Davebassics

I have a Reggie Hamilton P/J which came a DiMarzio Model P pickup and a Fender Noiseless J. Didn't really dig either and I was getting some scooped upper mids when blending them together. I swapped the Noiseless for a Model J so have a matching set which solved that problem. Only thing is, I'm just not happy with the Model P/J pups. I'll try and keep the adjectives simple: They sound dull, muffled and fat. With a plectrum they sound sharp and they cut really nicely (The plectrum reintroduces some attack in the top end). I used to have a Jazz with Area Js in and I loved them. Bright, open, crisp. Could really dig in with my fingerstyle playing. So I am going to get an Area J Bridge pickup. That's a no brainer for me. What I am having problems with is a P to go with it. DiMarzio fo a Area P (DP250) and a Area P/J set (DP251) but nowhere on this side of the pond seems to stock them. I could look at importing but I'd like to look down different avenues first. Ideally, I'd like to stick with a matched pair of pickups to try and avoid any phasing issues. A few points of discussion: Has anyone been in this situation before, what did you do? Given the tonal characteristics of the Area Js, can any one recommend an equivalent PJ set from a different manufacturer? Ideally in the same price range As a side note, I'm also going to have the P pickup route moved 2cm towards the bridge. This is the P bass sweet spot on a Jazz body. Got a pickguard from warmoth so just need some routing done on the body.

Just a word of warning to any southerners that will be relying on northern rail to get into Leeds, allow yourself an extra 2 days to get there. Given that my local nonchain and chain music shops have shut one by one over the last few years, this is fantastic news for us west Yorkshire folk. All we need now is to be payed London wages so we can afford bass luxuries!

The bass had its first run out at rehearsal last night. I couldn't be more pleased. Any concerns I had about the Model P being too dark have been calmed. It cut through really nicely. I had to engage the 'Bite' option on my sansamp VT DI to give the bass a little more presence. I had tried this at home under more critical listening conditions and was a bit concerned that it sounded a little bit .... manufactured? It brighten the sound up but it didn't sound natural. It sounded like some quite harsh EQ. However, within the mix I couldn't tell and it sat very nicely. The pickups are still unbalanced to each other, the Model P is way louder than the noiseless jazz, and there is some wierd filtering that goes on when you blend the two together. I'm looking at getting a Model J into the bridge. I also am not a fan of the preamp. I am a passive kind of guy .... one less thing to go wrong and I feel you get more of the sound of the bass in your tone which makes any articulations in your playing come through a little more. Maybe thats some sort of placebo thing though. The problem is lack of tone control when in passive mode. I may look at getting something passive installed. I hear people raving about KiGon wiring kits. Does anyone know where these live on the internet?

Spent £200 on a second hand squier CV about 7 years ago. Ive only added a fretless and a PJ since. On several occasions ive walked into shops with upgrading on my mind and cash in my pocket. Ive gassed for hours. But when it came down to it, there wasn't a single £1k+ p bass that seemed worth the upgrade. I also was worried about such an investment getting damaged or stolen. I've long since stopped gassing for expensive basses. It feels great.

Deffo considering artist series seem to begin at £1k these days.

Thank you for not bidding! He did but it wasn't available when my father in law collected. The seller is going to post it. Would be really good to try it if is is a 62, been on my to try list. Having had another day of played (all be it through my ipad) the dimarzio ultra P has definitely got less top end and presence than my squier P. I can't remember what I have in there, I'd have to open it up. It's maybe going to be a bit dull for my tastes but will give it a go and the next few rehearsals and gigs

