vintage PJ pickups?

[williamk]

Hi all
I have a P I'm about to convert into a PJ, I wrote a thread about this a while back and it was strongly suggested to me that I forget about the idea and buy a PJ instead...but that's not an option and I found a super talented luthier that was recommended to me by many people and he'll take care of the procedure.
Now I have to go pickup hunting and I need advice. My bass is a fender AVRI '57, very vintage sounding, and I'd like to keep it that way. Now I don't really know if I should keep the existing P pu and add a new J pu or get a new PJ combo pu altogether (I know P pu's and J pu's have a hard time balancing volume-wise). Which option is the best? Any good quality vintage-sounding PJ set I should be looking into, not to pricey if possible?
Thank you!

ps: I've used the search engine and found some info...but am still looking for new input!

 

[walterw]

forget "balance", that's right out, unless you paired a weak underwound P pickup with a dark overwound J pickup.

if the P pickup you have sounds good, keep it. the J pickup is just there to "season" the P pickup, adding treble and scooping out mids as it's dialed in. as such, it doesn't need to be as loud as the P pickup.

i recommend the dimarzio area J as having a close to vintage J tone with no hum, and complementing vintage-style P pickups nicely.

 

[williamk]

thanks, I'll look into that. I DO want to be able to use the j pu soloed though, without hearing a def decrease in volume if possible...

 

[audioglenn]

forget "balance", that's right out, unless you paired a weak underwound P pickup with a dark overwound J pickup.

if the P pickup you have sounds good, keep it. the J pickup is just there to "season" the P pickup, adding treble and scooping out mids as it's dialed in. as such, it doesn't need to be as loud as the P pickup.

i recommend the dimarzio area J as having a close to vintage J tone with no hum, and complementing vintage-style P pickups nicely.

a big +1 on this comment.

 

[walterw]

thanks, I'll look into that. I DO want to be able to use the j pu soloed though, without hearing a def decrease in volume if possible...

the dimarzio ultra Jazz is louder, so the imbalance will not be as obvious.

P pickups are in a whole 'nother league, though, so you get to choose between "P-J with each pickup sounding like it should" and "P-J where the J isn't weaker than the P".

(this is why i don't care for the combo, it was always a thrown-together thing; it's the 4x10+1x15 of bass pickups )

 

[jaywa]

I've been through two iterations of a passive PJ setup on my 78 Precision.

V. 1 was was a DiMarzio in the neck and a Duncan Quarter Pounder J at the bridge. Not so good. The DiMarzio was big and boomy, the Quarter Pounder was noticeably quieter, and too nasal and thin for my liking. There was a pretty broad range of tones to be gained by blending the two but a lot of them weren't real pleasing or useful.

V. 2 happened just a few weeks ago with a Nordstrand PJ set... soooo much better and I am really loving it. The range of tones isn't quite as broad as it was the first time around but the tones I do get are VERY musical and there is hardly any dropoff in output between the solo'd bridge and neck. I have to think having a matched set with both PUs from the same manufacturer has a lot to do with it.

 

[Gord_oh]

dimarzio model p and j in creme.