Jump to content
Why become a member? ×

A/B'ed DiMarzio UltraJazz vs MIA 2009 Fender Jazz pickups


Clarky
 Share

Recommended Posts

At the request of a BC'er, I A/B'ed my Nash '63 Jazz, with DiMarzio UltraJazz pickups, against my MIA 2009 Jazz to see how the pickups varied in terms of output and tone. I was rather surprised at the findings.

The output/volume of the new MIA 2009 pickup is, if anything, slightly higher than the UltraJazz when directly A/B'ed into my Mesa combo with same full-on volumes/tone knob settings. Maybe it could be due to older strings on my MIA and fractionally higher pickup placements? Perhaps, but I expected the UJ's to be appreciably louder than the stock Fender p/ups and they are definitely not.

The 2009 MIA is also slightly richer sounding, especially on the E and A strings, the UJ sounding more middy and probably better for soloing (which I don't do!). But actually there was not a whole lot in it again.

Conclusion: there really is very little in it and - if I had a slight preference - it would be for the stock 2009 MIA pickups. Either option sounds good though to my ears. Maybe Fender have just been continuously impoving their stock pickups (as well as QC more generally)? On this basis I would most certainly not look to "upgrade" the pickups on a newer Fender MIA Jazz.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='Clarky' post='679994' date='Dec 10 2009, 10:33 AM']At the request of a BC'er, I A/B'ed my Nash '63 Jazz, with DiMarzio UltraJazz pickups, against my MIA 2009 Jazz to see how the pickups varied in terms of output and tone. I was rather surprised at the findings.

The output/volume of the new MIA 2009 pickup is, if anything, slightly higher than the UltraJazz when directly A/B'ed into my Mesa combo with same full-on volumes/tone knob settings. Maybe it could be due to older strings on my MIA and fractionally higher pickup placements? Perhaps, but I expected the UJ's to be appreciably louder than the stock Fender p/ups and they are definitely not.

The 2009 MIA is also slightly richer sounding, especially on the E and A strings, the UJ sounding more middy and probably better for soloing (which I don't do!). But actually there was not a whole lot in it again.

Conclusion: there really is very little in it and - if I had a slight preference - it would be for the stock 2009 MIA pickups. Either option sounds good though to my ears. Maybe Fender have just been continuously impoving their stock pickups (as well as QC more generally)? On this basis I would most certainly not look to "upgrade" the pickups on a newer Fender MIA Jazz.[/quote]

Wow Clarky! Good review.

You Could be the next Suzy Perry, only sexier :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It would be interesting to get some more era's of Fender pickups compared to UltraJazzes (just using the UJ's as a benchmark).
Simply because I think the p'ups in my 2003 MIA Jazz are fantastic, I've already talked to Clarky about this, but I genuinely feel that they're the best pickups I've tried in ANY bass!!

I've got UJ's in my Shuker/Parts jazz, but as some of you know, the neck is being repaired, so I'll have to wait to do a full comparison! :)

Si

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...