Please suggest a good P/J pickup set

[lojo 103]

As wizard closed the week before I wanted to order a set for my P/J build I'm still undecided what to put in instead

I'd like them to be middle of the road to cover all the styles you get called upon to play in a general functions covers band (so fender std USA may be the right choice)

Any suggestions

[hamfist 9]

budget ?

[lojo 103]

[quote name='hamfist' timestamp='1379138544' post='2209024']
budget ?
[/quote]

No budget, I want this to be my perfect bass , thanks

[D.I. Joe 1]

Okay, I'll admit that I'm a little biased but check these out.

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHwbwYmNMWo"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHwbwYmNMWo[/url]

[hamfist 9]

As you know, no one specific pickup choice or combination is perfect for every bass, or player.

Personally, I'd always go for a hum-cancelling J pickup. Many of them are so good these days that there is no need to put up with single coil hum anymore , all IMO etc etc.

I really, really like the Dimarzio DP149 ultra Jazz in the bridge position of a PJ. Although I've never really got on with any of their P offerings. The DP149 matches very, very nicely with any "vintage-output" P pickup in the neck. Something like a Duncan SPB-1 or a Fender original P.
I suspect you will get a lot of recommendations for the Fender orig P pickup. I have tried two, and never liked them. I have found the string-sensing area to be particularly sensitive on this pickup, and bending strings out of that area will reduce their volume noticeably.
Nordstrand pickups are well worth considering and are like Fender pickups but "better", so an NP4, NJ4SV combination should be superb.

Delano pickups are another of my favourite makes, especially their FE/M2 range. So a PMVC 4 FE/M2 and JMVC 4 FE/M2 combination would be absolutely superb, with a bit more bite and clarity than a traditional Fender-type pickup.

[Lozz196 3,463]

The nicest (to my ears) PJ sounding combination I`ve had was a regular Fender Precision pickup (not the original, just regular) and a Seymour Duncan Hot-Stack Jazz. The Hot Stack is hum-cancelling, and sounds just like a regular Jazz pickup except there`s just "more" or verything, it just seems fuller, but still with the bite required for a J pickup at the bridge. No coincidence that I had these due to Duff McKagan using the same combination.

[lojo 103]

Thanks guys , I'm in touch with the manchester creamery ?

[hamfist 9]

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/216960-delano-pj-mvc-4-pickups-humcancelling-as-new/"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/216960-delano-pj-mvc-4-pickups-humcancelling-as-new/[/url]

Not mine I will add.

[molan 163]

[quote name='hamfist' timestamp='1379241290' post='2210101']
[url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/216960-delano-pj-mvc-4-pickups-humcancelling-as-new/"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/216960-delano-pj-mvc-4-pickups-humcancelling-as-new/[/url]

Not mine I will add.
[/quote]

I'm obviously biased as these are mine

However, I do really think they are excellent pickups. They were bought for a specific project but the bass they were due to go into didn't materialise in the end.

I've never heard a bad word about Delanos and a friend of mine just installed some of their soapbar ones and loves them.

Whichever brand you go with I'd definitely try to get a humcancelling set. Lots of regular bridge J's can hum pretty badly and a mismatched pair in a PJ set can cause additional problems with phasing. I've heard some pretty nasty non-matched PJ's over the years

Edited September 15, 2013 by molan

[hamfist 9]

So, lojo, did you buy molan's Delanos ? I see they are sold.

[lojo 103]

[quote name='hamfist' timestamp='1379318361' post='2211071']
So, lojo, did you buy molan's Delanos ? I see they are sold.
[/quote]

No, ive just this minute looked, think I want to stick cosmetically to traditional looking fender pickups, but am still open to anything

[Panamonte 3]

I put Fender 62 RI P p/ups and a Dimarzio Ultra Jazz in my PJ earlier in the year and I'm very pleased with how they work both independently and combined.

Edited September 16, 2013 by Panamonte

[jeid 3]

[quote name='D.I. Joe' timestamp='1379161412' post='2209286']
Okay, I'll admit that I'm a little biased but check these out.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHwbwYmNMWo[/media]
[/quote]

I'm looking for pickups for a bass just now.. I loved all of those tones!

[hamfist 9]

[quote name='jeid' timestamp='1379687544' post='2215751']


I'm looking for pickups for a bass just now.. I loved all of those tones!
[/quote]

Interesting, I hadn't seen that vid before. The J pickup seemed very strong and tuneful indeed to me(and I'm not normally a great bridge J fan). The P pickup sounded rather weak in the mids however. I think it would have a tendency to disappear in a band context. I didn't like it at all.
The distorted sounds were nice, but all you were really hearing was the tone of the distortion "device" (software ?) rather than the pickups as they all sounded very similar.

[Hamster 131]

I'd give serious consideration to Lindy Fralin's pickups - [url="http://www.fralinpickups.com/bass.asp"]http://www.fralinpickups.com/bass.asp[/url]

Never heard a set I didn't like.

[D.I. Joe 1]

[quote name='hamfist' timestamp='1379745553' post='2216342']
Interesting, I hadn't seen that vid before. The J pickup seemed very strong and tuneful indeed to me(and I'm not normally a great bridge J fan). The P pickup sounded rather weak in the mids however. I think it would have a tendency to disappear in a band context. I didn't like it at all.
The distorted sounds were nice, but all you were really hearing was the tone of the distortion "device" (software ?) rather than the pickups as they all sounded very similar.
[/quote]

I have the '58 on my precision and I've never found it to be lacking in the mix, but let's not forget that the pickup is just one piece of the puzzle. Bass setup, woods, strings, hardware, electronics, your amp and everything in between will have some affect on your sound, both solo and in an ensemble/band context. Also, I'd agree to some extent with what you say about distortion sounds - the coloration of a device on any two given guitars may be the same but the overall sound will be different, in accordance with the differences of the two raw signals.

And the '60 PE - I think it's lovely Bare Knuckle unfortunately don't make 5 string sets, but I had my Squier VM Jazz V pickups re-wound to the PE spec. The standard bridge pickup that I had sounded thin and harsh and was thus rarely used. The BK that I have now certainly sounds bright, but isn't too harsh and sharp-sounding and is actually my preferred solo pickup sound.

Don't be swayed just by my words though, I don't work for Bare Knuckle Pickups, I just play in the band This is just my personal opinion, you should go with whatever works best for you!

[Biaeothanata-Bassist 0]

Seymour Duncan SPB3/SJB3 set. Really high output and they can go from fat dubby tones to seriously heavy metal tones

[krysh 2]

for my next fretted pj bass, I'll probably choose again the nordstrand p with a nordstrand big split at the bridge as I already have them in my guild pilot fretless. love the tones that they deliver.