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What Passive Pickups Should Install In My Currently Passive Jazz

ShelbyBass

ShelbyBass

Jun 15, 2021
24
116
#1
I couldn't resist a new Fender Jazz I ran across because the neck just felt so stinking' good.

It sounds fine, but considering my main gigging bass at the moment is Chef's 5 string Nordstrand, the passive set up in the Jazz leaves a little to be desired.

If I was to seek out an active pickup/preamp set to drop in this Jazz, what should I consider?
 
#8
I think my Nordstrand j singles are pretty pure and clean pickups.
It can be hard to adjust to that because they are not the most forgiving of slop.

I got them running with a flexcore..which again is clean.
The problem might be can you run a flexcore on 4 controls.

Personally, I'd consider a Glock 4 pot which i run with Fender CS 70's...That combo reacts to wood and string tones very well and I'd expect, on recent experience, that the Nordstrand and Glock combo to do same?
 
#9
If changing both though, I'd have Aguilar on my list.
Plenty of combos on YT depending on your reference.

I'd check Barts, Lollar and ask the makers what sound they gravitate to, 60's, 70's etc.
I'd stay away hotter pickups if you are convinced the wood tone is good on the bass. This is not a given, ime.
I'd be aiming for neutral and classic and a Glock pre amp is transparent to that end. By that I mean not harsh and hugely tone shaping.
 
#13
What Passive Pickups Should Install In My Currently Passive Jazz
If I was to seek out an active pickup/preamp set to drop in this Jazz, what should I consider?

You are asking 2 different questions. I'll comment on the first one only.

I had really excellent luck with Fender '75 reissue Jazz Bass pickup (not the '74s!) that I bought brand new on eBay. Very happy with them!

Another excellent set are the Aero Type I. But, they are very pricey.
 
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#16
The only J pickups I like almost as much as Nordstrand are DiMarzios. The SD Apollo's and Wilkinson's I've put in are ok but Nordstrand wins for power, slightly tamer but still great is the DiMarzio J which is a bit... 'wider'. Sorry for the lame adjectives. Stick with Nordstrand.
 
#18
Drzejzi said:
If you are considering a preamp, a Sadowsky outboard preamp complements perfectly the Jazz Bass sound.
Click to expand...

You beat me to this by just a couple of minutes! I'd go onboard personally - going from your bass to a DI to the house and sounding that good just looks extra cool, especially when your guitarist has some massive pedal board contraption that they have to tweak all the time and still can't get their sound right.
 
#19
bassdude51 said:
You are asking 2 different questions.
Click to expand...

I will see your two questions and raise them to three. :) See below.

gmarcus said:
Before you do anything play around with the pickup height.
Click to expand...

Excellent advice.

ShelbyBass said:
I couldn't resist a new Fender Jazz I ran across because the neck just felt so stinking' good.

It sounds fine, but considering my main gigging bass at the moment is Chef's 5 string Nordstrand, the passive set up in the Jazz leaves a little to be desired.

If I was to seek out an active pickup/preamp set to drop in this Jazz, what should I consider?
Click to expand...

Hello. As others already said or implied, unless it is simply that you want to swap in new pickups plus add a preamp, your comments invoke a few different matters.

1. Is it that the sound of this bass (all passive necessarily) pales compared to the sound of the Nordy when a. the Nordy is run passive, or b. the Nordy is run active? If at least one answer is yes to 1b then there is a chance that all you are missing in this bass is a preamp, and that its pickups are fine.

2. But if the answer is yes to 1a then either a. the sound of this bass pales compared to the Nordy regardless of pickups, or b. whether or not 2a, different pickups could bring the excellence of the sound of this bass closer to that of the Nordy. In other words: why is it that you particularly question the pickups in this bass, among all the factors that could account for the difference? The post by @gmarcus illustrates this, citing the difference between the pickups per se and how they are adjusted.

3. If, for any reason, you will swap in new pickups plus add a preamp in this bass, note that whereas some makers offer both pickups and preamp that are designed to be used together, others do not. Mixing and matching makes and models of pickups and preamps is popular because of the latter case for starters; but also because there is rarely any feature of a Fender type pickup (or most types of pickup) that constrains it to be paired with only certain preamps. So: are you set on the pickups and preamp being of the same make? Because if not, then you will have greatly many more options.
 
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#20
There isnt a lot of information in the first post, such as "Playing style(s)", Genre(s), technique(s), hobbyist/working pro/weekend warrior, etc, attack hard/soft/varied, preferences (rich harmonic structure or funadmental boom?)etc.....plus, your tastes may be different than mine.........My USA Fender J and my Sire J all have stock pickups (my Fender Power Jazz Special doesnt count lol)............

Also, The thread title is asking what "passive set" to replace while post 1 is asking for "active":

For my personal tastes in what I like, if I was going to replace passive pickups in a J with passive pickups I personally like, Im a big fan of finding a used set of thirty year old early 80s D'Marzzios.................

For active: Good old EMGs always do the trick for me
 
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