Mind your P's and J's

[mcnach]

11 hours ago, Davo-London said:

 

 

Unfortunately no, I don't have any recordings.

The Jazz configuration was definitely Jazz-like, unsurprisingly, although I have it wired with one volume and one tone control, and a blend control, so it is a bit different from the usual. 

I moved the neck pickup towards the bridge because I like the sound of pickups closer to the bridge, for the better definition they provide, and I wanted to try something that would not sound like any other of my basses. It was just a bit of an experiment. 

I used a pair of DiMarzio Area J, pickups. They're humbuckers but they sound reasonably 'traditional'. I have them on a Jazz bass and sound really nice. I wired each in parallel. The bridge pickup alone sounds like you'd expect. The 'neck' alone sounds like a sharper Precision with a bit less low end. Actually no, it really doesn't sound like a Precision  but it does have a bit of that midrange 'bark'. It has a bit too much high midrange, but turning down the tone control tames it a little and it's a cool sound. However, it's with both pickups on that it really comes alive. I use the blend control to make it a bit fatter or a bit more defined depending on which way I turn it. I think I will rewire each pickup in series, for a fatter sound, although maybe all I need is to be able to put both pickups in series with each other... I don't know, there's a few combinations I haven't tried yet so I don't know which is best.

It takes less than 10 minutes to turn it back into a 'Jazz': simply replace the pickguard and screw the neck pickup in the other position. Add another 10 minutes and I could make it a PJ  Large pickguards are useful if you want to experiment with pickup positions etc.

[PatrickJ]

On 29/04/2019 at 09:50, Davo-London said:

I'd like a P-bass but with 2 jazz pickups and no Precision pickup.  

Markbass have just the thing for you .. hehe 😂

[PatrickJ]

On 26/04/2019 at 17:19, dannybuoy said:

The extra pickup and pot does affect the loading of the P pickup and change the sound ever so slightly. In the same way that your bass will sound brighter with 500K pots vs 250K. Many purists prefer a solo P for this reason, others fit a toggle switch, others don't notice or don't care about the difference!

This is interesting.  I was going to change the preamp on my Fender deluxe (to get a better passive circuit ironicly).  Maybe I'll disconnect the J pickup and Blend control and see how it sounds.

[Davo-London]

Very cool McNach.  I confess with all the Jazzes I've played, I find the Jazz neck PU sounds a bit disappointing and not very Precision-like.  Curiously my neck Jazz PU (Nordstrand) on a custom Cliff Bordwell ball bass sounds better and more like a Precision bass than any Fender Jazz.  I can't explain that as the ball bass is totally non-Fender in wood and design (walnut, neck-through, shape, 2-octave neck etc).  I'm sure it's not the Norstrands as I've put them in a Fender Jaco Jazz bass (MIJ) and still don't like the neck-only PU sound.  Totally flummoxed.  

Great to see your experimentation.  Can you define the difference in sound between the two neck PU positions?

Regards

Davo

 

 

Edited May 1, 2019 by Davo-London

[chris_b]

13 minutes ago, Davo-London said:

Very cool McNach.  I confess with all the Jazzes I've played, I find the Jazz neck PU sounds a bit disappointing and not very Precision-like.  Curiously my neck Jazz PU (Nordstrand) on a custom Cliff Bordwell ball bass sounds better and more like a Precision bass than any Fender Jazz.  I can't explain that as the ball bass is totally non-Fender in wood and design (walnut, neck-through, shape, 2-octave neck etc).  I'm sure it's not the Norstrands as I've put them in a Fender Jaco Jazz bass (MIJ) and still don't like the neck-only PU sound.  Totally flummoxed. 

My Mike Lull PJ5 is the best "Fender" I've ever played. Proof that the quality of the construction, components and wood actually can make a difference when it's done well enough. Even so I'll usually only use the P pickup for 90% of the time. The P bridge pickup is good but if I want any more punch or dynamics I'll use my Jazz.

[Marc S]

On 26/04/2019 at 14:13, nightsun said:

I found the J pickup on my P/J would allow me to dial in a little growl when needed. Guess it's horses for courses

My own thoughts exactly. I've had several PJ's over the last couple of years, and the added J pickup didn't seem to negatively affect the P pickup in any way (not that I could hear)
My Limelight PJ sounds absolutely superb - I mainly use the P pickup, and simply add a little J to suit the song or sound I want it to. Works every time for me