J Pickup on a P - boring but wanna get it right. help appreciated

[Guest BassKS]

Dear all,

I will be buying an 84 Wizard for the bridge position of my warmoth P (currently with lollar- trad sounding beautiful).

I really want to do the whole Grindy mofo rock stuff with a pick in a covers band for some numbers and then changing into pure funk/soul with the P sound. all on the same night and probably same set.
FOr these drastic changes it makes sense to have a toggle switch between bridge/neck/both positions a la TF bass.

I was wondering if anyone has done 70s spacing (does TF have 70 spacing on the bridge pup) and is that the ultimate solution to all the PJs.
This bass will eventually sport an ebony fretless fb on a maple shaft so, I kind of need it to burp and grind.

Thanks all.

Much love

[Mr. Foxen]

See build diaries for Shockwave's one with 70s spacing. Its not going yet, but will be when this tuner arrives. I'm expecting it to sound like a J bridge pickup.

[Shockwave]

Depends on the pickups you have.

I have a Warmoth P-J with maple body and 70's positioned jazz pup, Both pickups are pretty mid heavy so cancel eachother out when on full, which means turning the jazz pup whilst does not reduce growl, it does reduce mids and makes it less middy. Hope this helps!

[Guest BassKS]

Ah thanks boys.

Lollar on the P and a wizard 84 on the bridge. Figured an overwound pup would give it more heat. plus with a toggle I wouldnt have the probs of cancellation?

[MoonBassAlpha]

I don't think having a toggle will make any difference to the cancellation thing.

[LawrenceH]

Do you mean using the toggle so each pickup is used in isolation? In which case cancellation won't be an issue. If used together they will still cancel.

The thing about a PJ with the P in the typical position is that you can choose to (approximately) space the pickups apart so it sounds more like a typical (60s) jazz with both pickups on full, which actually means using 70s position for the J (since the P pickup is less close to the neck than the neck pickup on a jazz bass) but the 70s position can sound a bit thin in isolation.

Or, you can position the J pickup in the 60s position which will give it a bit more body when used solo, but the pickups will be spaced pretty close and give a different characteristic when both are on full.

I personally prefer the blended sound so would go with 70s position, and hope that the full, dark sound of the 84 meant that the solo'd pickup was still sufficiently full-bodied.

[brensabre79]

I've fitted a 5 position rotary switch on my 70s Jazz because on its own the BPU was just too thin. So now I can blend in the neck at 50% vol just to add some fullness to the sound. Works well because you get the mid heavy BPU sound but it still has enough weight to hold down the bottom end. Similarly in pos. 2 I can give the NPU a bit of attack with 50% BPU. Works like a blend pot but is instantly switchable.

[iiipopes]

Usually simpler is better. Because the P pickup is so round in tone, I like the J in between the 60's and '70's position. I also prefer a DiMarzio UltraJazz, for a PJ application, because with its end-to-end coils it is also humbucking and blends well with a P.

I wire mine like a Jazz, V V T, and I don't bother with any special pickup wiring or switching. I use an orange drop .033 cap for the main tone cap so that there are a little more growly mids in the mix, and here's the kicker: put a .01 cap inline from the hot lead of the J pickup to its volume control. this cuts just enough lows out of the J pickup (hey - it's next to the bridge, with less string excursion. There's no fundamental there, anyway!) that it keeps the bottom of the P pickup strong and clear, with no phasing, impedance dropping, or comb filtering issues.

Here's mine: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/174777-and-now-for-something-completely-different-in-a-pj/"]http://basschat.co.u...ferent-in-a-pj/[/url]

Edited May 4, 2012 by iiipopes