Pickups that fit a J-Bass

i have had a MIM J-Bass for a few years now, bought it used, needs some work on it, it is black with a white pickguard and i thought it would look real nice with a tortoise pickguard and white or off-white (p-90 type color) pickups


anybody either know if these are made or could anybody recommend any good j-bass style pickups?

1. MIM J's prior to (2005 ? 2006 ?) somewhere back there have bridge pickups that are the same length as the neck pickup. That's between and 1/8th and 1/4" short of a standard J bridge pickup. So ... to fit a decent set of J pickups inthere you also need to widen the pickup cavity for the bridge pickup - or you vastly reduce your available choices. This is no big deal - but it is something you'll neeed to consider.

2. There have been white / cream pickups covers for J pickups over the years. Dimarzio made some, Fender as well IIRC. Maybe an outfit like Angela.com would have the covers.

3. Contrary to popular opinion .. the MIM J pickup isn't anything to write home about. It's maybe an upgrade from a Squire I suppose - but there are some great J pickups sets out there. BP magazine did a shootout a few years ago. It's way out of date at this point but it's out there anyway.

Pickguards...
on black, the grey/blue mots/abolone/moonstone and black pickups is pretty nice in a subtle flash kinda way - I'm not a big fan of tort and black though ...Tort is sort of over used IMO.

I saw a black J recently with a Clear guard. The guy had laid up a news print collage and backed that with foil. So you got this kinda wild graphic black and white thing happening in place of the PG. Pretty creative approach I thought...

Specific J type Pickups ...
If you're looking for a modern, clear, full range, quiet pickup - The Bill Lawrence J-45 is a steal - not sure you can get in white - but then I'm not overly concerned with the cosmetic angle...

If you're looking for the traditional 60's, early 70's J - then there are some great choices.

Aero Type 1's are my favorite. Raw and punchy they just have it for me ... often available as 'pulls' from Lakland Darryl Jones basses. Though why eludes me. Noise would be my guess. That is a pretty common complaint among new J bass folks. Well - they're single coils and hey - noice is part of the bargain ...

Duncan SJB-1's are a close second. Generally about $70 per set used.

I'm working with a set of Dimarzio Model J's at the moment. So far I like them. Stacked coil humbuckers, they are hum free. I'm using them with the coils in parallel and htey have a reasonable vintage vibe to them.

Anything that mentions 'high output or hot' - that generally also means 'Dull' in P or J form factor pickups...)

so all of those pickups that you mentioned.. they wont fit a MIM J-bass because of the pickup cavity? or is that just for some kinds?

Measure the length of your pickups - if they are the same - then no. You'll have to widen the cavity. Again - it's not a big deal but it does have to be done to get a better quality set of J pickups in there. IIRC Duncan or someone was making a set with a short bridge pickup to fit the earlier MIM's but - it wasn't a very good set - aimed more at the rocker / metal set IIRC ...

Personally - I would get the dremel out ... If you're queasy any half competent luthier / repair guy can do this for peanuts. If you want to do it yourself, buy a J pickup template from someone like Stew Mac and it's pretty hard to mess up.

There are many good options for you pickup wise if you have the standard width bridge pickup and not the short one. It's well worth the effot IMO.

i found these:

DiMarzio DP123:
http://www.samash.com/catalog/showitem.asp?SKU=DDP123BK&ovchn=FRO&ovcpn=FROOGLE&ovcrn=DDP123BK&ovtac=CMP


they have gotten great reviews, and i one person said he ordered these as for his MIM standard and he had the size issue, but called dimarzio and they sent him one the right size.. maybe ill try that

Seymour Duncan makes several varieties of pickups suitable for a J-Bass, depending on the sound you want. I personally use the SPB-3 (P neck) and SJB-3b (J bridge) Quarter Pounders for my Aerodyne J-bass. The SJB-3's are available as a neck-bridge set for MIM's, and are nice and punchy.

I hear tell that Fralin makes two very nice J-bass pickup sets, one standard and one noiseless.

In Dimarzio I would opt for the Model J. I would do the route and get proper string to pole piece alignment as well...

In Dimarzio I would opt for the Ultra Jazz. I would do the route and get proper string to pole piece alignment as well...

meaning what exactly? having it set up?

meaning what exactly? having it set up?

Partly, yes. But sometimes, the pickups are just so far out of line that you can't tweak the setup that far. Then you have to start making adjustments to the pickup location, to get them centered properly under the strings. J-basses are notorious for this problem, too...

On the MIM standard basses, where both pickups are the same length - you get poor string to pole alignment on the bridge pickup. Typically this results in a hot A & D with a correspondingly weaker E & G. On a pickup where you can't adjust pole pieces - this isn;t so great...

This happens because the string spacing is around 2 and 5 /16ths inches at the bridge to around 1 1/2 Inches at the nut. The equal length pickups don't allow for the taper.

So this isn't a setup thing per se. It's a reflection of Fender being ... well cheap is a nice way to put it. I'm not sure this applies to all the early MIM J's but on the few I've worked on, the dc resistance was the same, neck & bridge - so they basically bought 1 pickup design and installed it in both positions - nice from a manufacturing standpoint - but not so hot from a bass guitar standpoint - the typical bridge J pickup is going to be a little stronger than the neck pickup.

So get the measuring tape and check to see if your neck & bridge pickups are equal length - this whole thing might not even apply to you depending on when your bass was made. If the pickups are un-equal in length - the bridge pickup being longer, then you can safely buy just about any 4 string J replacement pickup out there.

