Which bridge pickup for a PJ

bought a Fender 55 split coil for my PJ and it sounds great. lots of punch and no weak twangy sound. also no hum. The output is on the hot side but no too hot. mine measured 10.75K http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005M358O8/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 it's only $40

 

Ultrajazz isn't so growly IMHO. It's kind of polite and snappy to my ears.

 

Nah, I'm kind of out of the loop on J pickups. I have tried the Ultrajazz in the back, though.

 

Fender Super 55 or Dimarzio Ultra Jazz would be my choice.

Avoid any stacked pickup, as by design they are pretty weak and wont keep up with a P pickup. I'm talking to you Seymour Duncan.

 

Traditionally, the most growly hum-cancelling J bridge pickup is the DiMarzio Model J. The Fender split coil mentioned above seems to be a good candidate. That's the one I would recommend with a stock Fender P pickup. And as also stated above, the UltraJazz is scooped and not growly.

 

No in fact it makes the tone better! A blend pot (which is actually 2 pots) or two volume controls are in parallel which means that instead of the usual 500K or 250K volume ohms you now have much lower ohms which loses some brightness. Plus I find that like all 2 pickup basses a mixture of two pickups gives you some scooping of your tone. A simple switch eliminates all that. Push-Pull on the volume control saves you having to drill for a switch.

On my jazz basses I like to have a rotary switch that goes Neck only, both in series, both in parallel, bridge only, mute. I wouldn't recommend that for a PJ, however, because the pickups usually aren't as balanced as in a jazz bass. But you never know until you try it.

The only problem I have with what you suggest is that when In jazz pickup mode, it's only a bridge pickup and for me it takes a bit of EQ to get the tone jazz-bass like the way I want it. This means there's more adjustment than just switching back and forth. My PJ is set up Vol/vol (used 500K to make it more like P bass Ohms when in parallel) and push-pull on 1st volume switches P-bass pickup from series (normal) to parallel which balances better with J pickup and gives a brighter tone so that the combo is more J-bass sounding.

Just try some things and see what you think. Volume controls with push-pull switches are cheap!

 

I've wired P/J's with blends, and also V/V/T, and I vastly prefer using a switch, with a master volume and master tone. I even did one with a two-way switch, where the choices were P and P+J only (no J only option); that was probably my favorite configuration.

 

I could not tell any difference for me when I experimented with wiring configurations for my custom P/J, so at the end of the day, I went with traditional V-V-T for familiarity.

http://www.talkbass.com/threads/a-different-custom-p-style-bass.755914/

 

The issue I have with a V/V/T configuration on a P/J is that it takes too much fiddling to get to P only, which I end up using much of the time.

On J/J basses, I actually prefer V/V/T, but they're very different beasts than P/J's.

I've got a P/P bass in the works, and I'm not sure how I'll wire it yet. I may go V/V/T to start with, and see how I like it.

 

Arvin, are you saying just turning down the J volume knob all the way doesn't get you to P only? I've read conflicting opinions on whether or not the J volume pot turned all the way off affects the P only tone. Good luck with your double P.

 

No, I think it does get to P only; it's just more fiddly than I like. Getting from P to P+J in a flick of a switch is pretty nice. And I don't really ever feel the need to dial either pickup down at all. Now on a J/J bass, that's a different story entirely.

I've done some comparisons of P-only tone as regards VVT vs VT+switch. I think the VT+switch sounds a skosh more "open," but not enough so to be a really crucial factor for me. They're pretty close.

Thanks! UPS is supposed to deliver the body this coming Monday. I'm psyched to start work on it.

 

Thanks for reply!

 

What you want is a rotary switch rather than a toggle switch (though you could put that there) I also am a much bigger fan of switching rather than blending. Most of my SX jazz basses have the rotary switch I described. This lets you wire more options than just two. Like say P-series-solo (standard configuration), P-parallel-solo, P and J both on, and J pickup solo, and mute.

Let me say that originally I did my bass switches with just 4 positions. And then I bought a 5 position switch and added a "mute" position. I found that a VERY handy addition! I strongly recommend it.

if you really want a toggle switch, you can use one of these mini-switched, but they fit in a smaller hole than a pot so some kind of washer etc. may be needed. A standard toggle switch is bigger than a pot, makes too much noise and is too stiff to operate. IF you really want a toggle switch, best would be one of those Rhythm/Treble switches Guitars often have. (available from Stew-Mac). Quiet and work easy.

 

My 1985 Fender Jazz Bass Special (passive) came with V-V-T AND a 3 way switch (neck pickup, both with individual volume control, and bridge only).

Very versatile, best of both worlds.

 

Sorry for turn even more off-topic..
curious.. for those who like Vol-blend-tone ...
could you just eliminate the Vol and handle that down the line?