Members jaredcarman Posted January 9, 2008 Members Share Posted January 9, 2008 i have a pick up question regarding a fender jazz bass that i need help with. i currently am playing an american made fender jazz bass with the s1 switching system through an ampeg 8x10 and and svt classic and im trying to make my sound a little bigger. i am looking at either active emg or semour duncan. the bass has passive pickups right now so it would have to have something cut into the body to house the new pick ups. my question is are the emg j pick ups going to still have the same type of fender sound or am i going to lose it? does anyone know how the semour duncan would compare to the emg? another thing im possibly look at is possibly trying maybe active p bass pick ups in my bass. something a little different maybe. if anyone could give me a little input on any of this that would be awesome. if you want to check out the type of music im playing and listen to my band you can check it out here. www.myspace.com/downtonothing like i said any sort or input at all is greatly appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitargod0dmw Posted January 9, 2008 Members Share Posted January 9, 2008 Well...EMG's are certainly going to sound very different than your stock Fenders. I've never played EMG's, so I can;t really comment on how different. What style of music are you talking about here? We can recommend anything that soudns good to us, but it might not help you in the least, since you want say a metal sound and we recommend something good for jazz. Why would you need to route the body though? Most J replacment pickups are going to fit just fine. If you're going to put in a P pickup...why not just get a different bass? Also...to be clear, when you say an active P pickup, what are you talking about? Most basses don't have active pickups...they have activ preamps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jaredcarman Posted January 9, 2008 Author Members Share Posted January 9, 2008 i guess you could say the band might be metal. the band is a instrumentally a 3 piece so my sound is very important. our guitarist plays from 2 amps and 4x10 cabinets so my sound is very important. i need it to really be there and stand out in its own way. when i say active i mean its going to take a 9v battery.. and more wiring than it has now that is going to have to go somewhere. thats active isnt it? im not exactly bass master hear to bare with me. i like that way it sounds now but i need it to be a little bit louder and in your face. i would love to get a new bass but i just recently put a new bridge on it and im sort of attatched to the bass itself so im aiming to hang on as long as possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitargod0dmw Posted January 9, 2008 Members Share Posted January 9, 2008 What sound are you trying to get? Is there anyone that we might be able to compare it to? Yes...having a battery means it's active. But it's more than likely an active preamp...unless you're dealing with EMG's or a Warwick (which can get really confusing). Also, what are you using for an amp and cab? What's your whole rig consist of? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jazz Ad Posted January 9, 2008 Members Share Posted January 9, 2008 Many pickups and preamps (including their battery) fit Jazz Basses just fine without routing anything.First thing first, a JB isn't exactly the best bass to play metal. Humbuckers work much better.You don't have to go active though, many passive pickups will do a fine job.Just the same, you can add a preamp without changing your pickups. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members FloydianAnimal Posted January 9, 2008 Members Share Posted January 9, 2008 Well, it sounds like from your first post you have a pretty good rig going: Ampeg Classic head Ampeg 8x10 American Jazz If you want to put in Active pickups, EMG's might work well. I play in a metal band with a Jazz bass and an Ampeg SVT 3-Pro into a Mesa 2x15 so it can be done. I just put EMGs in my Jazz and it gives it more punch, more definition, and a more modern tone IMO. EMGs come with what required: the pickups, new pots, a stereo output jack, and a battery clip. All you have to do is install the prewired pots and jack, solder in the pickups, and solder in the battery clip and that's it... everything should be a direct fit too. Here's a pic of my Jazz for reference: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members james on bass Posted January 9, 2008 Members Share Posted January 9, 2008 A guy sat in with a band of mine a couple years ago and he had a US Jazz with EMGs in it, and the bass really cut through and sounded good in the mix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jaredcarman Posted January 9, 2008 Author Members Share Posted January 9, 2008 this is very very very useful. thank you everyone that responded. floyd..youre responses help the most. tell me about the difference between your bass before and after the pickups..do you liike the p or j more? which would you prefer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members FloydianAnimal Posted January 9, 2008 Members Share Posted January 9, 2008 Well, if you have a USA Jazz like the one in my picture, EMG J pickups are gonna be a direct fit and probably your best option. I have a bass with an EMG P in it and I do prefer the EMG J pickups actually. Depends whether you prefer a P or J sound to begin with I guess.... me I prefer a Jazz pickup set since I feel that it is more versatile and I play a bunch of different styles besides metal too... As for before and after the EMGs- kind if like I said above, after putting them in I think it sounded better (see description above). The stock pickups are lower output and more vintage sounding I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members no-logic Posted January 10, 2008 Members Share Posted January 10, 2008 Why not try a set of passive Dimarzio Model J's first. I have them in both of my jazz basses (soon to be three) and they have more punch and more cut than any Fender pickup that I have heard. I put them in my Jaguar and it made a whole new bass out of it. They just brought it to life. The stock Fenders are just too subtle. Give the Model J's a try. If they don't do it for you then try the active route. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jazz Ad Posted January 10, 2008 Members Share Posted January 10, 2008 I'd start the cheapest way. Install a parallel/series switch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sunburstbasser Posted January 10, 2008 Members Share Posted January 10, 2008 I'd start the cheapest way. Install a parallel/series switch. Already there. He says his bass has the S1 switch on it. Speaking of which, have you tried engaging that with your band? Very useful to get a huge sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jaredcarman Posted January 10, 2008 Author Members Share Posted January 10, 2008 never played a show with out the s1 switch pushed in. i think i would hate my tone if that wasnt there. think im going to be going for the two active emg pickups. hopefully the last piece to completing my set up. thanks everyone for the help it was very useful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members scampi Posted January 10, 2008 Members Share Posted January 10, 2008 I've spent some time with a jazz fitted with active emg j-pups before - it didn't sound like a jazz any longer, but of course it still played like (which is a plus in my book) - it was hotter, cut through in a different way, and the midrange took on a different sound and sizzle that was sort of unique - it wasn't a bad sound at all, but I'd say it was an acquired taste my favorite basses with all active emg electronics come from spector, particularly the p/j (not hz's) married with the bts in the older 4-strings (not the tonepump, 100% emg) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitargod0dmw Posted January 10, 2008 Members Share Posted January 10, 2008 a JB isn't exactly the best bass to play metal. Humbuckers work much better. I agree humbuckers work great in metal, but J basses do pretty well too. A lot of metal guys play J basses. Martin from Opeth is the first that comes to mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Phuzzy_duck Posted January 10, 2008 Members Share Posted January 10, 2008 +1 for Active EMG J pups in MIA Jazz bassesClarity, definition, balanced (even) volume and tone across the neck, punch and tight bottom end. The Seymour passive 1/4 pounders are also very nice pups, bigger and more dynamic sounding than original Fenders. The SD 1/4 Pounders have a rich expansiveness that the EMGs dont. I like em both, it just depends on what kind of sound you want/need for the sound situation your in. If you want more of a P bass sound than the EMG's give but dont want to go digging holes in your nice Jazz body then I'd try the SD's. Sorry 'no-logic' I've tried the DiMarzios and I'm not a fan. But everyone likes different sounds which makes the musical world go round right? The DMs are a bit too dirty for me, I found they lost a lot of my definition. Different basses, different amp, different player = different sound. They just didn't work for me in my Jazz basses. Alternatively jaredcarman, buy yourself a nice $160 SX Jazz bass and go to town trying different things, then when you know whats working for you translate that back to your MIA Jazz. Just some thoughts and ideas to throw around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.