Picked this up on eBay last week. Been in the hunt for a P/J or a P/MM. Having played jazz basses for the first 10+ years before moving to P, I knew I'd be comfortable with the jazz shape and neck. It's been kept in great condition with only a few tiny dents. Was a little over budget but I did get a nice tweed hard case and spare scratch plate and pickup so can't complain! Action was quite high so I lowered it a bit and loosened off the truss rod a little based up on some YouTube advice. Plays better now but it's going to be a definite investment to get a guitar tech or Luther to give it a proper once over. Can anyone recommend anyone in west Yorkshire? The model P pickup is nice but it's difficult to blend with the fender noiseless bridge pickup. I may have to have a look at what pick up I have in my squier CV P bass because I love that. In case the chap who sold it to me via basschat in 2012 is reading, can you remember?! Don't rate the preamp that much but I'm a passive guy anyways. I'll leave it in and just run passive. The battery ran out within the first hour of playing so the active/passive switch is now a more convienient kill switch. Some electronic experimentation required! Neck is really nice. The shape will take a little getting used to, it's a little deeper than my pbass but comfort will come in time. Has a lovely satin finish. Anyways ... boring stuff over, here are some photos!

Only 200 miles between us then! GLWTS

Where are you based?

I've been doing a little further reading and came across some unrelated interesting conversations over on TB (https://www.talkbass.com/threads/why-does-my-sr5-feel-shorter-than-my-p-bass.1299145/) This gave me the idea of doing side by side comparisons on what would and wouldn't fit on a standard body shape. this image attached. I'm no graphics expert, and the horizontal lines are only accurate to about 200% zoom, but i think its accurate enough to get an idea of where the PUPs would be in their respective traditional positions. To my eyes, it looks like a P pickup in the traditional position on a jazz, would cut into the edge of the pickguard at the A string. The bottom of a P pickup would also overlap the top of a MM pickup if both on the same body (hard to see because the stingray I used has a black PUP and black pickguard). To have a P and a MM in the same body you could route the DG string split of the split coil above the EA coil.

Just looked them up. Looks to me like the neck pickup is in the jazz position not the traditional p position. It's difficult to know how much the position will affect the tone in a mix. I'm just approaching it with the idea that my p bass works for 90% of the set so don't mess with that part, just add the bit that will give you the last 10%. Although I'm not entertaining the idea of modding my existing P. From my research so far, p bodies with or without the bridge pickup seem to be more available. I'm in no rush so could also explore that option

And right on que this shows up on Facebook. https://m.facebook.com/photos/viewer/?photoset_token=pcb.2070889902959748&photo=10156301313976194&profileid=100007108414334&source=48&refid=18&__tn__=EH-R Dunno if the link will work if your not part of the group. Shame I won't be able to get down that neck of the woods in the foreseeable future. EDIT: it's for sale in the marketplace aswell

I Wish! one thing at a time! Good shout, I've just had a look for it though and didn't see it on their site. Do you have a link? I'll be in America anyways so $34 from warmoth seems reasonable.

My preference is the jazz body regardless of pickups but I agree, there is something oddly satisfying about a P pickup on a J. I found the option on Warmoth for the pickguard with the P pickup in the traditional position. The Pickup rout looks closer to the end of the guard than on most Jazz basses so I assume this what I'm looking for. Does anyone have any first hand experience? I'm off to america in a few weeks so would be a good time to pick one up.

I'm going to start gigging again soon in a function band and I don't feel like my P bass is versatile enough. Set list is mainly rock but there are a few songs that were originally played on Jazz basses or Musicman basses (RHCP, RATM etc) and could do with some sort of replication of the iconic bass tones from the recordings. Maybe I'm overthinking it but my hobby is the production just as much as the performance. Looking at some options for later down the line and what I'd ideally like is Jazz bass with a P neck, with the P pickup in the same position as a P and then either a J or MM pickup in the bridge position. Body shape and bridge pickup choice are negotiable. I'd also like to avoid anything custom or 'boutique' as I wouldn't want to worry about it getting lost, stolen, damaged etc. I'm not against building a blista to get me through. I was just wondering if anyone had any thoughts on the following questions: Does this bass exist as a production model? (maruszczyk I am counting as custom and/or boutique) Aerodyne Jazz basses look good but I can't tell if the P Pickup is in the P position, it looks a bit close to the neck? I have read that Warmouth sell a jazz pickguard with the pickup in the correct position but I can't seem to find it on their website. There is only one but it doesn't specifically mention about the placement. Has anyone one here been through the same GAS, how did you solve it?!