Jazz Bass pickup recommendations

[KeroseneTrewthe]

Hey,

Im looking to swap out my pups on my American Jazz 4 string. I'm not really looking for 'traditional' Jazz tone, but just want to get as much punch and fatness as I can out of the bass. I would probably get rid of the bass but I just love the way it plays and feels. I just want less mid growl and more low end punch. Would Duncan Quarter Pounders probably be my best option?

 

Thanks,

 

[isaac42]

I can't be of much help. I haven't had a Jazz bass for some 45 years. I will say that, in my experience, low end and punch are mutually exclusive. Low end is in the 40-80Hz octave. Lots of players prefer to minimize that. It eats up huge amounts of amplifier power, and it doesn't punch. It just sets below the rest of the band, rumbling.

 

Punch and growl mean different things to different people. A lot of people say that a Precision bass has punch, while a Jazz has growl. For what it's worth, the Jazz, with its two pickups, tends to have a scooped sound, with lots of lows coming from the neck pickup, and highs from the bridge pickup. The Precision, with its single pickup, has more midrange, which helps it punch through the mix.

 

I usually play Rickenbackers. In a lot of ways, they're similar to J basses, with their two pickups, but the pup locations are shifted toward the neck. As a result, the bridge pup soloed sounds a lot like a P pup, and the neck has even more lows than a J neck pup does. Anyway, I was playing my Ric 4001 with Bartolini pups at rehearsal today. Some people say that Barts are "polite," having a wide, flat response, with no real character of their own. I don't agree. I really like that bass and its sound. Would Barts get you the sound you're looking for? I dunno. I have no idea how Duncan Quarter Pounders sound. Might be perfect for you.

[Mikeo]

I have 2 American made Jazz Basses. One is the Standard American Jazz with the traditional pick ups. The other is called a Jazz Deluxe, that has active pups and sounds amazing.

 

Mine is older and is in a see thru white.

 

This one is really pretty too.

 

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/JBassAEEOTQ--fender-american-elite-jazz-bass-ocean-turquoise-ebony-fingerboard?mrkgcl=28&mrkgadid=3281072089&rkg_id=0&product_id=JBassAEEOTQ&campaigntype=shopping&campaign=aaShopping%20-%20Core%20-%20Bass&adgroup=Bass%20-%20Bass%20Guitars&placement=google&adpos=1o3&creative=226299461018&device=c&matchtype=&network=s&gclid=CjwKCAjw54fdBRBbEiwAW28S9oghIMv8LAqbu6sT1oNpXgcNE-LyCJGqkL2PveC-bA1E1_6mwAxa7RoCKFEQAvD_BwE

[lug]

Look at Barts....

 

https://www.bartolini.net/product-category/bass-pickup/4-string-bass-pickup/j-bass/

[Mikeo]

The deluxe is a bit smaller than the standard. Since the pups are active it is way more versatile than a standard jazz.[ATTACH=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","title":"fetch?photoid=31410674&type=thumb.jpg","data-attachmentid":32346429}[/ATTACH]

[Grant Harding]

I'd be tempted to put in an aftermarket active preamp from what you describe. I don't even think you'll need to change the pickups.

[WRGKMC]

I'd go with Grant on an active preamp. Artec makes one that's very inexpensive and the battery can last many months, up to a year in fact.

 

I have a regular jazz bass and a Seymour Duncan SJB-3 I used in one of my bass builds. To be honest I couldn't hear a dimes difference between the two. Jazz bass pickups are single coils. When you add winds to single coil pickups they get louder but also develop a bump in midrange, and a loss in top end. Because its a bass pickup you don't typically notice the high frequency loss like you would on a guitar pickup. The pickup will get louder but also muddier as winds are added.

 

Seymour did a good job balancing the magnet strength vs the added winds to maintain frequency response. All you get is a bit more output but tone wise the difference didn't amount to a hill of beans. I tried a Wilkerson double sized JB pickup too and though it did sound beefier I don't think the routing I did to fit it justified the gains I got.

 

To be honest, anything that's going to fit in that hole isn't going to make that big of a difference. What you should do is focus on an electronic solution to getting bigger and better tones. When I was using those JB pickups for recording I used one of these. https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/StompLab1B--vox-stomplab-ib-bass-modeling-effects-pedal?mrkgcl=28&mrkgadid=3248788598&rkg_id=0&product_id=StompLab1B&campaigntype=shopping&campaign=aaShopping%20-%20Core%20-%20Bass&adgroup=Bass%20-%20Bass%20Guitar%20Pedals%20&%20Effects&placement=google&adpos=1o1&creative=226299461024&device=c&matchtype=&network=g&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI0daj5NXJ3QIVGeh3Ch2ryQYdEAYYASABEgIj1vD_BwE I could model the sound and give the pickups anything they needed. This way your bass stays factory and maintains its maximum resale value.

[Mikeo]

The big difference between the Jazz Deluxe with active pups and the Jazz Standard is the active pups. ( well the body is smaller on the deluxe too) I don't often play the Jazz Standard anymore as this covers a lot more territory. I sold my American P Bass after own the Deluxe for a number of years. The active pups seemed to cover the deeper bass tone of my P bass.

 

The battery has its own compartment in the back.

 

The output jack is on the side with the Deluxe and not on the front. Might take a bit of work to get an active pup in.

 

I don't know if this help.