J bass tone from a MM-equipped bass

[dincz]

J-bass passive pickup in MM case/format. Does such a thing exist or should I get the router out?

[LiamPodmore]

Find one with a coil tap, so you can just use one of the coils instead of both, that way depending on pickup placement you should be able to get a decent J bass bridge tone.

Liam

[EmmettC]

I have a 2 MM pups in my .....errrrr MM, and they can both run as single coils, not a perfect Jazz bass sound, but pretty close, sounds great for my use anyway.

Using a coil tap gives me more options too, so worth checking out imo

Edited June 6, 2012 by EmmettC

[LukeFRC]

delano hybrid system???

[JTUK]

It is the position rather than anything else that will determine how close you can get.

Putting any sort of winds into the MM pup case is the easy bit.

[nugget]

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1338983202' post='1681894']
delano hybrid system???
[/quote]


I really love these!!

[dincz]

Thanks for the tips! Narrowing the choices. I guess the main benefit of a single/split coil pu would be in the bridge position where the zing lives - any thoughts?

[JTUK]

Playing over the bridge pickup typically gives a short more abrupt sound as the string does not have as much chance to move and vibrate.
That is why the neck pickup is BIG as it has more chance to move...

Zing..as I understand it..is the condition of the string...and how clean/new it is.


There seems to be this misconception that bass is good for a bass.. it is only up to a point.
This is why big bassey cabs tend to be toneless...and is the same reason that big powerful pickups can be the same.
The bass output overwhelms all other characteristics,

Single coil are thinner typically and you hear the bass' inherrent sound..for good or bad.

[dincz]

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1339024343' post='1682729']
Playing over the bridge pickup typically gives a short more abrupt sound as the string does not have as much chance to move and vibrate.
That is why the neck pickup is BIG as it has more chance to move...

Zing..as I understand it..is the condition of the string...and how clean/new it is.


There seems to be this misconception that bass is good for a bass.. it is only up to a point.
This is why big bassey cabs tend to be toneless...and is the same reason that big powerful pickups can be the same.
The bass output overwhelms all other characteristics,

Single coil are thinner typically and you hear the bass' inherrent sound..for good or bad.
[/quote]

I would have thought that as there's more string movement closer to the neck, the pickup wouldn't need to be as sensitive and so could be smaller. But then there's also more fundamental and lower harmonics the closer you get to the neck so maybe a heftier coil is necessary to get the low frequency response - more inductance, lower resonant frequency.

"Zing" as I used the word meant more higher harmonics i.e. more treble. Sure, new strings will do that, but the bridge pickup gets more highs than the neck pickup no matter where you pluck/pick.

This is all speculation based on observation rather than fact, so corrections are welcome.

[Kiwi]

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1339024343' post='1682729']
Playing over the bridge pickup typically gives a short more abrupt sound as the string does not have as much chance to move and vibrate.
That is why the neck pickup is BIG as it has more chance to move...[/quote]
I'd suggest the string has a higher resonancy peak due to the flexibility of the string. It still vibrates at the same frequency to produce the same pitch. You can hear how the resonancy peak changes by running a pick down the windings of roundwound strings when they're fitted.

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1339024343' post='1682729']
This is why big bassey cabs tend to be toneless...and is the same reason that big powerful pickups can be the same.
The bass output overwhelms all other characteristics
[/quote]
It's hair splitting but even a sub woofer has a tone. But yes, a load of 100Hz can turn everything else to mud. Much better to dial back the 100Hz and maybe aim for 25 or 35Hz. Stuff you can feel more than hear. Then knock the 250-400Hz band up a little depending on what sounds best.

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1339024343' post='1682729']
Single coil are thinner typically and you hear the bass' inherrent sound..for good or bad.
[/quote]
Do you mean mids? Mids are everything IMO. Without being able to hear them cleanly it can be difficult to hear pitch on stage.

But back to the OP. It depends on whether you want something that evokes the sound of a jazz pickup or replicates the sound of a jazz pickup. The problem is that there are trade offs, the more you move towards a jazz coil sound, the further you move from a Stingray sound. I'd agree with previous posts that pickup position counts for a fair bit. But the MM pickup also has BIG magnets and lots of windings. It's designed for fatness (with help from the stock preamp) which is why they aren't so hi-fi (not that this matters much).

I can get approximations of both with soapbars on my Spector mainly due to position and coil selection. But for live purposes only, they'd never pass mustard in a recording situation.

[ikay]

[quote name='Kiwi' timestamp='1339046637' post='1682780']
I'd agree with previous posts that pickup position counts for a fair bit.
[/quote]

FWIW, measured from the nut, the centreline of a Jazz bridge pickup (60s position) is 80cm and the centreline of the bridge coil of the MM is 79cm. Coil tapping the MM should be pretty close in terms of position but the bigger magnets and windings will also affect the resonant peak and tone.

[Kiwi]

In pickups there is only one resonant peak and its quite broad. Think more mids or more bass or more highs and that's about it. It's also possible to manipulate treble response with winding a higher resistance. Impedance changes have an effect too, as anyone who switches between serial and parallel coil settings on a Musicman Stringray 5 will already know.