBnz]

I'm gonna say "no" that's not normal. I don't know whether thats good or bad. Sure don't look right. But I have buddies who like to mess with magnets within the pups. They may know something we don't. They'll be by soon.

 

[maturanesa]

Are you the first owner? It seems someone tried to rise the poles to get stagered pole pieces

 

[Nedmundo]

I don't think that's normal, and I'd wager someone tried to adjust the poles. Maybe a previous owner thought the E and A strings were too hot, and thus tapped down one pole under each string. I might think some poles "sunk" over time, but since both pickups have the same pattern, that seems extremely unlikely.

As for noiseless pickups with vintage tone, DiMarzio's Area J are excellent and a great value. They have raised poles for the A and D strings, so you'll still have good string-to-string balance.

 

[eniac]

As for noiseless pickups with vintage tone, DiMarzio's Area J are excellent and a great value. They have raised poles for the A and D strings, so you'll still have good string-to-string balance.

On the raised inner poles topic, DiMarzio deserves credit for doing what Fender should've started doing decades ago. But the fact they haven't doesn't really surprise me .

 

[KevInDaBassment]

Not arranged like that, OP

I've seen plenty with them but several of those don't look right to me.

 

[2saddleslab]

I much prefer the bolder E & G strings from flat pole pieces or blades.

 

[Nedmundo]

On the raised inner poles topic, DiMarzio deserves credit for doing what Fender should've started doing decades ago. But the fact they haven't doesn't really surprise me .

Agreed. Fender's usual flush poles on J pickups, IMO, make no sense with vintage and 9.5" radius fretboards, especially on fives. (The Ultras have flatter compound radius fretboards, and seem to have better balance with flush poles.)

But Fender has made raised center poles from time to time. I recently played an MIM Okuome Active Jazz V from around 2014, and those Fender Noiseless pickups did have raised poles for the inner strings. It had excellent string-to-string balance, and was a surprisingly great bass overall.

The inconsistency on this is strange, not just from Fender but other pickup manufacturers. I think most J-bass pickups would benefit from a slight stagger to the poles, even when they're used on basses with 12" and 14" radius fretboards.

 

[micguy]

There are pickups where the pole pieces for the E and G strings are at one height (often nominally flush with the plastic), and the D and A are higher, so 6 out of the 8 pole pieces on your pickup look "normal", but the fact that your A string pole pieces are widely different in height for the same string? - not at all normal.

Some pole pieces are essentially friction fit into place - they can be moved. My guess would be that yours are movable, and that someone moved them - it's actually kind hard to imagine how they would get that way by accident, or that a pickup like that would leave a factory. So, it may be that yours can be put back in place, but there is risk in that. If you can take the pickups out of the covers, and you find that the pole pieces are in a plastic bobbin, then the risk of damaging things is lower. If there is no bobbin (the wire is wound directly on the pole pieces), then the risk of shoring or breaking a coil wire is greater.

 

[Relsom]

That don't look right at all. Each pair should be about the same, whether configured for raised center pairs or not. According to Fralin, raised center pairs are mostly recommended only for basses with 7-1/2" radius fingerboards.

 

[RicheyLather]

Are you the first owner? It seems someone tried to rise the poles to get stagered pole pieces

The tech did it, us Strat Cats do it often, IMHO. If it sounds good it is good.

 

[Chris Wilke]

I agree with previous posts. Looks like a mod. Depending on the year, those also may be their rather hot ceramic pickups (assuming they are stock pickups). Easy to check by looking for ceramic bars on the bottom of the pickups. I had a '97 MIM with ceramic pickups and the bass sounded great at home, but at band volume the E string was super thunderous and it overwhelmed the band if I was otherwise balanced to the band on the other strings. Not subtle. It could be that the previous owner was trying to boost up the A string to compensate for this? just a thought.

Also, is this bass from the years where the two pickups are of the exact same size? mid '90s to mid-2001 I think. If so, you may find the two pickups are not hum cancelling when used together like most jazz basses. Easy to check by turning both pickups up full, then back one off to see if you hear hum. I had this remedied on my bass by reversing the polarity of the magnets AND also reversing the wiring to the volume pot on one pickup. My luthier said it was simple to do and it worked like a charm, so for like $50 added on to another job it ended up as hum cancelling when both pu's were full-on. Eventually I sold the bass though and got an MIA Jazz with humcancelling Delano pickups, which are great.

My strong advice on J bass pickups if you want hum cancelling in blended or soloed settings, is to get split coil instead of stacked coil. You'll get better output and a fuller sound. A little more P bass like, than single coils, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Bartolini, Dimarzio, Fralin, Delano and I am sure some others make them this way. If your bass is in one of those years with the two equal-sized pickups, you'll need to find a manufacturer that makes a set that way. I am pretty sure Bartolini does as an option. Others may do a custom order.

 

[BillyBeatsBass]

I had a few minutes tonight to pull off the pickup cover with the help of my assistant and saw that there were the ceramic bar magnets, and the neck pickup magnet was actually cracked. I don't think I'm going to mess around with the poles for now--maybe if/when I get replacements delivered just "for science."

The pickups are different sizes and single coil hum goes away with both volumes on full, so no issue there.

I agree that the mostly likely explanation for the whole thing is that someone in the past was doing their own experiments.

Thanks for all the replies and recommendations!

 

[Malak the Mad]

View attachment 7362890

Kittie Vedder looks like he wants you to play "Jeremy" on that fretless!