On the MIM standard basses, where both pickups are the same length - you get poor string to pole alignment on the bridge pickup. Typically this results in a hot A & D with a correspondingly weaker E & G. On a pickup where you can't adjust pole pieces - this isn;t so great...

This happens because the string spacing is around 2 and 5 /16ths inches at the bridge to around 1 1/2 Inches at the nut. The equal length pickups don't allow for the taper.

So this isn't a setup thing per se. It's a reflection of Fender being ... well cheap is a nice way to put it. I'm not sure this applies to all the early MIM J's but on the few I've worked on, the dc resistance was the same, neck & bridge - so they basically bought 1 pickup design and installed it in both positions - nice from a manufacturing standpoint - but not so hot from a bass guitar standpoint - the typical bridge J pickup is going to be a little stronger than the neck pickup.

So get the measuring tape and check to see if your neck & bridge pickups are equal length - this whole thing might not even apply to you depending on when your bass was made. If the pickups are un-equal in length - the bridge pickup being longer, then you can safely buy just about any 4 string J replacement pickup out there.

i looked and just by eyeballing it they appear to be the same length, would it be something you could just look at or would you need to measure to be sure?

and the serial number starts with MN8, which according the guide on this site, is roughly 1998-1999

Length should not be a problem, however, watch what pickups you purchase, make they are a neck and bridge replacement . . . the two, because of the position of the "ears," are not swappable - the routing for each is different.

I just have a hard time putting 200 plus dollar pickups in a bass that doesn't cost much more than that . . . I'll tell what I did do though . . .

I do some luthier work for friends and such, and I had a co-worker that wanted some upgraded pups for his MIM Jazz. I suggested and installed a set of GFS Alnico Pro bass pickups in his bass . . . nice swap . . . though I tried the same set in my Am/Se Jazz bass and didn't like them as well as the stockers! His MIM sounded close to my Jazz after the swap!

The GFS pups are around $60 . . .

i have GFS Mean 90's in my epiphone, they sound awesome and got them off their ebay store for a total of 70 dollars for the both

how do a go about widening the bridge cavity without screwing up the body? i've never done work like that before

Why not just get a set of these for $70 - GFS (http://store.guitarfetish.com/gfsjbprojaba.html)
No routing whatsoever . . . but do lower the bass side of each pickup - way down! Back off the neck pup volume to about 90% and the bridge pup to about 80% . . . tone, about mid-way . . . for a nice clean sound. Quickly crack up the tone to 100% for slapping and popping!

Why not just get a set of these for $70 - GFS (http://store.guitarfetish.com/gfsjbprojaba.html)
No routing whatsoever . . . but do lower the bass side of each pickup - way down! Back off the neck pup volume to about 90% and the bridge pup to about 80% . . . tone, about mid-way . . . for a nice clean sound. Quickly crack up the tone to 100% for slapping and popping!

that site says they are to fit the USA bodies though, if the pickup is longer than the size of the hole in which it goes, how is there no body work to be done


sorry i dont really know much about basses

I installed a set directly into a MIM, but I sure would contact them to make sure . . . maybe mine was a fluke . . .

I believe that the site says, "They are proportionally spaced to accomodate the classic USA Jazz Bass bridge spacing." I think they are referring to the string spacing . . . which should be .750 . . .

Call them, email them, and ask id they'll drop right into a MIM . . . under Info near the bottom

I'm lazy. I bought two ulta-jazz neck pickups and popped them in my MIM Jazz. I just work around tone-wise w/ amp and guitar to get what I need. It's not worth it to med to start cutting and filling on an inexpensive bass.

Just buy two neck pick ups of your choice, install them, don't worry about cutting or drilling or anything else, and play.

I'm lazy. I bought two ulta-jazz neck pickups and popped them in my MIM Jazz. I just work around tone-wise w/ amp and guitar to get what I need. It's not worth it to med to start cutting and filling on an inexpensive bass.

Just buy two neck pick ups of your choice, install them, don't worry about cutting or drilling or anything else, and play.

I was gonna suggest this, but figured it was too easy, that there must be a compelling reason no one else was mentioning it...

:oops:

:mrgreen:

Tim

Lessee - it can be right for a 15 minute dremel job or ...

there is generally a differnce in strength between the pickups in a J set, with the rear pickup being stronger than the front. SO the neck pikcups is going to screwed down deep and he bridge is going to be up high to compensate ...

Not to mention they are generally RW/RP so they humbuck when used as a pair. In the case of the Ultra Jazz - not a problem as each pickup is a humbucker though ... still badly aligned poles but the UJ's also have adjustable pole pieces so you can use those to work the string to string balance.

A '99 would definately have this 'issue' - it's still a pretty easy one to correct though. I'm guessing you can guess which way I'd go ... although this may be http://w3.gorge.net\mfbrown\deadhorse.gif (no actual animals were harmed in the creation of this message...)

I have a Bartolini J-style in the bridge position of my modded MIJ Precision bass, and really like the sound. http://www.bartolini.net/information/bass/new_bass_pu_s4.htm
Since those are hum cancelling dual-coils, and have a blade instead of pole-pieces, the trick of using two neck pickups should work here (a J-Bass has two vol. pots so differences in loudness could be balanced!)

I am surprised that no-one has recommended Bill Lawrence pu's, they are brilliant, check his website www.billlawrence.com
Clive