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Warm, Passive Jazz bass pickups.

R

robbassbass

Feb 2, 2008
20
1
#1
I am the owner of a beautiful 1978 jazz bass that i absolutely love, I have been playing it for about 5 years now and am thinking about changing the pickups.
Whoever the owner was before me decided to rip out the stock pickups and replace them with Seymor Duncans of some kind. Perhaps QP's?
I am not sure as there is nothing to tell what they are on the pickup casing, but I can notice a faded SD logo.
I find that while I like the low register of the bass, there is much too much "nashy-ness" in the higher register, especially the G-string.
when taking a fill while playing with a band, the G string is basically unheard, with the exception of the percussive grind from the string.

I have done a search and read many threads on this, but most of the threads seem to be based around 'hot' pickup replacements for their jazz bass.
I, on the other hand, love the woody tone of the jazz bass, and am just chasing a natural, fuller sound of the actual guitar, not so much a coloured, or loud sound.

So any suggestions to get a classic jazz bass sound with not too much rumble, but keeping those high frequencies under wraps? I long to hear my G string in a band situation, like I would on a Ricky (without the wooliness).

I am currently looking at a set of Aero J bass replacements, probably type 1. Am I heading down the right path? Any similar suggestions?

I have only heard the Aeros recorded online, but as you know, it is so hard to tell with so many variables in the signal chain.

I am not afraid of a lower output if it means a fuller richer, woodier sound.

Thanks guys!

Rob
 
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#2
DiMarzio Ultra Jazz.
I have an early 2000's American Standard Jazz that I bought used that had them already in it, and I think they fit your bill perfectly. Better still, I just spent a week in the studio with an A-list rock producer and of all the basses on hand, this humble American Standard J was the star of the show. Not a ton of output as you say, but you can HEAR the wood, and you get a very supportive, smooth low end and really useable, warm top. Highly recommended.
 
#4
Yeah I was also considering those Antiquity II pickups! So the Fender custom shop 60's are okay, but you would pick the Antiquitys over them?

DiMarzio Ultra Jazz I shall look into. The general consensus I was getting from other bassists was that Dimarzio pickups have a tendency of colouring the sound a fair amount more than other pickups.
This is just what I have heard, I haven't heard the pickups myself...
 
#9
Ah I knew it was only a matter of time until norstrand got mentioned!! The norstand get a lot of love around here, gotta be for a reason... So the ultra bass is pretty hot eh? Not too coloured though? I have to keep my bass woody-ness!!
 
#12
slopeshoulder said:
I find Ultra-Jazz to be a tad scooped and hi-fi compared to stock J pickups, which have more upper mid bark. I'm switching to NJ4's.
Click to expand...

+1
Not that the Ultra's are bad but they are what they are.
You will be stoked with the NJ4s
 
#13
#14
Maybe my DiMarzios are set a bit low from the strings or something-I dunno--in my bass they are most definitely not hot. In fact the bass is kinda quiet. My Glaub (different animal admittedly) is MUCH hotter output. I don't have another Jazz to compare them to though. In my instrument they sound natural and "woody"--not hi-fi. But they have a very nice and "big-ish" low end. Fingers and pick, it cuts through very nicely in the mids too (not particularly scooped to my ears).
 
#15
My budget is whatever it needs to be, I am not really worried how much I have to pay if it means that I'll find something I'll love.
In other threads I have read that some people are finding the norstrands to be a tad thin in the upper register, any knowledge of this?
No one has mentioned the Aeros yet, have I been barking up the wrong tree?
 
#16
Bartolini Classic Bass Series, 9CBJD1, have been the ticket for me. I use the 5-string equivalent in my Am. Std. Jazz 5, and they sound so warm, smooth, and classy it's ridiculous. It's bass tone that makes you smile. :)
 
#17
robbassbass said:
I, on the other hand, love the woody tone of the jazz bass, and am just chasing a natural, fuller sound of the actual guitar, not so much a coloured, or loud sound.
a classic jazz bass sound with not too much rumble, but keeping those high frequencies under wraps?
Click to expand...
Seems to point to the NJ4's, from what many who used them say and sound clips I've heard.

robbassbass said:
In other threads I have read that some people are finding the norstrands to be a tad thin in the upper register, any knowledge of this?
No one has mentioned the Aeros yet, have I been barking up the wrong tree?
Click to expand...
I haven't read or heard "thin" in upper register. But refined, pleasant and not over bearing . That may just fit your request.
Aero's that I've played were modern deep and modern in highs. Somewhat brash and not necessarily smooth or woodie.
 
#19
robbassbass said:
I, on the other hand, love the woody tone of the jazz bass, and am just chasing a natural, fuller sound of the actual guitar, not so much a coloured, or loud sound.

So any suggestions to get a classic jazz bass sound with not too much rumble, but keeping those high frequencies under wraps?
Click to expand...
that also suggests 250k pots, which it would have had originally, but which might have been changed for brighter 500ks (which i myself like for a more "grindy" sound).
 

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